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Democracy depends on bipartisanship

BPC works with both sides to craft viable solutions that improve lives

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“BPC provides a place to do the hard, often unglamorous work that is vital to our democracy.”

About BPC

The Bipartisan Policy Center is a not-for-profit organization that ensures policymakers work across party lines to craft bipartisan solutions.
By bringing together Republicans and Democrats—and providing them with the space, policy insights, and evidence-based research they need to negotiate in good faith—we help turn legislators’ best ideas into passable, durable laws. Since 2007, the Bipartisan Policy Center has helped shepherd countless bills across the finish line.

Our Mission

Build connections.
Negotiate policy.
Achieve bipartisan solutions.
Improve lives.

The Truth About Bipartisanship

  • Bipartisanship is not about abandoning your party or politics.
    We never ask anyone to surrender their partisan beliefs.
    The best solutions emerge from the give and take between political opponents. Bipartisanship is in the details—in finding ways to marry policy ideas and political principles from both sides to produce something greater than the sum of its parts.
  • Bipartisanship is not a relic of the past.
    Bipartisanship is more critical than ever.
    And it’s precisely because Congress is so sharply divided between the two parties that bipartisanship remains so critical. With it, bills get passed. Without it, everything stalls—and America suffers. Members understand this. They know their only hope of creating durable, passable policy is to negotiate with their colleagues in the other party. BPC helps make that possible.

A Brief History of BPC

Starting in 2002, the work of the National Commission on Energy Policy revealed a real eagerness within both parties to work together to secure shared legislative wins. A few years later, in 2007, the success of the NCEP evolved into plans for something bigger, grander, and authentically bipartisan.

With bipartisan winds at their back, some of the most respected members of both parties, Senate leaders —Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, George Mitchell, and Howard Baker—founded the Bipartisan Policy Center. BPC quickly became America’s smartest, hardest-working advocate for bipartisanship in Washington DC.

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“The oxygen of democracy is compromise. We need BPC now more than ever because our democracy is at stake.”
BPC Founder Tom Daschle

In the 15+ years since our founding, BPC has played an integral role in countless legislative accomplishments.

  1. CHIPS and Science Act

    BPC was instrumental in moving this once-in-a-generation competitiveness package over the finish line. CHIPS boosts American manufacturing, national security, and the next generation of energy innovation.

  2. Secure 2.0 Act

    Our recommendations were the basis for provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act to expand participation in workplace retirement and emergency savings plans and extend support to small business owners who are helping their workers prepare for retirement.

  3. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

    We worked hand and hand with representatives and senators to pass more than $1 trillion in investments for infrastructure and the national clean energy transition.

  4. Earmark Reform

    After two years of leading the conversation about reinstating and reforming earmarks, the House releases new guardrails, eight of which align with our recommendations and revitalize Congress’s constitutional power of the purse.

  5. COVID Relief

    BPC is intimately involved in shaping COVID relief legislation. We help ensure Congress provides substantial support to vital programs and industries, such as health care, child care, paid leave, higher education, and housing.

  6. American Congressional Exchange (ACE)

    BPC launches the ACE program, which pairs two members of Congress to visit each other’s district to discover their shared interests. BPC focuses on pairing members whose districts are different in numerous ways: location, culture, politics, etc. ACE fosters understanding between members and their constituents.

  7. 21st-Century Cures Act

    The Cures Act—which reflects most of the recommendations in our report, “Advancing Medical Innovation for a Healthier America”—will create groundbreaking medical innovations that help millions of Americans with life-threatening diseases.

  8. Raising the Debt Ceiling

    In 2011, BPC’s analysis of the impending debt ceiling—and the disastrous consequences of breaching it—is lauded by House Republican Leadership and the Obama Administration as a driving force behind congressional approval to raise the debt ceiling.

  9. Defining Debt Solutions

    A task force at BPC, known as the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force, releases a bipartisan plan to solve the nation’s fiscal crisis. The plan, along with the Simpson-Bowles Commission proposal, is still referenced as the roadmap for addressing the nation’s debt.

Learn More About BPC

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“These are issues that address all of us across the country, no matter what political party you are in.”
BPC Interim CEO Kelly Darnell

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