Appointed by President Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ron Sims served as the Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2011. As the second most senior official at HUD, he managed the day-to-day operations of an agency with 8,500 employees and an operating budget of nearly $40 billion. Prior to that, he served for 12 years as the elected Executive of Martin Luther King, Jr. County in Washington State. Ron was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee as Chair of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board, the organization responsible for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Washington State. He is also on the Board of Regents of Washington State University.