Impressions Worth Sharing

Written by Brad Knott November 18, 2016

As John and I finish our second month at State Public Policy Group, there are many impressions worth sharing. Here are a few.

1) The breadth and the depth of the work here is incredible! We are helping afterschool programs, educating business leaders on public health issues, helping rural Iowa physicians retain their independence, and studying factors impacting the financial capacity for Blacks in the greater community. These are just a few of the exciting issues SPPG is involved with that will make a difference in the quality of life for Iowans. It is an impressive list and one we look to expand as we grow SPPG.

2) We are also hearing about new issues crying out for workable, bi-partisan solutions, such as meeting a growing need for mental health and behavioral health services throughout Iowa and finding the difficult balance in the competing interests around Iowa’s water quality. These are big issues with diverse constituencies and no obvious or easy solution. But they are exactly the kind of issues we came to SPPG to work on.

3) We are also seeing growing opportunities to help our clients become better advocates in the public square for themselves and their member organizations. We see a great need to elevate the “public” in public policy. Public policy ideas need to be grounded in workable solutions. That process begins with a well-informed citizenry that is engaged in developing goals and solutions and organized and activated to advocate for needed change. We hope to enable our clients to better achieve their goals through broad based efforts at education and advocacy.

Finally, we are still in the “intake phase” at our new jobs; we are learning a lot about our clients and the important work they are doing. And we are also hearing from many others about issues we should consider getting involved with. We welcome this input and appreciate your consideration. Keep the ideas coming!