Jay Curtis
Jay Curtis helps corporate, public, and non-profit clients navigate government at all levels. He has experience working in federal, state, and local governments, including legislative and executive offices.
Jay served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for Governor Patrick J. Quinn. As the legislative director, he was responsible for advising the Governor on all legislative matters, directing and approving all legislative operations of the administration and its agencies, boards and commissions, as well as managing over 100 liaisons. Jay was the Governor's chief lobbyist responsible for directly persuading members of the General Assembly and negotiating issues with elected officials, staff, lobbyists, and interested stakeholders.
Previous to his time with Governor Quinn, Jay was the Chief of Staff at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. There, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Department, its 1200-employee workforce, and $300 million budget.
Jay also served as Assistant General Counsel to the Illinois Speaker of the House. He was responsible for staffing substantive committees and assisting members with passage of their legislation. During this time, he was also afforded the historic opportunity of assisting the House Counsel and Senate Prosecutor with the impeachment process of the former Governor Rod R. Blagojevich.
He also spent time working for US Senator Richard J. Durbin culminating in serving as intern to the Senate Judiciary Committee and also assisted Sen. Durbin's foreign affairs staff on issues of terrorism, water rights, intellectual property piracy, genocides, and armed conflicts for the Judiciary's subcommittee on Human Relations and the Law.
Jay began his public service career as a graduate intern to the city manager of a St. Louis suburb. In this role, he developed a strong understanding of the localized pressures of municipal governments.
He served on the Illinois Housing Task Force, the Commission to End Hunger, and the Governor's Rural Affairs Council. Jay also worked as a legal extern with the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, the Illinois Attorney General, and the Federal Public Defender - Southern District of Illinois. He also worked on national, state, and local elections doing field work and fundraising with a special focus on election law issues.