Carlos E. Bonilla was an American lobbyist, an advisor on economic policy to

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, and senior vice president at The Washington Group, a lobbying firm.

Early life and education

Bonilla obtained an undergraduate degree from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

and a Masters in Economics from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, both in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Career

George W. Bush administration

In January 2001, Bonilla joined the

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic in ...

, where he served as Special Assistant for Economic Policy until early 2003. He worked on the first two tax bills, aviation issues, and pension issues including post-Enron reforms to 401(k) plans and issues related to defined benefit plans. In the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, he was responsible for ensuring that trade flows across the borders and through the ports were maintained in light of enhanced security concerns, and participated in a working group on West Coast ports during a 2003 labor dispute, leading to a Taft-Hartley Act injunction.

Lobbyist

In March 2003, Bonilla rejoined the private sector as a lobbyist for The Washington Group, where he represented

BioMarin Pharmaceutical BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. is an American biotechnology company headquartered in San Rafael, California. It has offices and facilities in the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe. BioMarin's core business and research is in enzyme re ...

and

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that was incorporated in India in 1961 and remained an entity until 2014. The company went public in 1973. Ownership of Ranbaxy changed twice over the course of its ...

McCain presidential campaign

In 2007, he joined the John McCain presidential campaign as an economic advisor, and resigned in May 2008 after exposure of his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The House Oversight Committee reported that Bonilla had accepted two tickets to a football game but did not report any improper actions by Bonilla on behalf of Abramoff.

Other affiliations

Bonilla's other professional affiliations include: * Senior fellow at

The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

* Chief economist for the National Chamber Foundation at the United States Chamber of Commerce and at the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET). * Chief economist for the

Employment Policies Institute The Employment Policies Institute is a fiscally conservative, non-profit American think tank that conducts and publishes research on employment issues, particularly aimed towards reducing the minimum wage. It was established in 1991 by Richard ...

focusing on health care and employment issues. * Economist for the House Committee on the Budget under then-chairman John Kasich. * Advisor to the Bush-Cheney campaign on the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act.

Death

He died on February 28, 2018, at the age of 63.

References

External links

Lobbying profile
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

* 2018 deaths American lobbyists American University alumni Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Latino conservatism in the United States The Heritage Foundation Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-poli-bio-stub