Policy Research Shop Testimony: April 12, 2016

Two PRS Teams Testify in Concord

On Tuesday, April 12, 2016, two teams of students from the Rockefeller Center’s Policy Research Shop traveled to Concord, NH to testify before two committees in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.  In the morning session, PRS students Leehi Yona ‘16 and Patrick Saylor ’16 testified before the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee, chaired by Rep. Robert Introne.  Yona and Saylor presented the findings derived from their PRS Brief, “Modernizing New Hampshire’s Electrical Grid,” co-authored with Jordan Einhorn ‘17 and Dennise Hernandez ’17.  They presented their findings to the full committee and responded to questions from committee members following their presentation. 

In the afternoon session, PRS students Joby Bernstein ‘17  and Sam Libby ’17 testified before the House Finance Committee, chaired by Rep. Neal Kurk.  Bernstein and Libby presented the findings included in their PRS brief, “Analyzing Program Evaluation Methodologies: What is “Evidence-based Policymaking?” This report was also co-authored by Michael Baicker ’17.  Chairman Kurk opened the hearing by introducing the research question to the committee and setting the context for the students’ presentation.  Bernstein and Libby presented a multi-dimensional rubric that would allow legislators to assess the degree to which testimony and analysis presented to committees by external entities meet the standards of evidence-based research.  Following their presentation, the students responded to numerous questions from Finance Committee members as well as from Representatives in attendance but not on the Finance Committee.  This was the second time that Bernstein and Libby had testified in Concord.  In March of 2015, they testified before the NH Senate Finance Committee on a proposed minimum wage bill.  Bernstein and Libby also participated in the Rockefeller Center’s First-Year Fellows program in Washington, DC in the summer of 2014.