Jon Romano, communications director to former North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, has moved to the Simpson-Bowles “Fix the Debt” campaign as VP of communications.

The bi-partisan push for a deal to reduce the federal debt, led by former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wy.), has been ramping up its PR efforts since last month, urging legislators, the White House and the public to rally around a compromise to reduce the debt, which is now more than 70 percent of the U.S. economy ($11.1T).

Before joining Perdue’s administration in late 2011, Romano, a seasoned Democratic PR operative, led communications for Know Your Care, the advocacy group formed in April 2011 by prominent Democratic governors which promotes the benefits and services of the Affordable Care Act.

“During the lame duck legislative session, Congress and President Obama must find a way to avert the fiscal cliff while making meaningful progress to control our mounting debt,” Fix the Debt president Maya MacGuineas said Nov. 7, following the presidential election.

The “fiscal cliff” will spark a series of tax increase and spending cuts at the end of 2012. [Read Sphere Consulting's report on the fiscal cliff - PDF.]

The group spent October rolling out field offices in several states, including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Florida and Tennessee, and has drawn support from dozens of corporate chieftans. A paid advertising campaign and more field offices are on tap for November.

Fix the Debt is the private continuation of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, created by President Obama in 2010. That 18-member entity produced a report later that year advocating entitlement cuts and revenue increases to reduce the federal debt, but it failed to ratify the document with the needed 14 votes.