State lawmakers today face enormous responsibility for the quality of Americans’ lives, from the air citizens breathe and the roads they use to the schools their children attend.  And a growing number of states are taking on broader issues that the federal government has not sufficiently addressed, such as setting limits on greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Pew's identifies and advances effective policy approaches to central issues facing states.  The center is part of Pew’s broader effort to study and promote nonpartisan policy solutions for pressing and emerging problems affecting Americans.

By researching emerging topics and developing 50-state comparisons, the center identifies the innovative approaches states employ to tackle today’s complex problems.  When the facts are clear, we advocate for data-driven, pragmatic solutions.  Pew targets policy areas in which we can make a significant difference. The center currently has major initiatives focusing on early education, sentencing and corrections, and the electoral process. Its government performance project measures and grades states on how efficiently and effectively they operate.  The center also partners with other Pew projects addressing issues such as climate change, the foreclosure crisis and its impact on families' financial security, and states’ pandemic flu preparedness.

Two of 2008's landmark reports include: Public Safety Performance Project report on prison population, One in 100, (February 28, 2008) and Government Performance Project's Grading the States 2008 (March 3, 2008).