The mission of In the Public Interest reads, in part:
We help community organizations, advocacy groups, public officials, researchers, and the general public understand how the privatization of public goods impacts service quality, democracy, equity, and government budgets.
We also advocate for strengthening, adequately funding, and building popular support for a government that works for all of us.
But our name isn’t “In the Government Interest.” We’re about “public” things – things that we do together and that we can only do if we do it together. Like clean the air, educate every child, get broadband access to every home, keep or food and water supply safe, and more. What happens in government happens because we – the public – made it so. That’s why when we see government work for all of us, we want to make sure others see it, as well. But we need to remember that it us – the public – that made those things happen.
I often say government actions–and actors–are ubiquitous—and invisible at the same time. We think they deserve some visibility.
For instance, did you know that in April of this year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the first-ever national, legally enforceable water standard to protect communities from PFAS—”forever chemicals”—pollution. The EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap is part of a whole-of-government effort to ensure that all Americans have access to clean, safe drinking water. The federal government is investing $15 billion to replace toxic lead pipes, with funding provided to every sate and US territory—while creating new jobs—many of them union jobs.
Did you know that in 2022, the White House released the Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, to tackle a crisis that has been particularly devastating for Black women, Native women, and women in rural communities? The administration gave states a new option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months, and 46 states implemented the extended coverage. It is also making significant investments in Rural Maternal Care.
Did you know the administration allocated $3.3 billion to reverse the devastating, long-term impact of the Federal Aid Highway Act that catered to the convenience of suburban commuters and interstate travelers over communities of Black and Brown in urban neighborhoods? Those funds are a down-payment on a process to reunite these communities split apart by policies purposefully created to break up such neighborhoods.
And did you know that the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program provides $5 billion over five years (FY 2022-2026) to replace existing school buses with zero-emission and clean school buses? That’s $55.7M in Rebates for Pennsylvania alone.
Did you know that, of the 166 federal judges confirmed from 2021 through 2023, 108 are women, 73 are women of color, 37 served as public defenders, and 24 have practiced civil rights law? During this time, more Black women have been appointed to circuit courts than every other prior president in the history of our nation combined, and more Hispanic judges have been confirmed to the appellate courts than any other administration. That makes our justice system a lot more diverse, and a lot less corporate.
Maybe it seems a little too in the weeds, too wonky, to do a deep dive into the “deep state” —the agencies, the sub-cabinet level roles, the regional offices, the little corners of what we call bureaucracy almost as an insult. But it’s at this level that government action becomes real for people. It’s also important to remember those actions are guided by the policy directives of the people we elect to public office.
There’s a lot more to do on all of these and many other issues – more lead to remove from our water systems, more action on climate change, more access to health care and more to repair the damage of systemic racism.
But as we fight forward, more people should know the positive impacts government action has on our lives that are happening today. That’s why we’ve created a series of graphics for social media (you’ll find the first batch shareable on our LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X platforms—we’ll be making them downloadable and adding to them in the future through our website) that draws attention to the ways government action can (and should) make us safer, healthier, and more connected to one another.
Donald Cohen
Executive Director