Fall 2007 Newsletter

CARES Foundation, Inc.

CARES Creates Honorary Board

We are pleased to announce that CARES Foundation has created an Honorary Board, to include dignitaries and other persons who can enhance CARES’ public visibility. They will act as ambassadors for CARES Foundation and provide advice to the organization as needed.

Governor Donald DiFranceso

New Jersey State Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco was sworn in as Governor of New Jersey shortly after 11 a.m. on January 31, 2001, succeeding Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who resigned one hour earlier to become administrator of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr. DiFrancesco was first elected to the New Jersey State Senate in 1979, was re-elected six times, and served as President of the Senate from January 1992 until 2001. Because Article V, of New Jersey's constitution states that all powers, duties and emoluments of the office of Governor devolve upon the President of the Senate in the event of a gubernatorial vacancy, Mr. DiFrancesco served as Acting Governor at least once every year while Governors James J. Florio and Whitman were traveling out of state for short periods of time.

At the time of his election to the Senate, Mr. DiFrancesco was in the Assembly. He was elected to his first Assembly term in 1975, was re-elected in 1977, and served on the Assembly Institutions, Health and Welfare Committee, as well as on the Banking and Insurance Committee. He was Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on Ethical Standards.

As Senate President, Mr. DiFrancesco sponsored the constitutional amendment prohibiting unfunded state mandates, the 2000 law that renewed the Transportation Trust Fund, and the 1999 bond act that led to the establishment of the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund, a $98 million initiative dedicated to preserving open space, farmlands and historic properties. As Governor, he dramatically increased and improved health and healthcare programs for the children of New Jersey, including creating the NJ KidCare program and expanding newborn screening.

The CARES Foundation honored Governor DiFrancesco in 2006 for signing the 2001 Executive Order that dramatically expanded newborn screening in New Jersey and saved the lives of hundreds of New Jersey babies. The families and children affected by CAH are forever grateful to the Governor for saving their children and giving them a healthy start at life.  

Mr. DiFrancesco was born in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. After graduating from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, he attended Pennsylvania State University and Seton Hall Law School. He was admitted to the Bar in 1969, and was Senior Partner in the law firm of DiFrancesco, Kunzman, Coley, Yospin, Bernstein & Bateman in Warren Township, New Jersey from 1992 to January 31, 2001.  

After serving the people of New Jersey as Governor, Mr. DiFrancesco rejoined the law firm of DiFrancesco, Bateman, Coley, Yospin, Kunzman, Davis & Lehrer, P.C. In addition to CARES Foundation, Governor DiFrancesco serves on the Board of Directors of Commerce Bank, The New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce and Children's Specialized Hospital of Mountainside, New Jersey. Mr. DiFrancesco and his wife, Diane, have three adult daughters.

Minnesota State Representative Paul Thissen

Paul Thissen serves in the Minnesota House of Representatives repre- senting south Minneapolis and Richfield. He was first elected in 2002, and re-elected in 2004 and 2006.

A graduate of the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Paul attended Harvard University, graduated with high honors in 1989, and earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1992. He clerked for the Honorable James B. Loken of the United State Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and subsequently accepted a position at the law firm of Briggs and Morgan. He has also worked for the Minnesota State Public Defenders Office.

Until his election in 2002, Paul served as Chair of Briggs and Morgan's Pro Bono Committee and was an active participant in programs intended to increase the availability of legal representation to those in our community who cannot otherwise afford a lawyer. Paul served on the Board of the Minnesota Justice Foundation and founded a program for volunteer lawyers called Access for Persons with Disabilities to increase the availability of legal representation to persons with disabilities in the Twin Cities. He has worked with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights to represent refugees seeking asylum in the United States. In partnership with the Chrysalis Center for Women, he has also represented women seeking Order for Protection from abusive partners.

Paul resigned as a Briggs and Morgan partner in 2002 when he was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. In 2007, he was appointed Chair of the House’s Health and Human Services Committee. and also sits on the Biosciences and Emerging Technology Committee, Finance Committee, Health Care And Human Services Finance Division Committee, Rules And Legislative Administration Committee, and Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division Committee.

Paul was Chief Author of HF 1, the Children's Health Security Act, serves on the Health Care Access Commission and also serves on Governor Tim Pawlenty's Health Transformation Taskforce. Both groups have worked throughout the summer and fall of 2007 to develop plans to reduce health care costs and provide universal coverage in Minnesota by 2011. In addition, Representative Thissen worked to protect Minnesota’s newborn screening program from various threats.

In 2006, Paul was named one of "Forty Under 40" top business professionals in the Twin Cities by the Twin Cities Business Journal. He and his wife, Karen, were married in 1993 and have three children. His son, Evan, is affected by salt-wasting CAH.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl

Bill represents the 11th District, which includes the communities of Brentwood, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, West LA and Westchester. He serves as chair of the council’s Public Works Committee, which has oversight of most essential city services, vice-chair of the Commerce Committee, which oversees Los Angeles World Airports, and member of the council’s Transportation Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, and Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness, which he co-founded. He is also chair of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority and one of the city's appointees to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and the Exposition Light Rail Construction Authority.

A resident of Mar Vista, the largest community in the 11th District, Bill is the first openly gay man elected to the Los Angeles City Council, and is the city’s highest-ranking GLBT official.

Prior to his election his election, Bill served as served as Distinguished Professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills. He is, perhaps, best known as producer and moderator of the critically-acclaimed public affairs television shows: "Local Talk", "Week in Review" and "Beyond the Beltway," An advocate of empowering people through information, Bill produced more than 3,000 programs over 16 years, opening the airwaves to all viewpoints and steering thoughtful dialogue on the most complex and controversial issues.

An avid participant in civic life, Bill chaired the California Commission on Tax Policy in the New Economy, served as president of the Los Angeles Press Club, as chairman of the Cable and Telecommunication Association and as a member of the education fund of the Los Angeles League of Women Voters. Prior to his cable TV career, he was a White House appointee to the State Department as Chief of Operations for the U.S. Trade and Development Program, served as an associate in philanthropic work for John D. Rockefeller, III and worked political campaigns, including Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential bid.

A Vietnam-era veteran, Bill served in the U.S. Army from 1969-71, spending a year as a psychiatric social worker, counseling troops returning from combat, and is currently a member of The American Legion, Post 283, in Pacific Palisades.

Bill holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & Economics from St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA. A recipient of the Cable Ace Award, The Diamond Award, the Freedom of Information Award, the Los Angeles League of Women Voters Public Service Award and the Beacon Award for Cable's Free Air Time Project, he is also a world traveler who has visited 52 countries.

Bill’s nephew, Joey, has salt-wasting CAH.