Effective Jan. 1, 2024, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is pleased to announce the elevation of five senior policy advisors in the firm’s Government Relations Department, including Kate Gonzales (Washington, D.C.), Francisco Morales (Las Vegas), Sage Schaftel (Washington, D.C.), Adam Steinmetz (Washington, D.C.) and Steven Stenzler (Sacramento).
Kate Gonzales provides clients insight into Democratic priorities and fresh intelligence on where and when policy is likely to move. She is highly skilled at developing compelling messaging for moderate Democrats and Republicans, critical voting blocks in a narrowly divided Congress. She served as a legislative aide in the House office of then-Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and moved with her to the Senate, where she served as a policy advisor handling the space, science, agriculture, energy, environment and natural resources portfolio. Gonzales was the office liaison to the Senate Commerce Committee and managed the senator’s role as ranking member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation and Space.
Sage Schaftel helps clients develop policy priorities and spearheads advocacy efforts on health care, education, labor and tax issues. She builds relationships between companies, policymakers and congressional committee staff. Schaftel puts pen to paper to draft collateral materials that communicate clients’ perspectives, including talking points, one-pagers, public comments and advocacy letters. In a rapidly evolving policy landscape, she has an innate ability to issue spot, identifying seemingly minute developments at the federal and state levels and advising on the potential risk or opportunity they pose to clients. She then devises strategies to capitalize on the moment and impact policy outcomes.
Adam Steinmetz navigates the federal health policy landscape for clients, having worked directly on health-related budgetary spending issues during his service as a policy advisor on the House Budget Committee. He provides clients with insight into how health policy moves, both on the Hill and within federal agencies, and positions clients at inflection points in the process to advance their goals. In Congress, Steinmetz served under Reps. Jason Smith (R-MO) and Steve Womack (R-AR) while managing the House Budget Committee’s portfolio on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Veterans Affairs issues. This experience makes him a valuable ally to companies with significant policy and funding objectives.
Francisco Morales brings more than a decade of legislative and political experience to provide clients with effective strategies for navigating complex policy, regulatory and legislative hurdles. Also a licensed attorney in Nevada, Morales represents clients in highly regulated industries, including health care, labor, financial services and gaming. Before Brownstein, he served former Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak in various roles, including director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs, deputy transition director and political director. In those roles, he served as a key policy advisor in the areas of labor and workforce, collective bargaining, immigration and unemployment insurance. An immigrant himself, Morales drafted, presented and lobbied for the creation of the Governor’s Office for New Americans.
Steven Stenzler is a dedicated advocate and leverages his public policy expertise to move the needle on the most relevant issues impacting Californians. His demonstrated experience drafting, negotiating and advancing complex and contentious proposals through the legislative process makes him a valuable asset to clients looking to engage in California. During his 10 years working in and around the state legislature, Stenzler helped negotiate some of the most consequential policies of the last decade, including the reauthorization of California’s landmark Cap-and-Trade program, the establishment of statewide renter protections through the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 and the creation of the Invasive Species Council of California to help safeguard unique environmental heritage.