Committee on Government Relations

Abstract

The Executive Committee voted at its January 2009 meeting to establish a new Committee on Government Relations. The Committee was authorized to establish a Washington office for the Association and to hire a part time Washington representative. Katharine Abraham (University of Maryland) was appointed chair of the new committee. The other members are Angus Deaton (AEA president and Princeton), Catherine Eckel (University of Texas–Dallas), Robert Hall (AEA president-elect and Stanford), Robert Moffitt (Johns Hopkins), Charles Plott (California Institute of Technology), Richard Schmalensee (MIT), Charles Schultze (Brookings Institution), and James Smith (Rand Corporation). Rebecca Blank (formerly of the Brookings Institution) served as a member of the Committee until she was confirmed as Undersecretary of Commerce in June 2009. The Committee’s first tasks were to develop a mission statement for the new Washington office and a description of the duties to be performed by the Association’s Washington representative. Both were approved by the Executive Committee at its April 2009 meeting and are posted to the Committee’s new Web site; for reference, copies are attached to this report. The Washington representative is charged primarily with developing information about legislation, regulations and agency decisions pertinent to the scientific interests of the AEA and, working closely with the Committee on Government Relations, to keep members of the Association informed about these developments. On occasion, the Washington representative may be asked to provide informational materials to congressional staff, Members of Congress and Executive Branch officials, but under no circumstances will s/he express any view or take any position in an official capacity that might be construed as partisan. The Washington representative position was advertised in the spring. Roughly 40 applications were received, and a hiring subcommittee interviewed the top few applicants in mid June. Based on the report of the interviewing subcommittee, the full Committee’s consensus choice to fill the position was longtime National Science Foundation program officer Dan Newlon, who retired from the NSF in August. Newlon accepted the offer of a halftime position and began work October 1. A blast e-mail that went out to AEA members in October announced the formation of the Committee and Dan’s appointment as the AEA’s new Washington representative. Dan’s appointment also is noted on the Committee’s Web site. Dan is a very capable person who has the additional advantages of being well known to economists and very familiar with the concerns of the economics profession. We are delighted he has agreed to take on this new role. Since October 1, Newlon has been meeting with representatives of various organizations whose interests overlap with those of the AEA. The Committee has met by phone with Newlon roughly once every two weeks. Much of the time during those meetings has been devoted to defining more clearly the role of the committee and the Washington representative. The Committee has authorized Newlon to move forward with several activities: