Program for Public Consultation (PPC)
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The Program for Public Consultation (PPC) is joint program of the Center on Policy Attitudes (COPA) and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. PPC was established to develop the methods and theory of public consultation and to conduct public consultations. In particular it will work with government agencies to help them consult their citizens on key public policy issues that the government faces. The Center on Policy Attitudes was established in 1992 with the express purpose of giving the public a greater voice in the public policy process. Its staff includes social scientists trained in various forms of research, especially survey research, as well as having broad background in public policy.
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- ItemTerm Limits for Members of Congress(2023-03-21) Steven Kull; Evan Fehsenfeld; Evan "Charles" LewitusEfforts to establish term limits on Members of Congress have been undertaken for nearly a century, with the first Congressional vote taking place in 1945. States have also tried to put term limits on their own federal legislators, and currently over half of states have such laws on their books, but they were struck down by the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that a constitutional amendment is needed to establish term limits on federal legislators, and thus requires support from two thirds of Congress or two thirds of states. Congress almost achieved this in 1995, after the Supreme Court decision, but fell a few dozen votes short. That was the last time there was a vote on term limits in Congress. An overwhelming majority (83%) favored passing a constitutional amendment to establish term limits in Congress, with little difference between partisans: 86% of Republicans, 80% of Democrats and 84% of independents. Bipartisan support for this proposal has remained steady since PPC’s first public consultation survey on term limits in 2017, which found 80% in support (Republicans 88%, Democrats 73%).
- ItemTwo-Thirds of Voters Favor a $15 Federal Minimum Wage, $12 Gets Bipartisan Support(2023-04-06) Steven Kull; Evan Fehsenfeld; Evan "Charles" LewitusAn in-depth study conducted by the Program for Public Consultation (PPC) at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy finds that two-thirds of American voters favor raising the federal minimum wage to $15, including a majority of Democrats but less than half of Republicans. However, there is bipartisan majority support for a $12 minimum wage.
- ItemSix-in-Ten Voters Favor Carbon Fee and Rebate Plan(2021-03) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan "Charles"Bipartisan Majority Rejects Suspending Regulations on Emissions as Part of Plan – A new in-depth national survey finds that 62% of registered voters favor one of the few proposals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions that has support from both Republican and Democratic leaders — the carbon fee and rebate. This proposal would charge a fee on energy companies per ton of emissions (to encourage transitions to alternative energy sources), with a substantial portion of the costs presumably passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy costs (to encourage efficiency). To offset the higher energy costs, the revenue from the fee would be returned as a rebate to consumers on an equal basis. For low to middle income consumers the rebate would more than offset the higher energy costs. This proposal has been promoted by former Republican officials James Baker and the recent George Schultz as part of the Climate Leadership Council and was endorsed in a recent letter signed by over 3,500 economists, including dozens of Nobel Laureate winners, former Chairs of the Council of Economic Advisers, and former Chairs of the Federal Reserve Board, including both Republicans and Democrats. Variations of the proposal appear in several pieces of Congressional legislation including H.R. 763, S. 2284, H.R. 4051, S. 1128, S. 4484 and H.R. 4142 from the 116th Congress.
- ItemTwo-in-Three Voters Favor Creating National Green Bank(2021-06) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan "Charles"In a new in-depth survey, two-thirds of registered voters favored legislation calling for the federal government to create a national green bank to invest in and promote private investment in clean energy. Green banks are public, non-profit banks and currently exist at state and local levels. The legislative proposal respondents evaluated is called the National Climate Bank Act, which would create a national bank with $35 billion of seed money, to support existing green banks, help to create new ones in US cities and states, and invest directly in clean energy projects. The basis of the legislative proposals were two bills in the 116th Congress (National Green Bank Act and National Climate Bank Act). The National Climate Bank Act has been resubmitted in the 117th Congress and is earmarked at a higher level of funding.
- ItemLarge Majorities Favor Congressional Proposals Limiting Negative Consequences of Criminal Records(2021-04-15) Kull, Steven; Fehsenfeld, Evan; Lewitus, Evan "Charles"Large majorities of American voters support reforms that would limit or remove barriers to economic opportunities, housing, and voting for people with criminal records. A representative sample of 2,487 American voters were given a detailed presentation of numerous proposed Congressional reforms that would restrict employers, licensing boards and public housing authorities from disqualifying people based on their criminal records. All of the proposed reforms received support from large bipartisan majorities. A proposal for automatically restoring the right to vote for people who have served a felony sentence also received majority support, though Republicans were divided. Additionally, bipartisan majorities favored both making it easier for those who were arrested but never convicted to have their record sealed, as well as automatically sealing records for people with non-violent drug offenses after a short period of time.