Welcome to our latest edition of WonkCast: People Power Policy.
Episode # 11: Ranking Member Danny Davis (D-IL)
In an era of information overload and peak partisan polarization, why do the issues that policymakers talk about matter, and what does it mean to say that child welfare policy is bipartisan?
Today’s guest sees policymaker attention and bipartisan conversation not as a communications strategy, but as core structural components of the long-term coalition building work necessary for legislative change.
Congressman Danny Davis represents Illinois’ 7th congressional district, and currently serves as the Ranking Member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Work and Welfare.
As he enters his 30th and final year in Congress, we had the chance to talk about his inside perspective on how and why legislative change happens.
We also discussed his priorities before retirement, including updates to the Chafee program and investment in supports for the children of incarcerated parents.
If you want to better understand how and why legislators make decisions under constraint, and what shapes their decision making environment, this is for you.
Sponsorship Shoutout
Special thanks to Binti for their foundational sponsorship of WonkCast.
