Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission Releases Recommendations

Feb. 25, 2013
Newseum (Knight Conference Center - 7th Floor)

The recommendations of the 21-member BPC Housing Commission are the culmination of a 16-month process that engaged the housing community both inside and outside of the Beltway through a series of roundtable discussions and regional housing forums.

Governor Robert McDonnell's Transportation Funding Proposal

Feb. 14, 2013
George Mason University's School of Public Policy

The Eno Center for Transportation, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the George Mason University’s School of Public Policy held a forum on Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s Transportation Funding Proposal.

A Framework for Assuring Patient Safety in Health IT

Feb. 13, 2013
Bipartisan Policy Center

Health information technology plays a critical role in improving the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of care. Rapidly emerging new delivery system and payment models designed to reduce costs, improve quality, and improve the patient’s experience of care require a solid health IT foundation to be successful.

State of the Union: The Speechwriters' Perspective

Feb. 12, 2013
Bipartisan Policy Center

As President Obama prepared to give the first State of the Union address of his second term, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) hosted White House speechwriters from past administrations for a conversation on what to expect in the speech and personal reflections on each of their experiences.

Capitalizing on the Evolving Power Sector: Policies for a Modern and Reliable U.S. Electric Grid

Feb. 7, 2013
Bipartisan Policy Center

The U.S. electric power sector is undergoing a significant transition with implications for the cost, reliability, and environmental impact of the nation’s electricity supply. Most importantly, natural gas and renewable energy are projected to comprise an increasing share of the generation mix due to economic trends and state and federal policies.

Yet there are a number of challenges that, if unaddressed, have the potential to raise the costs of this transition and impede improvements to reliability or the affordable delivery of cleaner energy resources. At the same time, this ongoing shift provides an opportunity to evaluate policies and institutional structures that can encourage electric system reliability and the cost-effective deployment of new technologies and infrastructure.

BPC President Jason Grumet speaks at National Renewable Energy Policy Forum

Feb. 6, 2013
Cannon House Office Building (Cannon Caucus Room)

Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) President Jason Grumet participated in a panel discussion on the bipartisan legacy of energy policy as part of the American Council On Renewable Energy's National Renewable Energy Policy Forum.

The Debt Ceiling and Fiscal Follies

Feb. 6, 2013
Bipartisan Policy Center

Washington may have temporarily averted the debt ceiling disaster, but in the eyes of Wall Street, the debt ceiling still poses a great danger to the world economy during a time of such great fiscal austerity.

The Bipartisan Policy Center hosted a distinguished panel of financial market experts, Wall Street investors and opinion makers to discuss various aspects surrounding the debt ceiling debate and how it complicates fiscal issues around the world. The panel debated the market consequences and practical financial impacts that will result from defaulting, and they also evaluated the effects that government inaction will have on the domestic and global economy at large.

Out of Time: An American Crisis

Jan. 29, 2013
The George Washington University Jack Morton Auditorium

An economic crisis threatens the American Dream. Real-world players confront wrenching tradeoffs. Can they act in time? Can Americans still come together to accomplish great things?

A unique role-playing scenario produced by GW Face the Facts USA in association with the Bipartisan Policy Center and AmericaSpeaks

Twitter Q&A with BPC's Steve Bell

Jan. 29, 2013
BPC Twitter feed

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) hosted a live Twitter Q&A featuring Steve Bell, senior director of BPC's Economic Policy Project. Bell fielded questions on emerging economic trends, the looming sequester, and legislation passed last week in the House that would reshape BPC's debt limit "X Date" projection.

Senior Vice President Bill Hoagland testifies before House Committee on Ways and Means

Jan. 22, 2013
1100 Longworth House Office Building

Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Senior Vice President Bill Hoagland testified before the House Committee on Ways and Means during a hearing focused on the debt limit. Witnesses addressed how past Congresses and Presidents have negotiated and raised the limit, and whether the Constitution provides options to the Executive Branch when the debt limit is reached.

Watch video of the hearing here.

Read BPC's Debt Limit Analysis here.

Improving Quality and Reducing Costs in Health Care: Engaging Consumers Using Electronic Tools

Dec. 10, 2012
Bipartisan Policy Center

The engagement of consumers using online and electronic tools, including mobile technology, is a central and necessary component of high-quality, cost-effective, patient-centered care, as well as rapidly emerging delivery system and payment reforms.

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) explored ways in which clinicians, hospitals, health plans, technology companies and mobile health organizations have innovated, enabling consumers to have timely access to their health information, improve communication and coordination with their clinicians and care teams, and engage in strategies to improve their health and health care. Participants discussed the policies and strategies that will accelerate and promote the widespread adoption of these innovations.

Countering Online Radicalization in America

Dec. 4, 2012
Bipartisan Policy Center

From Al Qaeda to white supremacists, the internet plays an increasingly important role in radicalizing homegrown and domestic terrorists. BPC's Homeland Security Project released its latest report, Countering Online Radicalization in America, which explains how online radicalization works and what needs to be done to counter it. Based on extensive research and dozens of interviews with experts and policymakers, it sets out a balanced and practical approach, which respects American values while protecting the homeland from terrorism. The co-chairs outlined their conclusions, and a panel discussion followed.

Where Do We Go From Here? A Post-Election Analysis of Federal Transportation Policy

Nov. 30, 2012
Bipartisan Policy Center

Although reauthorizations of both the surface transportation and aviation bills were enacted in this Congress, many questions remain for a re-elected Obama administration and the new congress to address. Certainly, the levels of federal funding for investment in transportation infrastructure will be affected by broader considerations of the nation’s fiscal circumstances, including persistent annual budget deficits and possible consideration of comprehensive tax reform. This panel of transportation experts and stakeholders examined pressing questions in that context:

Are there likely to be increases in user-based transportation revenues, including the federal gasoline tax, and how will the administration and Congress deal with the continued viability of the Highway and Aviation Trust Funds? From where will the money come to invest in infrastructure, including addressing the protection of vulnerable coastal and inland areas from the likelihood of future, and potentially catastrophic, floods and storm surges? Will infrastructure investment be part of any ‘grand bargain’ over deficit and debt reduction? And how might the results of the 2012 presidential and congressional elections influence legislative and administrative actions both in the current ‘lame duck’ session and in the next two years?

Looking Back to Move Forward: The 1990 Budget Summit Revisited

Nov. 28, 2012
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 608

On the last day of the 1990 fiscal year, after months of difficult bipartisan negotiations, the President and leaders of Congress reached an agreement that yielded budget savings and lasting process reforms. What led to agreement then? Why was the initial agreement defeated? What lessons does that experience hold for today?

The Executive Branch and National Energy Policy: Time for Renewal

Nov. 27, 2012
The National Press Club (Holeman Lounge)

Remarkable developments are changing America’s energy landscape. Increases in domestic shale gas and oil production, growth in renewable energy, and steady efficiency improvements in all sectors of the economy have put the country on an energy and economic path that few predicted possible.

Building upon these achievements while addressing ever-present energy security threats as well as a range of environmental challenges, will require national leadership, vision, and careful policy choices.

Leadership starts with a re-invigorated approach to developing our national energy policy – an approach that can help overcome the problems that have hampered past efforts and put us on a more inclusive, balanced, resilient and enduring path. BPC’s Energy Project explored these challenges and discussed our recommendations for improving executive branch energy policy development, implementation, and accountability.