Bill Berkowitz
August 18, 2006

Bush names new Faith-based czar

Jay Hein, an experienced conservative think tanker, will also be deputy assistant to the president

Jay Hein, a long-term conservative think tanker, has been named by President Bush the new director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and a deputy assistant to the president. Hein, who takes over the faith-based office from Jim Towey, will advise the president on domestic policies such as immigration or responses to emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, the Associate Press reported.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Hein "was not originally on the short list of people being considered" to head up the Office, "but when White House officials -- at the suggestion of former Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind. -- went to Hein for advice on candidates, they soon came to see him as more than an adviser."

"Jay has long been a leading voice for compassionate conservatism and a champion of faith and community-based organizations," Bush said in a statement issued on Friday, August 4. "By joining my administration, he will help ensure that these organizations receive a warm welcome as government's partner in serving our American neighbors in need."

Hein follows in the footsteps of other Indiana-based politicians who have advocated for faith-based organizations. Coats "sponsored some of the first legislation in that area while in Congress at the same time that then-Mayor Stephen Goldsmith was developing alliances with religious groups," the Indianapolis Star reported. "During the 2000 campaign, candidate Bush used Indianapolis -- and Goldsmith's initiatives -- as a backdrop to announce his intention to give faith-based groups a chance to use federal money. 'Indianapolis is clearly the epicenter of this, and we want ripples to go out across the country,' Coats said. He predicts Hein will make that happen."

Hein has most recently served as president of the Indianapolis-based Sagamore Institute for Policy Research (website), an organization he founded in 2004 and which the AP described as "a national think tank that specializes in community-based reforms." * And, according to the White House's official announcement, Hein also serves as Executive Vice President and CEO of the Foundation for American Renewal, "which provides financial grants and other support to community-based organizations and educates the general public on effective compassion practices."

"This is a terrific opportunity to impact the national response to poverty," Hein said after accepting the President's invitation. "My appointment is a function of the high-quality research we have been doing at Sagamore from the very beginning. And I see this as an opportunity to continue and advance that important work, albeit from a new perspective," he explained.

"I look forward to serving, and I appreciate the support and encouragement of the Sagamore Board and research team as we put together a transition plan," he added. "I also look forward to returning to Sagamore and Indianapolis after my tenure in Washington."

"Hein is very smooth, very bright and he certainly comes across better than Jim Towey, who generally sounded (to me at least) like someone in way over his head," Sheila Suess Kennedy, an Associate Professor of Law and Public Policy at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, told Media Transparency in an e-mail exchange.

"Where Towey appeared to come across as an none-too-bright ideologue who was too stubborn even to listen to the concerns of those who disagreed with him, Hein comes across as courteous and willing to listen, and seems possessed of a far more sophisticated intellect."

Up from the think tanks

In his native state of Wisconsin during part of the 1990s, Hein served as a welfare reform policy assistant under the state's former Gov. Tommy Thompson. In 1996, he was recruited by the Hudson Institute and eventually moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. At Hudson, Hein served as executive director of Civil Society Programs, "where he managed a twelve person, interdisciplinary staff; and a number of major research centers, including the Welfare Policy Center, the Faith in Communities initiative, and community-based healthcare reform," according to his official bio posted at the Sagamore website. When Hudson moved to Washington two years ago, Hein founded Sagamore.

According to its website, the name Sagamore is "from an Algonquin term used to describe a trusted person who helps build consensus, grapples with serious questions, and provides wisdom and advice."

Sagamore's mission is to:

"...provide independent and innovative research to a world in progress. In keeping with its commitment to pragmatic independence and hands-on innovation, SIPR is headquartered in Indianapolis, enabling its research team to influence the Washington Beltway and beyond, while making a difference in America's Heartland."

According to Sheila Suess Kennedy, the author of the forthcoming book, "Charitable Choice at Work: Evaluating Faith-based Job Programs in the States (Public Management and Change)," "Sagamore was formed by staffers who elected to stay in Indiana when the Hudson Institute decamped. It has a number of employees, and offices near IUPUI, where I teach, and it has a very effective PR operation. PR will only take you so far, however."

"Jay's appointment to this important position is a reflection not only of his innovative leadership," said former Indiana Senator Dan Coats, who serves as co-chairman of Sagamore Institute's Board of Trustees, "but also of Sagamore's success in the field of public policy research, especially faith-based research and civil society research."

"Jay's experiences and profile in Washington will prepare and position him to strengthen Sagamore Institute and Indianapolis upon his eventual return to the think tank," Coats added.

"When you carry out research and programming like Sagamore, research that is innovative and influential, people are going to take notice," said Jerry Semler, Sagamore's co-chairman. "It's a good thing for Sagamore and for Indianapolis that Jay's efforts here have gotten noticed in Washington. But it's also bittersweet, since we have to share Jay for a while."

According to the Sagamore website, "Semler and Coats are in the process of working with the rest of the Board to put together a transition plan and to appoint an interim director."

"We are thinking about it as an interim role, because Jay wants to return to Sagamore after his service in Washington," said Coats. "And we definitely want him to return. Between now and then, we plan to build on the foundation Jay helped establish. Part of that foundation is the people who are here at Sagamore, nationally known researchers, writers and policy analysts who have a heart for the heartland and a vision for the world. They are continuing their work, and that's why we are confident about what lies ahead for Sagamore."

Hein helped bring together a star-studded, mostly local, Board of Trustees that includes himself, Coats; C. Patrick Babcock, the Vice President for Health Programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan; Paul M. Brooks, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Helixx Group of Zionsville, Indiana; Dr. Carol D'Amico The Executive Vice President of Indianapolis' Ivy Tech Community College who from 1990 to 1999 was both a Senior Fellow in Education and Co-Director of the Center for Workforce Development at Hudson Institute; Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky, a Professor of Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, who between 1990 and 1997 was president of Hudson Institute, and later was appointed by President Bush to serve as chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service; Reverend Herbert H. Lusk II, the Founder and CEO, People for People, Inc. and Pastor, Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which, in January 2006, hosted "Justice Sunday III," a gathering of conservative evangelical leaders. Lusk's operations have received substantial amounts of faith-based money from the Bush Administration.

Other Trustees are Dr. Beverley Pitts, the President of the University of Indianapolis; Jerry D. Semler, CLU, Co-Chair, Chairman of the Board of Indianapolis' OneAmerica Financial Partners; Stephen A. Stitle, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Indianapolis-based National City Bank of Indiana; and P. Douglas Wilson, Vice President of Guidant Corporation of Carmel, Indiana.

Hein is an elder at Grace Community Church in Noblesville and has hosted weekly Bible study groups at his home. Grace's pastor, the Rev. Dave Rodriguez, described Hein as "a brilliant intellect and a great thinker" who has a "deep and abiding faith."

"The (faith-based) initiative is unfinished work," Hein told the Indianapolis Star in an interview. "There are some things that need to be strengthened."

"The White House's comment to me was that they have 2 1/2 years left, and that is the equivalent of the entire Kennedy presidency," Hein said. "They feel that is a healthy amount of time to accomplish unfinished business that they deem a high priority."

One can only speculate as to what that "unfinished work" Hein is talking about. Supporters of the president's faith-based initiative have been hoping to institutionalize the White House Office, perhaps turning it into a permanent cabinet position. H.R. 1054, a bill introduced in March 2005 by Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) which aimed to "establish the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives," has not yet emerged from the House Committee on Government Reform, according to GovTrack.us, a website "independently tracking the United States Congress."

Critics of the faith based initiative point to the recent GAO report which outlined several areas of "unfinished work" and concern, including the lack of a reliable monitoring system tracking how government grants are being used by faith-based organizations. Perhaps Hein, someone who appears to think seriously about the importance of research in crafting public policy, will take up this thorny issue.

* See Hein's commentaries on a number of issues.