{"id":29242,"date":"2021-08-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/collaboration\/"},"modified":"2024-09-22T13:51:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T17:51:54","slug":"collaboration","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/our-solutions\/roadmap-for-renewing-our-federal-government\/collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Roadmap for Renewing Our Federal Government<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Roadmap Home<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Leadership and Stewardship<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Workforce<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Innovation and Tech<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Collaboration<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Collaboration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
THE CHALLENGE<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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Solving major challenges\u2014such as the worst pandemic in 100 years and its severe economic fallout\u2014requires an unparalleled level of cooperation and collaboration among agencies, different levels of government, political parties and the private and nonprofit sectors. Yet, the federal government frequently operates in organizational silos that make it hard to work across jurisdictional boundaries to leverage resources and coordinate efforts to serve the public more effectively. To respond to current and future challenges, there must be increased coordination across government and sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Political polarization has stymied progress on major policy issues and contributed to 21 full or partial government shutdowns since 1976, including the longest-ever shutdown<\/a>\u201434 days\u2014that ended in January of 2019 and resulted in disrupted services to the public and to state and local governments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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In a recent GAO\u00a0<\/span><\/span>report<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ten<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of 24 surveyed federal agencies reported that they do not have a designated employee responsible for ensuring compliance with a presidential executive order that requires agencies to consult with state and local governments when making rules that will directly affect them.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Congress has appropriated roughly\u00a0<\/span><\/span>$4.5 trillion<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of economic relief and stimulus across sectors in response to the pandemic, dwarfing the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s original cost of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>$787 billion<\/span><\/span><\/a>, requiring cross-sector collaboration at a scale never seen before.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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103<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>federal agencies<\/span>\u2014<\/span>from the National Institutes of Health to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/span>\u2014<\/span>have been activated to respond to the pandemic.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONGRESS<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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Expand All Recommendations<\/p>\n\n\n

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Fund innovative collaboration models around specific national or global challenges.\u202f<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
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Federal agencies responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in new and innovative ways while navigating complex challenges and collaborating across government. To better deal with current challenges and be prepared for future crises, Congress should build on cross-agency success stories, replicate best practices, take stock of lessons learned, provide sufficient staff, infrastructure and resources for existing and new coordinating capabilities, and create more joint funding opportunities for interagency collaboration.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Educate members of Congress and congressional staff on how the executive branch works and about agency efforts to implement the laws.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
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Formalized educational opportunities for lawmakers and staff can enrich their understanding of how policies work in practice, the importance of cross-agency collaboration, and how congressional oversight can help make programs more effective. Opportunities for members and staff could include agency and field visits, fellowships, shadowing programs, presentations and conferences.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n