Stanford's knack for numbers upgrades Caseload Forecast Council

State Rep. Derek Stanford's flair for figures will be put to great use in his new work as a member of a pivotal government panel. The Bothell lawmaker has been appointed to the Caseload Forecast Council (CFC), which occupies a strategic, albeit all-too-often-unsung standing in the construction of marching orders for state-government operations.

 

Meeting several times a year, the six-member CFC is charged with putting two and two together -- and then some. The council estimates how many folks will be using public services afforded by state government. Those figures are used to help develop a redoubtable document called the Omnibus Biennial Appropriations Act, more commonly known as the state operating budget.

 

The council looks at numbers for everything:

* Student-enrollment in public schools, colleges and universities.

* Recipients of public assistance.

* Incarcerated persons in prison or on probation.

* Citizens receiving long-term care, medical assistance, foster care, and adoption support.

"I’m looking forward to joining the work of the Caseload Forecast Council," Stanford said, "because as a legislator, I respect the critical position the council's efforts occupy in the budgeting process. I believe that my background in statistics and predictive modeling will give me an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution."

Stanford, who is vice chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, earned a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Washington. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in mathematics, both earned from Harvey Mudd College, and has worked as director of analytics for a telecom company and in fraud-detection in the mortgage industry.