Leroy Watson
Legislative Director; National Grange
Leroy Watson currently serves as the Legislative Director for the National Grange, the nation's oldest general farm and rural public interest organization. As the Legislative Director, Mr. Watson's duties include reviewing federal legislative and regulatory programs that impact the nearly 300,000 Grange members across rural America. Mr. Watson's primary areas of expertise includes federal farm programs, environment and land use regulations, and issues affecting rural infrastructure such as telecommunications, rural education, rural public safety and rural health care.
Prior to joining the National Grange, Mr. Watson was the Director of Regulatory Management for the non-profit National Biodiesel Board. In that capacity Mr. Watson was the primary author of several regulatory petitions that resulted in Biodiesel being certified as a legal fuel in the US under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and Biodiesel receiving the legal status of "alternative fuel" under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Mr. Watson has also served as the Legislative Director of the Vermont State Grange and in the positions of Field Director for both the Vermont Farm Bureau and the Vermont State Employees Association.
Mr. Watson received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Mr. Watson received his law degree from George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, VA, where he focused his studies on administrative and regulatory law. Mr. Watson also studied the administrative and regulatory law of the European Union at the University of Exeter in Exeter, England.
Mr. Watson continues to own and operate a small family farm in Southeastern Vermont.
Appearances
- Broadband: Should All Providers Be Regulated the Same? April 18, 2002
Biography last updated April 18, 2002