The laws section provides information about legislation establishing and governing federal evidence-building requirements. At its center is the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-435). Signed into law on January 14, 2019, this legislation created the modern framework for systematic evidence-building across government. This landmark bipartisan legislation emerged from recommendations of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and consists of three titles:
- Federal Evidence-Building Activities
- OPEN Government Data Act
- Updates to the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA)
This section also covers related legislation that forms the legal architecture for evidence-based policymaking, including the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, and earlier versions of CIPSEA. Understanding these laws are important towards establishing enforceable requirements—not voluntary guidelines—for how agencies build and use evidence. They create statutory positions, such as Chief Data Officers and Evaluation Officers, mandate specific deliverables, and establish interagency councils to coordinate evidence-based work across government. For practitioners and researchers, the laws listed in this section determine what evidence infrastructure exists, what data agencies must make available, and what accountability mechanisms ensure agencies actually use evidence to inform policy decisions.
E-Government Act of 2002
Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993
GPRA Modernization Act of 2010
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