MEDIA ADVISORY
May 8, 2008

Hope Street Group Releases an "American Dream Agenda for the Next President"

Gathering of 40 Groups Reaches Bi-Partisan Consensus on Pressing Domestic Policy Issues

Washington, DC, May 8, 2008 - Today the non-profit Hope Street Group, dedicated to promoting economic opportunity for all Americans, released its bi-partisan blueprint for public policy reform, an "American Dream Agenda for the Next President," which tackles four of our most pressing domestic policy issues: health care, education, savings, and the competitiveness of small businesses.  These public policy recommendations are the result of the work of 40 business, civic, and political leaders from both sides of the aisle, who congregated April 13-14, 2008 at Hope Street Group's 2008 Opportunity Economics Colloquium.

"Faced with a climate of increasing anxiety and pessimism about the future of economic opportunity in America, the next presidential administration has an unprecedented opportunity to begin the process of improving economic opportunity for all Americans," said Monique Nadeau, the Executive Director of Hope Street Group.  "The participants at the Colloquium represent the interests of millions of Americans.  This remarkable bi-partisan consensus suggests that although the candidates are divided on issues such as universal health care and school vouchers, as a nation, we are much more closely aligned."

The 40 leaders at the Colloquium included numerous nationally influential political leaders of both parties, business leaders from several industries, and leaders from faith communities, education, media, and other civic institutions.  Among the participants: Barrett Duke, Vice President for Public Policy & Research, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Tyler Nottberg, Chairman & CEO, U.S. Engineering Company; and Bill Novelli, President of AARP.

"We built this bi-partisan agenda as a result of dialogue and interaction among the business, non-profit, and political sectors," said Nottberg, a participant in the Small Business breakout-session.  "These kinds of public-private alliances are what it's going to take to reach consensus on issues like education standards and small businesses development, and it is time to put words into action."

Barrett Duke, a participant in the Education breakout-session, refers to the recommendations in the Agenda as a starting framework that will find broad bi-partisan support and "can empower the next president to make major strides immediately and move our nation closer to solving some of the most vexing problems we face." 

Highlights from the recommendations:

Ensure a Globally Competitive Education for our Children's Future:

• Allocate federal funding for state comprehensive data systems that measure progress in student achievement, allowing every parent, educator, and policymaker to know whether a student is on track to meet standards.
• Set up a National Teaching and School Leadership Fund to support state/system level reforms and elevate the teaching profession to ensure that there is an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective principal in every school.

Contain Costs and Enhance Value in Health Care:

• Change health care payments to reward better quality and higher value health care by changing fee for service (FFS) reimbursement and implementing alternatives. Additionally, physician self-referral and incentives to use particular devices or procedures should be eliminated.
• Reform the medical malpractice system by offering physicians indemnification for those who practice evidence-based standards in return for adhering to comparative effectiveness-derived guidelines and accepting changes in reimbursement.
• Encourage standardized claims forms and processing, both to reduce cost and errors, and to improve quality.

Support New Approaches to Increasing Savings and Assets:

• Encourage universal savings by enrolling all children in a savings account at birth, promoting financial literacy at every stage in the life cycle, and aligning financial institutions' incentives to serve low-income segments of the population.
• Encourage employers to facilitate savings among employees by reducing regulatory barriers to direct deposit, enhancing payroll savings and bond options, increasing non-retirement financial education, and requiring that all balances in 401(k) plans be rolled into another retirement account (including an IRA) on termination of employment.
• Re-establish the preeminence of savings bonds as vehicles for savings, especially for those without bank accounts, by making them widely accessible in smaller denominations, and facilitating their purchase through employers.

Create a Level Playing Field for Small and Medium Enterprises:

• Give small businesses a visible and meaningful seat at the policy table by appointing leaders from that sector to key administration positions or by asking leaders from that sector to help evaluate regulatory and tax policies with an eye toward the impact on small business.
• Establish education goals that meet the needs of the business community by providing high school graduates with the technical knowledge, creativity, personal drive, and conviction to become productive and prosperous, while motivating all Americans to seek opportunities for lifelong learning and professional development.

The full "American Dream Agenda" can be found online at: www.hopestreetgroup.org/agenda [1]

Monique Nadeau, Executive Director of Hope Street Group, and Byron G. Auguste, Chairman of Hope Street Group's Board of Directors, are available for comment on the "American Dream Agenda" and the work of Hope Street Group.  For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact info@hopestreetgroup.org [2].

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Hope Street Group (HSG) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded by a new generation of business, political, and civic leaders, to promote domestic policies of opportunity and growth.  To learn more, please visit http://www.hopestreetgroup.org/ [3].