It's not often you see Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree on much let alone reforms to the way the federal budget and policy are adopted. This is what makes the bipartisan introduction of the Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington (D) and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (R) so exciting. Sen. Murray currently serves as Chairman of Committee on the Budget in the Senate and Rep. Ryan as Chairman of the Committee on the Budget in the House.

According to their joint press-release:

The bill would establish a 15-member commission to study how best to expand the use of data to evaluate the effectiveness of federal programs and tax expenditures. The commission would also study how best to protect the privacy rights of people who interact with federal agencies and ensure confidentiality.

Specifically, the commission would determine whether the federal government should establish a clearinghouse for program and survey data, which qualified researchers from both the private and public sector could access and use to perform program evaluations and policy-relevant research. By coordinating data across federal programs and tax expenditures, and giving researchers greater access to that data, federal agencies would gain a better grasp of how effective they are, and lawmakers would gain a better grasp of how to improve them.

This proposal could one day lay the foundation for Congress to move towards performance-based budgeting and policy making.

After receiving a request to comment on the proposal from Sen. Murray’s office, Washington Policy Center President Dann Mead Smith met with Congressional Senate and House budget committee staff last week on Capitol Hill to discuss this effort and offer WPC assistance to help move this important reform forward.

Sen. Murray's office sent us this comment from the Senator about the proposal:

Thanks to a tradition of bipartisan efforts at the state level, Washington state has long been a leader in using data and evidence-based policymaking to increase efficiency and transparency in public spending. The legislation I’ve introduced with Chairman Ryan builds on that legacy of using evidence, data, and common sense, and would help make government work better for families and communities, both when it comes to federal programs and spending through our tax code. I am proud of the work I did with Chairman Ryan on a bipartisan budget deal that put a halt to the constant crises and restored some certainty to the budget process, and I believe this new bipartisan legislation is another important step toward ensuring all Americans have a government that works for them and delivers real results.

Rep. Ryan's office sent us this comment from the Congressman:

Hardworking taxpayers deserve a government that works for them. Whether at the state or federal level, government should be both efficient and effective. That’s why I'm happy to work with Chairman Murray on this proposal—because we need to put the focus not on effort, but on results.

Washington Policy Center has been a long-time supporter of focusing government spending at all levels on actually delivering performance outcomes and ensuring that decisions are based on an analysis of performance data. Along with encouraging the state to fully utilize former Governor Locke's Priorities of Government (POG) budget process, WPC has been an advocate for former Governor Gregoire's performance management efforts (GMAP) and Governor Inslee's Results Washington.

It is good to see the other Washington recognize the value of these budget best practices. Hopefully budget decisions in both Washingtons will soon be based on delivering performance outcomes while making policy decisions based on the evidence of what works and what is achieving the goals of government programs instead of feel good talking points.