Dan Morris

2008: A Fascinating Year for Public Policy, Not Just Electoral Politics

From inside Capitol Hill to City Halls and Statehouses around the country, elected officials this year missed opportunities to save homeowners, invest in infrastructure, prevent global warming, and give workers paid leave, but they did try to go after predatory lenders, incentivize development near mass transit, help prisoners re-enter society, clean up dirty ports, and propose other legislation that would benefit Americans during economic crisis, according to the 2008 Year in Review DMI released today.

The report looks behind the biggest headlines to offer a fresh examination of urban, state, and federal policy ideas affecting how many current and aspiring middle-class Americans live. It dissects the ten best and ten worst proposals, offering President-elect Obama, Congress, and other elected officials examples of model policies that can inform future legislation, along with examples of what to rethink or abandon.

There have been images lately of governors and mayors going to Washington, but our Year in Review highlights instances where the pilgrimage should be reversed and federal leaders can learn from state and local policy innovations. We fill a void by highlighting economic, environmental, and labor policy ideas that have been either proposed or enacted despite the constraints of ideology and demands of politics.

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Posted at 3:22 PM, Dec 11, 2008 in
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