Meet the WRA Government Affairs Team
This team of legislative professionals has the experience and skills essential for defending the hospitality industry from damaging legislation and promoting the regulations that make it easier to do business in Washington state.
Bruce Beckett
Government Affairs Director
Bruce Beckett joined the WRA in January, 2009 as director of government affairs. Bruce’s experience in public affairs spans more than 27 years, including 17 years leading Weyerhaeuser Company’s Western Region and Washington State public affairs teams. Prior to joining the WRA, Bruce served as the director of public affairs for the Cascade Land Conservancy’s $20 million Cascade Agenda campaign. He has served on the boards of numerous business organizations, including the Association of Washington Business, as a Deputy to the Washington Roundtable, TVW, the Washington Forest Protection Association, Northwest River Partners and the Washington Research Council. Bruce is accountable for overall leadership of the Government Affairs team, provides strategic direction to the lobby team, and insures WRA members are fully informed and engaged in the development of WRA positions and strategies.
Josh McDonald
Local Government Affairs
Josh McDonald joined the WRA government affairs team in September of 2007. Before joining the WRA, Josh spent the several years previous splitting his time between contract lobbying work during legislative sessions and working on congressional, state and local campaigns. Josh spent three years working alongside our contract lobbyists Denny Eliason and Kim Clauson, assisting them with their daily lobbying duties and building relationships that help make him a strong asset to the WRA. In addition to his work at the state level on such issues as nutrition/obesity, food safety, and the environment, Josh focuses much of his attention on building and maintaining a strong industry presence at the city and county level. He received his B.A. in political science from the University of Puget Sound.
Julia Clark
Government Affairs Manager
Julia Clark joined the Washington Restaurant Association’s Government Affairs Department as government affairs assistant in September 2007. Before joining the Government Affairs team, Julia worked as the assistant to the president and CEO of the WRA, Anthony Anton. Prior to coming to the WRA, Julia studied state and local politics at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. Julia received her B.A. in political science and social studies from Western Washington University. Julia serves the government affairs team by managing the grassroots network, assisting the lobby team and representing the WRA in various stakeholder groups. Julia also acts as the main point of contact for the National Restaurant Association, and communicating federal issues to WRA membership. This past session, Julia made the transition to full-time lobbyist and already has enjoyed quite a bit of success in defending restaurants from harmful legislation and promoting the passage of bills that benefit WRA members.
Denny Eliason
Lobbyist
Denny Eliason is the founder of Alliances Northwest, a business-oriented government relations firm emphasizing representation before the Washington State Legislature and local governments in Washington state. Denny has 25 years experience working the halls of the Capitol, and during that time has engaged on a number of issues including banking, energy, employment, environment, finance, growth management, health care, insurance, pharmaceuticals, retail, securities, taxes and transportation. For the WRA Denny works with the government affairs team to coordinate overall strategy and directly oversees issues relating to taxes, syrup tax, retrospective rating, health care, minimum wage and tips as wages.
Kim Clauson-Hoff
Lobbyist
Kim Clauson-Hoff is a partner with Denny Eliason at Alliances Northwest. Kim’s primary focus is workplace and labor issues. Kim has taken a leadership role on workplace safety, labor, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and sustainability issues for the WRA. Over the years, Kim’s efforts have resulted in lower unemployment insurance taxes, restraints on workers compensation costs, and positioning restaurants favorably on emerging sustainability issues.
