Stephen Klein, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the Vermont Joint Fiscal Office, will be honored with the Steven D. Gold Award Dec. 6th during the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Fall Forum in Washington, D.C. The award, presented by NCSL in conjunction with the National Tax Association and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, recognizes a person who has made a significant contribution to public financial management in the field of intergovernmental relations and state and local finance. It was named for respected financial analyst Steven D. Gold, who was active in all three organizations.
“Stephen Klein has provided outstanding nonpartisan fiscal support to the Legislature with a high level of integrity,” said President Pro Tempore John Campbell. Speaker of the House Shap Smith stated that “I am thrilled that Stephen is being honored for his commitment to public service. He has the respect and admiration of his colleagues within Vermont and from his counterparts across the country.”
Mr. Klein joined the staff of the Vermont General Assembly in 1992 as a fiscal analyst in the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office. In 1993, he was appointed chief fiscal officer. The nonpartisan office provides fiscal analysis, budget evaluation, performance oversight and fiscal policy support for the Committees on Appropriations, Finance, Ways & Means, and Transportation and for the Legislature as a whole. Klein oversees 12 full-time staff and three consultants.
Klein served as president of the National Association of Legislative Fiscal Offices in 1998-1999 and was a member of NCSL’s Executive Committee from 2002-2005. For the past five years he has served on the advisory board of the New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, which advises the Center’s staff on research content, direction and dissemination to policymakers in the New England region. Klein also serves as a guest lecturer on the legislative budget process at the Vermont Law School.
Prior to joining the Vermont Legislature, Klein served as a director of the Massachusetts Senate Post Audit and Oversight Bureau, assistant director for the Endowment Fund of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston, and legislative director and legal counsel for a Massachusetts state senator.
Klein received his A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley, his M.A. in Urban Studies & Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.
