Thank You for Joining Us at AABPA's Spring 2019 Symposium!

It reminded us all that #AnalysisMatters

Blum Award: AABPA presented the 2019 James L. Blum Award to Teri Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis at CBO, and Phil Joyce, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of Management, Finance and Leadership at the Maryland School of Public Policy. Both Teri and Phil are past presidents of AABPA and are highly respected across the budgeting community.

Keynote: William Gale shared his prescription for Fiscal Therapy – Curing America’s Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future. It starts with recognizing our two intertwined problems: rising public debt and the way we tax and spend. And, it requires a three-part solution: control entitlements (preserve anti-poverty and social insurance features); boost children’s programs, human capital, infrastructure, and research; and raise and reform taxes. William Gale's Slides

The Role of Analysis in the Amazon HQ2 Process in Virginia: the importance of reliable, credible analysis came through clearly. Two factors of note were 1) the spirit of “coop-etition” across the region that was embedded in Arlington’s proposal; and 2) the fact that Arlington and Alexandria had already-adopted plans addressing issues of interest to Amazon, such as transportation and education, and these plans envision more growth than HQ2 requires. Slides from this session

The Growth and Evolution of Public Policy Education: reviewed the NASPAA accreditation process and provided extensive information about the scope and breadth of programs and degrees in policy analysis and public administration of value to practitioners at all levels of experience. Slides from this session

Enriching the Debate: Insights and Policy Successes from State and Federal Leaders: reviewed how the Pew Charitable Trusts, Volcker Alliance, and Congressional Research Service produced relevant and timely analyses which led to evidence-based policy changes in Arizona and Utah, as well as greater understanding by federal lawmakers of the fiscal connections between levels of government.
Slides from this session: 1) William Glasgall, 2) Stephen Bailey

What’s Under the Evidence-based Umbrella? Major reforms and initiatives are underway across the government for making data accessible and useful to decision-making. These are advancing the use of rigorous approaches (such as tiered evidence models and randomized control trials) and the establishment of learning agendas within agencies. Nick Hart's Handout

The Post-Shutdown Budget Landscape: Shutdowns are not a new occurrence; however, the Congress has introduced multiple proposals on how to address a lapse in appropriation in the future. As of now, no appropriations have been enacted for fiscal year 2020, there is a desire to reach a budget deal for the discretionary caps, and the Treasury will run out of options for debt financing in the fall. A lot will be happening over the next few months. Slides from this session: 1) James Saturno, 2) Edward Liu, 3) Justin Riordan

And--we took time at lunch to remember inspirations we've said good-bye to in recent weeks: Alice Rivlin, Stan Collender, and OMB and CBO stalwarts Bing Bradshaw and CG Nuckols. Reminded us all how much we draw upon each other as a community.