Steve Tobocman

Steven Tobocman (born January 27, 1970) is a former politician from the state of Michigan. He was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives until term limits forced him to give up his seat at the end of 2008. A Democrat, he represented the 12th district in Southwest Detroit. Tobocman was elected to be the Democratic Floor Leader for the 2007-2008 legislative session and voiced his support for Rashida Tlaib, as his successor.

Early life

After attaining his law degree and masters in public policy from the University of Michigan in 1997, Tobocman was the founding director of Community Legal Resources (recently renamed Michigan Community Resources), a business law pro bono initiative providing hundreds of nonprofit organizations and community development corporations with free legal services. Steve launched Community Legal Resources while working as a Skadden Fellow and then Equal Justice Works fellow. From 1995-2002, Steve served the state’s community development industry as a lawyer and advocate and served on the founding boards of both the Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) and the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM), the city and statewide trade association for the community development industry. He has taught as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School and the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

He has served on the boards of Clark Park Coalition, Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, the ACLU Metro Detroit Board, the Alumni Board of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, and the Detroit Jewish Initiative.

Political career

Tobocman was elected in 2002, and in 2007, he was elected the Democratic Floor Leader. In the house, Tobocman wrote legislation dealing with illegal immigration. The Michigan Immigration Clerical Assistant Act, written by Tobocman, is an important consumer protection law for immigrants.

Current Work

Since completing his time in elected office, Tobocman has served as the co-director of the Michigan Foreclosure Task Force, a 200-member network of foreclosure counseling agencies, community development corporations, legal services attorneys, neighborhood associations, local governments, statewide trade associations, and banks that work on the front lines of the foreclosure crisis in Michigan. He co-directs the Michigan Political Leadership Program at Michigan State University, and is involved in a number of other public policy initiatives, including spearheading Global Detroit, a regional economic development strategy that looks at immigrants and internationals as a means of revitalizing metro Detroit’s economy. He is currently the Managing Partner of New Solutions Group, LLC.