Tarren Bragdon is the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Government Accountability, which he founded in 2011. He also served in the Maine House of Representatives and remains the youngest person elected to the Maine legislature, serving from 1996 to 2000.
Federal Newswire
Why did you found the Foundation for Government Accountability?
Tarren Bragdon
I was really thinking about a different kind of public policy organization…I knew Rick Scott, who was then Governor of Florida from before he was governor. We had interacted on some health care policy during the Obamacare debates. It was a vision for how to create…a policy organization I wish I had when I was in the legislature. One that could partner with me to do big things.
Federal Newswire
What makes the FGA different?
Tarren Bragdon
…One of the ways we're different is that most policy organizations are a collection of personalities or experts that decide what aspects of a particular policy, like education or health care, are they going to speak about and make a priority.
We're different in that we're very strategic. We lay out a solution agenda, and then everybody in the organization is rowing in that direction towards getting those solutions implemented, whether at the state or the federal level. It's not being responsive to a few personalities. It's being strategic on a few solutions that really move the needle.
The second way we're different is we're about playing the inside game. We want to work directly by educating and engaging lawmakers, rather than just providing commentary on what's happening politically. The challenging thing is you really have to be selective about what you compliment and what you criticize. Because if you're trying to build trust and credibility by working with policymakers on the inside, you need to recognize that they're elected, you're not.
They're going to make tradeoffs in what's politically possible versus what's the policy ideal. You have to be comfortable with those tradeoffs rather than being a purist.
Number three is, if you throw bombs, you're going to blow yourself up, and destroy your credibility and trust. As all of us know in policy, your reputations are built over decades and destroyed in a moment. You have to be really thoughtful about when you are going to publicly criticize versus privately raise your concerns.
Federal Newswire
How does your experience with being a former legislator inform your approach?
Tarren Bragdon
I think it's helpful. I joke about being a recovering politician now, but having been in elected office, you appreciate that it's complicated. I had a district in Bangor, Maine where I grew up. It was very much a swing district. We had some of the largest public housing developments north of Boston, so that district has different priorities than maybe another district that was more rural and more solidly red.
The other thing that I think gave me some context is, it's very hard to sort of hug and slap somebody at the same time. There are folks in the policy world who say, “I want to connect with you. We're going to work together on big things.” But then if I disagree with you on something big or small, I'm not shy about going public with it and beating you up. That doesn't really happen in the business world.
I don't fight with my wife on social media. But yet in the political space, we somehow think that's okay for developing relationships, and that won't hurt me long term. When really, whether it's personally, in business, or in politics, relationships are built on trust and credibility. It doesn't mean you don't disagree, but you think about what's the best way to have those disagreements.
Federal Newswire
Has it become more difficult to find a middle ground?
Tarren Bragdon
I do think that social media rewards whoever is quick and clever. Just because it's clever, it doesn't mean it's expedient. I think there's probably not one way that's better. But if you're going to play an inside game, you can't have your scorecard be the quickest and the most clever. You just want to figure out what your role is and then be true to that. I think what happens too much in the policy world is people try to be both, and you're either a personality or you are a partner. It's really difficult to be both.
Just because you're getting attention doesn't mean you're effective, because the 24 hour news cycle rewards what's outrageous and gathers a lot of attention.
Federal Newswire
Would you have been able to find the same successes the other way?
Tarren Bragdon
We've had great success working with lawmakers to get good ideas turned into law. We push hundreds of ideas a year. We have a sister organization, a “C-4”, that does direct lobbying. [We] work with policymakers to help move issues through the legislative process, from idea to drafting, to implementing..
We have now had more than 900 reform wins. We had 200 last year. We have about a 24% win rate from introducing an idea and legislation to it being signed into law. I think the stats speak for themselves, but it's really about how you can develop trust and partnership.
You remember that you're not the elected official, they are. They're making trade offs on what's possible and what's not. The truth is on our side. I think we should embrace the idea that if we're making incremental progress, that's still progress. We can always go back next year for more.
Federal Newswire
How do we balance cutting unnecessary regulations with keeping the right ones in place?
Tarren Bragdon
You're spot on if you think the first thing…is to do no harm or do no further harm. I think that is a really positive thing and a really important first step.
Before you can take the second step, which would logically be to cut some regulations, you just have to stop the bleeding or harming of businesses and taxpayers in such a significant way. I think sometimes that it's so easy to get caught up in big overnight successes. Maybe it's not one big leap. Maybe it's three steps that add up to one big leap.
Federal Newswire
How impactful are the small regulations that people may not be aware of?
Tarren Bragdon
It's not just the regulation that is proposed. For example, the Biden administration is creating a whole sea of uncertainty that businesses swim in. It's not just this regulation that is going to cost me. I have no idea what's coming next. Therefore, I am cautious about making capital investments, hiring people, and planning long-term because of this unknown oppression that will come down the road.
Federal Newswire
Have you proposed enacting the REINS Act at the state level?
Tarren Bragdon
The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS) Act would simply say Congress should have the last word when it comes to regulations that cost either businesses or taxpayers more than $100 million per year. Congress sets the policy and holds the purse strings. Congress should be the final word on whether bureaucratic action can go forward…This is not a brand new idea.
Lots of states have a state-level version of this. Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, West Virginia, even my home state of Maine all have some variation on this; that significant regulatory actions have to be signed off by the legislature. The executive branches can't act on their own. What this does is it keeps the check and balance between the legislature setting the policy and the executive branch executing on that policy.
Which is the exact opposite of what we've seen in D.C., where a bureaucrat with a pen … has been enacting massive policy changes to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars per action–without getting Congress to sign off. Probably the biggest example of this is the student debt bailout. But there are a bunch of others.
Federal Newswire
What is FGA doing to expand the number of medical care providers, doctors, nurses and physicians assistants?
Tarren Bragdon
There are some solutions that states can look at. In particular, we're working on legislation in Florida that would shorten the amount of time it takes for somebody to go into the healthcare profession, including being a doctor. So you can begin taking some of those college courses in high school and dramatically reduce the number to six years rather than eight years after high school to get a medical degree.
You can look at the training programs, because part of what limits the supply of physicians is graduate medical education, which is the government arbitrarily reducing the funnel of how many people can become trained medical providers.
One of the things we also think is really important is, how do you provide incentives for patients to be smart consumers of healthcare? That means empowering patients who want to get outside of the restrictions of insurance networks. We're pushing legislation that's very bipartisan, that lets a patient know when the cash price is less. When I go to the pharmacy, if the cash price is less than my co-pay, the pharmacist has to tell me that. I have a right to the cash [price].
It should work that way for all health care services. At the same time, if I find a low-cost provider, even if that provider is out of network, that should count like an in-network expense towards my deductible and out-of-pocket limit because I'm saving money and I'm paying the balance directly. There's an unholy alliance between big insurance and big healthcare to drive up costs, because it's beneficial to everybody except for the patient and healthcare provider.
Federal Newswire
What is FGA advocating in regards to so-called “DEI” (diversity) issues?
Tarren Bragdon
This is a great example of dysfunctional policy that hurts individuals. America is a country that our ancestors or today's immigrants come to because they view it as the land of opportunity. That opportunity is not based on the color of your skin or personal choices you may or not make. It's based on how hard you work and what you're able to achieve. DEI is the exact opposite of that.
It's saying we're going to set some arbitrary targets, and if you don't look or act in a certain way, then you're going to go to the back of the line. I think one of the most positive things we've seen in the pushback on DEI is particularly pushing back on higher education, where this philosophy is entrenched in a really big way. Rather than equal opportunity, instead certain individuals are favored to go into higher education and other individuals are held back or told that they're oppressors.
When you think about this, college isn't for everyone. But if you're going into science, technology, engineering, math programs, then that is your pathway to going into that profession. You need to ensure that universities are taking the top performing individuals, not that they're deciding based on some arbitrary quota who should come in and who should be held back.
Federal Newswire
What is ranked choice voting and why is FGA working on it?
Tarren Bragdon
Ranked choice voting [hinges on whether] the top vote getter in an election has a majority or a plurality. [It is a] convoluted system where you need to rank your choice in order, and for all people on the ballot. Then the ballot tallying looks at whether it's the first [through] fifth [choices], who then is the surviving person and wins the election. It's simply a convoluted way to get extremists to win in an election.
I'll give you an example. In my home state of Maine, you had a mayor's race by ranked choice voting where on the first ballot, the guy who got 6% became the mayor.
It's not about creating more of an equitable structure where you get rid of so-called fringe candidates. It's instead taking something that's beautiful and simple by voting and picking the top person, and turning it into something that's complicated and confusing.
Last point, what happens in this process is a lot of ballots are thrown out because I might only like one to three people, not ten, who are on the ballot. If I stop ranking people, then my ballot is what's called exhausted. If I don't have somebody for that fourth, fifth, and sixth place then my ballots are thrown out completely.
Federal Newswire
Where can people go to find out more about the Foundation for Government Accountability?
Tarren Bragdon
The best way is to look at our website, which is www.thefga.org. You can see what we've done in particular states, our policy solutions, some of which we've talked about, and see what we're focused on federally. That's a great way to stay connected with us.
