97 | Building on the Evidence Act

In late May 2023, Mathematica coordinated with Congressman Derek Kilmer’s office to host a discussion on Capitol Hill about the impact of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) and how to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making. This episode of On the Evidence features edited audio from the event with remarks from Kilmer and his House colleague, Rep. William Timmons, in addition to a panel discussion with experts from government, think tanks, research organizations, and academia. Kilmer represents Washington State’s Sixth District and was one of the Evidence Act’s original co-sponsors. He is also the sponsor of a new bipartisan resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking that would advise Congress on how to make greater strides in embedding the use of data and evidence in federal agencies but also in Congress itself. Timmons represents South Carolina’s Fourth District and is a co-sponsor of the resolution to establish a new evidence commission. The other speakers included Robert Groves, Nick Hart, Ruth Neild, and Susan Jenkins. Groves is a provost of Georgetown University and served as a member of the previous U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, whose recommendations informed the Evidence Act. Hart is the president and CEO of Data Foundation and served as policy and research director for the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Neild is an executive director of education and employment research at Mathematica and previously served as delegated director of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. Jenkins directs the Division of Evidence, Evaluation and Data Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she also serves as an evaluation officer. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/building-on-the-evidence-act-to-increase-the-positive-impact-of-federal-policymaking Learn more about the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which made recommendations ahead of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/management/commission_evidence Read a fact sheet from the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/fact-sheet-foundations-for-evidence-based-policymaking-act/ Read a press release about the resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking: https://kilmer.house.gov/media/press-releases/kilmer-spearheads-legislative-change-with-introduction-of-evidence-based-policymaking-resolution Read the bipartisan resolution to establish a new commission on evidence-based policymaking to further embed the use of data and evidence in federal decision making: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/49/text?s=1&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Evidence+commission%22%5D%7D