Tough Economic Times Call for Values-Based Decisions

by Tim McFeeley, Chief Executive Officer

The economic recession, greatly exacerbated by the war against terrorism, has left our state governments seriously short of funds. For the first time in a decade, nearly every state government faces rising deficits, shrinking revenues, and increased demands for services as the ranks of unemployed workers, homeless families, and people without health coverage swell.

How we deal with these difficult problems says a lot about who we are as a society. Public policy choices are not always active – it’s not always a matter of supporting or opposing a bill. Choosing not to initiate, or even talk about, policies like extending unemployment insurance coverage to part-time workers is nonetheless a public policy decision.

How are these tough public policy decisions being made? Often ideology is the touchstone. For example, ideological conservatives argue that the primacy of the free market system is more important than critical human needs. In other cases, decisions about public policy hinge on the latest polling data. Too many policymakers favor the policy du jour, without considering the wisdom of that policy or the ways in which public opinion may have been influenced. Taking a strict ideological approach, or a soft public opinion approach, to policymaking is simplistic and requires little critical thinking.

For more than two decades, CPA has worked closely with thoughtful and courageous legislators of both political parties who make tough public policy decisions on the basis of values. Values-based decisions require a good measure of introspection, dialogue and analysis. Public policy choices are rarely about good and evil, as some ideologues would have us believe, or about picking the popular favorite, as many politicians would assert. Almost always, these decisions are about values, priorities, and core principles of how we as a society treat our fellow citizens.

I recently attended the first retreat for this year’s Flemming Fellows Leadership Institute. The state legislators in this Flemming class included women and men, Republicans, Democrats and an Independent, folks of various ages, from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and from every region from Hawaii to Maine. These citizen-legislators offer a vision of a nation that examines the "general welfare" from the viewpoint of values, rather than ideology or popularity. It’s a vision worth sharing.