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Alexander Hecht

Executive Vice President & Director of Operations

AHecht@mlstrategies.com

+1.202.434.7333

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Alex is Executive Vice President & Director of Operations, ML Strategies, Washington, DC. He is an attorney with more than 10 years of senior-level experience in Congress and trade associations.

Alex assists clients with their legislative and regulatory needs on a wide range of issues, including health care, telecommunications, cybersecurity & privacy, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), technology, energy, and federal procurement. Prior to joining ML Strategies, Alex served for over six years as chief counsel for Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) on the US Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship. He was the lead policy counsel for Senator Snowe on health insurance market reform, individual and employer-based insurance, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, and health care tax incentives. He worked on numerous bills, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Small Business Health Fairness Act, and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Act. He advocated for health care legislative and regulatory issues before Senate Finance, HELP, Commerce, and Homeland Security Committees, as well as the US Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor. Along with health care policy, he advised Senator Snowe on energy, financial services, innovation, and technology matters.

Alex is regarded as one of the leading congressional staff specialists on the regulatory process and how federal agencies promulgate rules and regulations. He has developed numerous bills and amendments reducing the regulatory compliance burden of business.

Prior to working on Capitol Hill, Alex was a legislative analyst, with a focus on health and environmental regulatory issues, at the National Multi Housing Council. He was also a research clerk at the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, studying Medicaid reimbursement and long-term health insurance planning. Alex was also the chief articles editor for the Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy at the University of Houston Law Center.

Education

  • George Washington University (LLM)
  • University of Houston Law Center (JD)
  • University of Texas - Austin (BA)

Recognition & Awards

  • JD Supra Readers' Choice Awards: a Top Author on the Affordable Care Act (2016)

  • Champion of Small Business Innovation: "For Exemplary work on behalf of America's SBIR Community" - Presented by Small Business Technology Council and National Small Business Association (2012)

  • The Council for Excellence in Government: Cutting the Red Tape Excellence Award

Case Studies

Case Study Hero Karl-Storz Mintz Case Study
On behalf of Karl Storz Endoscopy, ML Strategies has advocated for uniform federal regulation to protect patient safety before the FDA and with members of Congress — and defeated the digital right to repair from being implemented in Massachusetts.

Recent Insights

Events

Viewpoints

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Read the inaugural issue of AI: The Washington Report, a joint undertaking of Mintz and ML Strategies covering potential federal legislative, executive, or regulatory activities related to AI.
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This issue of Hill to Hill covers the budget and appropriations process on Capitol Hill, developments related to the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health and the CHIPS and Science Act, the start of the new Massachusetts legislative session and proposals filed by the Healey-Driscoll administration, and recent ML Strategies events.
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The next three weeks will be full of activity in Washington D.C., as the House of Representatives and Senate are working to push their legislative agendas to garner support from their constituents ahead of an August recess and before political “silly season” officially kicks in ahead of the upcoming mid-term elections in November. Here’s our latest update on what you can expect in Congress during the July work period.
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The second half of 2021 will be a busy stretch for Congress. In addition to the typical must-pass legislation, Democrats controlling both chambers and the White House are committed to several big spending bills, too. This preview is a rundown of these bills, what’s included in them, and how we can expect them to play out.
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The bills listed reflect a relatively active cybersecurity agenda for the 117th Congress.  As reflected in the proposed legislation, many Members are interested in focusing federal policy on matters such as supply chain security, cyber workforce training, and international competitiveness, particularly with China.  The most ambitious bill may be the Endless Frontiers Act, which would establish a Directorate for Technology and Innovation within the National Science Foundation and further establish regional hubs (i.e., partnerships between government, private, and academic stakeholders) to drive R&D and commercial innovation in key areas of technology.  Endless Frontiers could be the centerpiece of a legislative agenda to ramp up the U.S.’s technological competitiveness with China.  The Senate Commerce Committee was scheduled to mark-up the bill last Wednesday, but it was pulled after over 230 amendments were reportedly filed, and Members failed to garner a critical mass of bipartisan support.  The committee will likely work through the recess to seek bipartisan agreement for passage. 
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Since the Democrats reclaimed control of the House of Representatives in 2018, barrels of ink have been spilled on the topic of “congressionally-directed spending”. Better known as earmarks, this funding mechanism allows Members of Congress to send money directly to projects identified in their districts, largely bypassing the federal bureaucracy and its protracted grant application process. For more than a decade, the Congress has banned the practice of including congressionally-directed funding in spending bills. Now, Democrats in control of both chambers and the White House are poised to bring earmarks back. On March 17th, House Republicans voted to reverse the GOP Conference’s ten year-old ban on congressionally directed spending, paving the way for Members from both parties to make requests in upcoming spending and infrastructure bills.
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With the presidential transition underway, we now look forward to what the Biden administration will seek to accomplish, particularly in the realm of health care policy.
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Read about the post-election impact on international trade matters and the incoming administration's influence on the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. (CFIUS).

News & Press

Events

Oct
26
2023

A Conversation with Governor Bill Weld

Mintz Toronto Office (200 Bay St, South Tower Suite 2800 Toronto, ON M5J 2J3)

Jun
19
2019

Health Care & Cybersecurity: A Powerful Combination

Mintz, ML Strategies, & Zingbox

Washington, DC

May
17
2016