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Here are the top 5 things America Forward and the America Forward Coalition are working on right now.

Education: This Thursday, May 7th, the America Forward Education Task Force and Reimagine Learning Policy Working Group will head to Capitol Hill to meet with policymakers and their staff and advocate on our collective Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) priorities. Learn more about America Forward’s ESEA priorities here and here.

Pay for Success: Last Tuesday, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced their Social Impact Partnership Act. In March, Reps. Todd Young (R-IN) and John Delaney (D-MD) introduced the House of Representatives version of the bill. The America Forward Team is working with both the Senate and the House to advance this legislation. America Forward’s Government Affairs Director, Nicole Truhe, has also been speaking and attending a number of events highlighting the issue of Pay for Success including the 2nd annual Early Childhood Social Impact Performance Advisors Conference, co-hosted by America Forward Coalition Member, Institute for Child Success; the 2015 Government Performance Summit; and a roundtable discussion hosted by Save the Children at the American Enterprise Institute entitled Pay for Success in Early Learning

Workforce: The Departments of Labor and Education recently issued five Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) for public inspection implementing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The NPRMs (one from the Department of Labor, one joint from the Departments of Labor and Education, and three from the Department of Education) are all linked here. The comment period runs through June 15, 2015 and the America Forward Team is working through all of the regulations relevant to our members and we will be putting forth a letter with recommendations in advance of the deadline. The America Forward team has also encouraged America Forward Members to consider submitting formal responses to the NPRM and is happy to support our Members’ efforts in thinking through what to respond to and how best to craft your response.

Social Innovation: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on a bipartisan, bicameral basis introduced the Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act on April 17th. This bill was introduced in the last Congress and America Forward was supportive of its introduction then and continues to be supportive of this bill, which creates the opportunity to use evidence and outcomes at the federal level in the development of policies and in the funding of interventions to address the current and future challenges we face as a nation. America Forward continues to work with both members to advance this legislation. You can read America Forward’s statement on the introduction of the bill here.

2016 Presidential: America Forward is a partner in the Transitions in Governance 2016 initiative along with a diverse, bipartisan coalition of good-government groups working to help inform the incoming Administration on federal management issues. For each management reform issue area, there is a corresponding online survey to canvass federal managers and stakeholders for ideas, as well as to vote on proposed reforms in each management area. Transitions in Governance 2016 will host a series of Town Hall Dialogues on major federal topics over the next 18 months.