In the president’s proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year, the Biden White House outlines a spending plan that would expand health care insurance coverage for more Americans, extend free school meals to more children, and provide financial assistance for child care to more families. The budget includes more than a dozen references to evidence and calls for taking evidence-based or evidence-informed approaches to criminal justice, foster care prevention services, and registered apprenticeship programs. To understand what the president’s budget might mean for the future of evidence-based policymaking, Mathematica’s Mike Burns spoke with Caitlin Emma and Nichole Dunn for the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast.

This episode is part of a new occasional series for the On the Evidence that explores new developments in the halls of government and the role that evidence could play in informing decisions that affect people’s well-being.

Find a full transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/ontheevidence.

Learn more about our live podcast with Tina Rosenberg about the role of evidence in solutions journalism on May 2, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7049466437156962304/comments/

Submit questions for Rosenberg in advance of the event by emailing [email protected].

Read Emma’s coverage of President Biden’s budget as a re-election campaign document (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/09/biden-budget-reelection-campaign-00086452) and a challenge to House Republicans who have called for spending cuts (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/09/biden-budget-medicare-house-republicans-00086124).

Read a summary of key provisions in the president’s budget that support the use of evaluation, data, and evidence to make government more effective: https://www.evaluation.gov/assets/resources/2024 Evidence Chapter in Brief.pdf

Explore the American Rescue Plan Data and Evidence Dashboard, developed by Results for America and Mathematica. It shows how state, local, and tribal governments are spending $350 billion in fiscal recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan Act: https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/

Explore the Results for America's Economic Mobility Catalog, which helps local leaders identify and implement evidence-based strategies to improve economic mobility for their residents: https://results4america.org/page/economic-mobility-catalog/

Learn more about the What Works Nonprofit Fellowship program and the Local Government Fellowship program offered by Results for America: https://results4america.org/our-work/