Public Policy Reports

1. Public Policy Reports Administrative Policy Writing Spring 2012

2. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Introduction • For the next two weeks, we are going to discuss public policy reports. • This is a broad topic. There are many different types of public policy reports produced by different branches of government and private organizations: • Reports produced by a committee of Congress or a state legislature on some problem facing the nation or state. • Reports produced by a government agency on the activities of that agency or need for new regulations. • Reports produced by private organizations to persuade policy makers to change the law on a particular issue. • Our focus will be on the third type. I’m going to call them “issue reports: reports designed to change policy.

3. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Why Study Public Policy Reports? • This unit will help you understand the audience, purpose, and components of these documents. • If you end up working in any field related to public policy, you may have to work with these documents. • If you work for an advocacy group or a government agency, you may end up drafting or editing a public policy report. • If you work in a regulated industry, you may also draft reports or evaluate and respond to these documents to determine their potential impact on your business.

4. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports • This week we are going to look at • The audience for issue reports • The purpose and subject-matter of issue reports • The difference between issue reports and investigation reports • The typical parts of a issue report • We will end today by looking at some real-world examples of issue reports.

5. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports • “Issue report” is a term I use to refer to any report produced to study some past or current problem in order to propose solutions or recommend action. • The primary audience for these reports are lawmakers. • However, there may be several additional audiences for these reports: • The public • Regulated industries • Agency heads / experts

6. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports • The purpose of these reports is usually to change public policy: • Pass new laws • Abolish existing laws • Create new regulatory programs • Change the way policy is implemented

7. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports v. Investigation Reports • Question: What is the difference between an “issue report” and a government investigation we talked about earlier? • The key difference is that public policy reports are concerned with matters of public policy (i.e. the law the applies to everyone). • They do not make decisions about individual incidents or cases. • Public policy reports may use individual cases or incidents to support a position on policy, but are not used as evidence to support action against an individual.

8. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports v. Investigation Reports • In contrast, an investigation report prepared by an agency often supports an enforcement action against a particular individual. • Example: TCEQ report on illegal tire disposal to support TCEQ action imposing a fine on the person who disposed. • Example: FAA report on poor aircraft maintenance. • Example: Health Department on sanitation at a restaurant. • Investigation reports may also seek to establish the cause of a particular event in order to take some specific action related to the event. • In contrast, public policy reports are generally concerned with particular events more broadly and their impact on policy.

9. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Subject Matter • Issue reports may explain past events in order to determine what went wrong. Such a report seeks to prevent a similar event from happening again by making policy changes. • Example: 9/11 Commission Report. • What was the problem addressed in that Report? • Issue reports may identify a current or developing problem and propose ways to remedy it. • Example: National Commission on Fiscal Reform and Responsibility (aka the Debt Commission) recently published a document called The Moment of Truth. • http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/news

10. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Authors • Earlier we said that issue reports can be written by the government or by private organizations. • Some example authors: • A special ad hoc committee of lawmakers • A govermental agency (experts in a field) • An special interest/lobbying group (NRA, AARP, etc.) • A research organization (Rand Corp., Brookings Institute)

11. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Authors • Some examples • The Moment of Truth: A report prepared by the “Debt Commission” (aka National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform). • A commission of lawmakers established by executive order to propose solutions to the national debt. • Parents and the High Cost of Childcare: A report prepared by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. • An advocacy group for child care resource and referral services.

12. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Typical Parts • Press Release • Transmittal Letter • Executive Summary • Chapters • Appendices • Persuasive Graphics • Arguments • Recommendations

13. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Press Release • When organizations publish public policy reports, they want to be noticed by the public. • Public concern = lawmaker concern. • So they will often prepare a press releases along with reports to provide members of a press with a quick summary of their arguments and findings. • Their hope is that their report will appear in the news. • Thus, a press release has to be calculated to do a number of things: • Be brief and to the point • Make the issue sound pressing • Have clear conclusions • Provide contact information for reporters • Notice how the following press release reads like a news story. Trying to do the reporter’s work for them?

15. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Transmittal Letter • Sometimes a public policy report is mandated by law. In this situation, the report is written to comply with this mandate. • Thus, sometimes you will see a transmittal letter or preface in which the writers formally present the report to whatever office or body is suppose to review it. • The transmittal letter is the writer’s way of stating that they have discharged their responsibilities to report on whatever issue they have been assigned.

18. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Executive Summary • The purpose of an executive summary is to provide a quick overview of the report that includes • The key findings and conclusions of the report • Policy recommendations supported by the findings. • Writers know that the executive summary is often the only part of the report read. • Thus, good writers take care to draft this summary document: • Focus on the big picture. Don’t get lost in the weeds. • Clear recommendations. No fence sitting.

21. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Chapters and Appendices • Issue reports are usually organized into chapters. Each chapter covers a particular aspect or instance of the issue. • Naming chapters by key points is one way to organize the report and show the reader what conclusions are reached by each chapter. • This strategy was used in the High Cost of Child Care report. • Consider the following alternatives for naming chapters in a report.

22. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Chapters and Appendices • Which chapter heading more effective at communicating the report’s message?

23. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Chapters and Appendices • Supporting data is usually attached as an appendix. • A report cluttered with a lot of data loses coherence as a unified story. • Creating an appendix is also a writing strategy to deal with the fact that the report likely has different kinds of readers: • Technical readers want all the data. They are very familiar with the subject and will scrutinize it more closely. • General readers trust the data. They just want the big picture and conclusions. • By putting the technical information in an appendix, it is still accessible to the technical reader, but it is sufficiently out of the way to prevent the report from being intimidating or boring to the general reader.

24. Key points organized into chapters Supporting data in appendices

25. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Persuasive Graphics • Skilled public policy report writers know that images have a significant impact on readers. • Images can evoke feelings (sympathy, outrage, etc.) • Because public policy reports are ultimately about persuasion, such images can be helpful to convince readers of the writer’s stance. • If the writer of an environmental report wants the reader to value the environment, he or she might include images of pristine wilderness or alternatively some horrible waste dump. • The unspoken message might be that we should adopt the environmental recommendations in this report because we value the environment so much. (And the images remind us of that.) • If your subject involves children, it is obligatory to include images of cute children who are presumably impacted by the policies at issue.

28. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Understand that a public policy report is essentially an argument. It may be presented in a very scientific and objective fashion. • But its ultimate purpose is to persuade the reader on some issue of policy. • Thus, it is not just about data. • It is about forming conclusions based on data. • These conclusions often include various value judgments, costs, benefits, and other debatable issues.

29. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Data alone cannot make a recommendation or help us decide what to do about a problem. Example:

30. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Does this fact alone support any particular change in policy? There are probably an infinite number of responses to this data. • First, do these numbers indicate a problem at all? Should child care cost families less? Is it in fact “high”? • The answer to that question is a value judgment. • It depends on how we view commercial child care service and how we value it as compared to other services. • Is affordable child care a need or a want? • If it is a need, how important is child care versus other needs (health care, employment, food, clothing, etc.)? • Second, if it is a problem, what is the proper solution? Each solution has potential costs and benefits. Each solution may reflect one value given priority over another.

31. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Matters of public policy affect society as a whole: both individuals and groups with a unique interest or “stake” in the matter. • There are also a number of stakeholders involved in this issue and policy question generally. Here I can think of several: • Child care providers who are charging these fees. • Parents with children • Employers • Taxpayers • Policy makers must weigh the various competing interests and tradeoffs to make decisions on public policy. • Policy reports usually present one perspective: the represent one side of the story. So policy makers must also consider other views that are not represented.

32. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Policy makers must also decide how a problem should be addressed: • Is this a problem the government is equipped to solve? • If so, which government is best suited to address the problem (state, local, federal)? • Is it is a local problem or a national problem? • If it is a national problem, is it within Congress’ powers? • Which branch of the government or which agency is equipped to remedy this problem?

33. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Consider the policy question involved in the child care report. • A fact cited above is that center-based infant care exceeded $10,000 per year in 16 states. • The report also claims that in 2009, center-based child care fees exceeded a family’s rent payments in 24 states. • Does this show a problem that policy-makers should address?

34. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Argument • Is that excessive? Should families expect to pay less than the figures cited in this report? • If we agree that the cost of child care is in fact too high because it exceeds other household costs, the second question in terms of policy is … • What should be done about it? Can the government do something positive? Which government? How? • The authors of this report have some specific recommendations, but it is important to remember that there are almost infinite possible solutions.

35. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Recommendations • Recommendations usually come at the end of a report. • Presumably after the reader has reviewed all the supporting data. • Sometimes the recommendations call for specific policies or changes to laws. • Sometimes they call for more research into a particular area of the problem. • Consider the recommendations from the child care report.

37. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Recommendations • Are there other solutions? When reading and writing public policy report, learn to think in the alternative! • We could forbid providers from charging so much. • Families with children could utilize other forms of child care (grandparents) • Families with children could dedicate one parent to child care. • Families with children could cut other expenses (iPhones, new cars, etc.) • Encourage fathers to stick around to reduce burden of single-parent households • Encourage parents to have fewer children • Allow children to come to work with their parents • Require employers to provide child care • Increase tax deduction for child care expenses • Provide free child care to all at public expense • How would each solution affect the stakeholders? How does each proposal reflect a set of values about the family and child-rearing?

38. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Debt Commission Example • How do public policy reports actually influence policy? • Let’s look at one more example of an issue report to see how these reports influence politics. • The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (aka the Debt Commission)was formed at the direction of President Obama to study the U.S. budget and debt. • The President created this commission by executive order in February 2010. • The Commission was required make proposals to balance the U.S. budget.

39. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Issue Reports: Debt Commission Example • The Commission was made up of Republicans and Democrats in Congress and other individuals appointed by the President. • The Commission’s findings and proposals were published in December 2010 in a document called The Moment of Truth. • Upon publication, this report was widely discussed in the media and added to the existing debate on the U.S. budget and deficit.

44. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Debt Commission • The report proposed sweeping changes and cuts to the budget. • So what happened after the report was issued? • President Obama subsequently issued a proposed budget to Congress that did not adopt the Commission’s recommendations. • This is the reality of politics. Recommendations are often ignored. • But they may have other important purposes. • The report can put the issues into the public square, promoting discussion and influencing public opinion. • Other lawmakers have read it and may agree or disagree with its findings. It might influence their vote on the budget. • In this way, reports have the power to frame the debate and set its parameters.

47. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Project • Our final project for the class is an analysis of a public policy report. This project has two parts. The first part is due this week. • Search the internet for a public policy report on some issue you are interested in. • The best way to do this is to search for groups that are involved in your issue. • Search their web site for reports on policy issues. • Be careful to pick something that is neither too long nor too short. • A one page pamphlet is too short for this project. • A 100 page report is too long.

48. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Project • Once you have found your report, your assignment is to read it and prepare a short brief. • Summarize its factual findings and conclusions • Decide who the stakeholders in this issue are. You should identify several. Think broadly by asking – who may be affected by this group’s recommendations? • Next week, you will write a critical response to the report, evaluating its claims and recommendations, and providing your own view.

49. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Public Policy Reports Part II Critical Reading

50. Administrative Policy WritingSpring 2012 Recap • Last week we talked about public policy reports as a tool of communication used to persuade policy-makers. They usually consist of arguments based on some kind of data. • Statistics • Surveys • Investigations • Today I want to focus on the anatomy of a policy argument so that you can respond to and defend policy arguments more intelligently. • As a writer and participant in public life, it is important to understand that matters of policy are not certain.