The Best Public Policies of 2008: Broadcasting Successes

You’ve seen this scenario before. No sooner is a progressive new policy proposed than the knee-jerk denunciations begin: the pie-in-the-sky policy you’ve dreamed up will never work. Instead, it will kill jobs! It will squander tax dollars! Private sector incentives will be suppressed and axe-wielding criminals will run free in the streets! (That last one mostly gets applied to criminal justice policies, but you never know.)

This tired catalog of one-size-fits-all objections from the right is one reason progressives need to broadcast our successes. The fact is, policies that effectively advance social justice, equity, safety, sustainability and a host of other progressive goals are implemented every year by cities, states, and the federal government without any sign of the woes naysayers had predicted. By celebrating these pragmatic progressive solutions, we disprove the myths that government is inherently ineffective and that progressive ideas cannot work. It can also promote the replication of good policy. Since 2003, the Drum Major Institute has been compiling its annual list of the Best of Public Policy [1] to do just that.

Some of this year’s picks:

Healthy San Francisco – It’s surprising that San Francisco’s efforts to provide universal health care don’t get more ink. While the policy doesn’t provide insurance per se, it does offer uninsured participants a chance to pick a “medical home” from the 27 participating public and non-profit health clinics throughout the city where they can get medical care, including the check-ups and preventive treatment that are normally so difficult for the uninsured to access. But there’s more. In effect for the first time this year, all city employers with more than 20 workers much contribute at least $1.17 per hour worked per employee to pay for health care. Employers can put the cash toward private insurance. They can contribute it towards the city clinic system. Or they can set up health care accounts. But they can’t avoid making some provision for their employees’ health. Employer groups sued to stop the plan, but lost in court [2].

The Second Chance Act – I never thought I’d put “exemplary public policy” and “supported by George W. Bush” in the same sentence. True, the President reluctantly signed the minimum wage increase and the New GI Bill (also a DMI “Best of” [1] this year) into law when they were attached to larger legislation he didn’t want to veto. But the Second Chance Act is one Bush actually endorsed. The new law aims to help people coming out of prison by increasing drug treatment support systems and providing access to educational and job training programs for ex-offenders. The law also creates incentive programs for employers who hire former offenders. The President’s enthusiasm likely has much to do with a renewed interest among religious conservatives in supporting former prisoners’ reintegration into society [3]. But whatever the reasons, the law puts federal resources into promoting local solutions that work to prevent recidivism and protect public safety – one of the year’s best, in our book.

LA’s Clean Trucks Program [4] – Los Angeles has the busiest port in the nation. It supports a million jobs and a critical flow of cargo. But it’s also a dirty place: it fouls the air throughout the region and contributes to global warming. Ships, cargo-handling equipment and freight trains all pollute, but the worst culprit is dirty diesel trucks. The problem, though, is that port truck drivers are independent owner-operators who are already in the poorhouse due to rising fuel and maintenance costs and low prices per ton hauled. Most don’t even have health insurance. There’s no way they can afford to upgrade to cleaner, greener trucks. So this year, the LA Harbor Commission mandated that trucking companies hire the drivers now exploited, giving drivers a chance to get employee benefits (and even unionize) and ensuring that port trucks are owned by folks who have the resources to retrofit or shift to cleaner vehicles. Unfortunately, this promising policy has been put on hold by the Federal Maritime Commission – even as ports across the country consider emulating it. The LA County Federation of Labor is trying to end the obstruction [5].

Family Leave Insurance Act –Family Leave Insurance programs are operating successfully in California, Washington, New Jersey, and just about every country on earth outside of the United States. So it’s about time we got a national program. Rep. Pete Stark has introduced a bill to do just that. His Family Leave Insurance Act would establish an insurance fund to cover up to twelve weeks of paid leave per year for employees to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member, or to recuperate from a serious health condition of their own. Leave could also be used for emergencies that arise from a military deployment. The fund would be financed by small employer and employee contributions; businesses with fewer than 20 workers could opt out of the program or choose to make an even smaller contribution.

For more, take a look at DMI’s full 2008 Best of Public Policy [1] list. There’s also a Worst of Public Policy [6], by the way. Remember the blanket legal immunity we gave the telecommunications companies that spied on us? And that Colombia trade deal they’re trying to pass? And did you know about Georgia’s new health insurance law? Check it out.