Recommendations of the Commission on Evidence-based Policymaking

PURPOSE:

• To examine recommendations from the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking (CEP).
• To understand how Congress can improve access to data, protect privacy and confidentiality, and facilitate the creation of evidence-based policies.

BACKGROUND:

• In March 2016, the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2016, sponsored by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), established a 15-person bipartisan commission tasked with developing recommendations to support research and evaluation of government programs.
• CEP conducted a comprehensive study to evaluate how the federal government accesses, shares, uses, secures, and evaluates data for evidence building.
• On September 7, 2017, CEP released their findings in a report titled, The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking: Report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. 
• The report contained 22 recommendations for increasing the use of data and evidence to evaluate government programs and develop evidence-based policy.