“This business is about relationships and communication. Government can intentionally or unintentionally shut an industry down; we know who the players are and have access to them. Our diversity of clients through the years has enabled us to develop key relationships with every policy and fiscal committee in the California State Legislature as well as all of the major agencies in California State Government.”

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Kathryn Rees, a well established lobbyist whose tenure has spanned over three decades and five governors, is one of Sacramento’s successful woman pioneers in the lobbying profession. After lobbying “in house” for prominent health care interests, she founded Rees & Associates in 1983. She merged her firm into Public Policy Advocates as of January 1, 2007.
Kathryn is described by legislators as being elegantly tenacious on behalf of clients. Over the years, she has been at the vanguard of many of the legislature’s most controversial issues, ranging from health insurance reform, to protecting the wine industry from taxation, to airline industry issues. She has been recognized in numerous publications, including the California Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union, the Sacramento Business Journal, the Golden State Report, Political Pulse, California Medicine, Capitol Weekly, Comstock's Magazine, and Prosper Magazine as being one of Sacramento's prominent and effective lobbyists. Acknowledged as a tenured lobbyist and a leader among her peers, she was named the first woman president of the Institute for Governmental Advocates. She serves on the California Chamber of Commerce Tax Policy Committee. A frequent lecturer on California’s legislative process and politics, she has served as faculty for the Public Policy/Legislative Seminars for the California Journal and the Assembly Fellows Program.
Active in civic affairs, Kathryn chairs the University of California, Davis, Health System/Medical School Leadership Council; serves on the Advisory Committee for the Women’s Center for Health for the UC Davis Health System; and is an Ex-Officio member of the University of California, Davis, Foundation Board. She served as president and on the Board of the Sacramento Capitol Club.
Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Washington, Seattle; a Master of Arts Degree in Public Administration from Governors State University, Illinois; and community college teaching and administrative credentials.