On September 15, the Lone Star AHU will be hosting a “West Texas Road Show” in Lubbock. There’s also an optional two-hour ethics class before the event begins (separate registration required). We hope you can join us.
WHERE AND WHEN
DAY: Thursday
DATE: September 15, 2022
TIME: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm (Optional Ethics Class from 8am to 10am)
OVERTON HOTEL
2322 MAC DAVIS LANE
LUBBOCK, TX 79401
A limited block of rooms for 09/14/22 is available at the Overton Hotel at a rate of $135.
Click here to make a reservation.
AGENDA
8:00 – 10:00: Optional 2 HOUR ETHICS THE NAHU WAY – Tonya Booth (Course #3101, Provider #32408). Separate Registration Required. (1 additional hour will be held virtually in order to meet the 3 hour requirement.)
10:00: Kickoff Introductions & Motivational Speaker/Author Catherine Walker
11:00: Shannon and Mike Meroney, TAHU Lobbyist’s – Texas Legislative Update
12:15: Lunch – Surprise Guest Speaker
1:15: Misty Baker – NAHU Federal Legislative Update
2:30: Ameriflex – Tiffany Jones & Jeff Blomster – Update on HRA, HSA, FSA and COBRA
3:30: Questions/Answers/Networking
REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT
This session is FREE not charging if you register by September 1. Beginning September 2, the registraton fee is $40.
Register for the Road Show Here
Pay Here (September 1 or later)
SPEAKER INFO
Below are the bios for our amazing speakers.
Misty Baker is Director of Compliance and Government Affairs at BenefitMall
Misty Baker is an Affordable Care Act compliance and agent advocate, specializing in ACA, ERISA, FMLA, COBRA and legislative advocacy for more than 20 years. She was a registered lobbyist in Texas for four years. She is a strategic leader focused on compliance, agent knowledge, legislative advocacy, and ultimate client understanding of how to be successful in the changing world of compliance. Her passion incudes agent education, insurance advocacy inside and outside of the Capital and compliance.
Misty is currently working at BenefitMall as the Director of Compliance and Government Affairs where she focuses on compliance, regulations and takes pride in listening to and helping agents.
Misty loves to watch Wheel of Fortune with her husband, David, garden, cook, travel, love on her dog Jack and create memories with her friends, four adult “kids” & family.
Tiffany Jones is the Regional Sales Manager for Ameriflex.
Tiffany joined Ameriflex in 2019 with over 20 years of engagement experience working for public and private entities. Her background includes health and welfare administration and regulatory compliance. Tiffany has consulted extensively on tax-free plans, with experience assisting cities, counties, school districts, as well as public sector clients, in maintaining and operating their plans. She has a working knowledge of employee benefits plan design, funding, administration, regulatory compliance, benefit and communication. Tiffany has facilitated workshops and meetings to educate groups on healthcare cost management strategies. Tiffany attended Texas Tech University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations. She holds certifications in FSA, HSA, HRA and COBRA administration, as well as consults with insurance brokers and companies on their employee benefits. She is an active member of SALGBA, TAHU, NAHU, SHRM and ASHHRA associations.
Catherine Walker is a Professional Speaker, Team Motivator, Human Behavior Specialist, and Business and Joy Coach
Catherine brings 20+ years of experience training and presenting.
- Award Winning Team Leader
- Multi-million Dollar Producer
- 20+ years of Speaking Experience
- 20+ years in Direct Sales Industry
- Fresh Perspective on Key Topics
- Trained for Groups of 5000+
Catherine’s overriding belief is to bring as many people with her to the top. To do that, you have to have a path. She is here to share her success walk with you. As well as being a multi-million dollar producer, she earned awards for personal and team recruiting and Leadership Development.
Catherine loved her career in direct sales. It taught her how to balance work and family. She achieved success without sacrificing the relationships she held dear. Catherine lives in Texas with her husband Vincent of 25 years. She has three daughters Hailey, Whitney and Kennedy and one son-in-law, Daniel.
Shannon Phillips Meroney is a Lobbyist for TAHU
Shannon brings twenty years experience as a multi-state lobbyist based primarily at the Texas Capitol and ten years of courtroom legal expertise to her dynamic government affairs consulting practice. Prior to creating Meroney Public Affairs LLC, Shannon spent six years as a Senior Government Relations Manager for Aetna, a Fortune 100 health insurance corporation with multi-state responsibility and two years as executive manager over Aetna’s second largest government account in the country, the Teachers Retirement System (TRS). Previous to that, she was a Partner at the Texas law firm Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons representing multiple corporate clients and large trade associations at the Capitol, in the courtroom and providing legal drafting and analysis expertise.
In her six years of private lobby practice, Capitol Inside ranked her as one the top 100 “Hired Gun” Lobbyists in Texas from 2015 to 2021. Shannon is a Past President of the Austin Young Lawyers Association and Past Chair of Leadership Austin. She’s a frequent lecturer on legislative process, healthcare and education, and a certified lacrosse/tennis mom. Shannon & Mike will soon celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary, and they stay very busy with their two teen sons Cal (14) and Griffin (13). Shannon is a founding member of the State Bar of Texas’ Legislative and Campaign Law Section, and later this year she will sit for the inaugural offering of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s Legislative and Campaign Law Certification Exam.
Mike Meroney is a Lobbyist for TAHU
Every legislative session from 2011 through 2021, Mike has been recognized and ranked as one the top 100 “Hired Gun” Lobbyists in Texas by the political magazine Capitol Inside. For more than six years, he was the state and federal lobbyist for Huntsman Corporation – a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. In both 2007 and 2009, Capitol Inside listed Mike as one of the top 25 In-House Corporate Lobbyists in Texas. Prior to his time with Huntsman, he worked for the Austin-based, global consulting firm Public Strategies, Inc. (now Hill & Knowlton Strategies) and Arkansas-based telecom company ALLTEL.
Mike spent more than seven years serving on the Texas Accountability Policy Advisory Committee (APAC), which advises the Texas Education Commissioner (first Commissioner Michael Williams, then Commissioner Mike Morath) on the state’s public education accountability system. He also served on the Career & Technical Education (CTE) TEKS Review Committee, responsible for rewrite of Texas’ essential knowledge and skills for career and technical education curriculum. He is past board chair of Leadership Austin, Junior Achievement of Central Texas, and Texas OnCourse’s employer advisory committee.