Key Issues Facing States

Editor’s note: This fact sheet was updated on Jan. 26, 2024, to better reflect Pew’s state conservation efforts.

As state legislative sessions begin, lawmakers prepare to tackle a wide range of state policy issues to improve governance, public services, and the daily lives of their constituents. To support leaders with this formidable task, experts at The Pew Charitable Trusts provide nonpartisan research and technical assistance to help advance sound, data-driven policies and practices. Below are some of Pew’s areas of expertise.

Housing, labor, and education

Pew studies ways to increase retirement savings, examines how strict zoning and land use rules and outdated financial regulations drive the housing shortage and rising costs, and promotes successful repayment of student debt among those most at risk of default and delinquency.

Fiscal and economic policy

Pew provides data, analysis, and guidance to policymakers on a range of fiscal and economic issues to help state leaders manage uncertainty, adapt quickly when crises arise, and ensure that state budgets are balanced over the long term. This work includes helping lawmakers better manage revenues and expenditures and better ensure that public pensions are financially sound for current and future workers, retirees, and taxpayers.

Safety and justice

Since 2005, Pew and its partners have conducted research and provided technical assistance to improve public safety and to make civil courts more accessible to the people they serve. In the year ahead, Pew will expand its portfolio to examine how state and local courts can better serve their communities by streamlining their civil and criminal case dockets, so that judges have time to review cases that merit close consideration and divert away from the courts those that could benefit from other proven, alternative paths to resolution and reduce people’s unnecessary involvement with the legal system. Pew also works to help emergency response systems better meet the needs of those with mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

Health policy

Over the years, Pew has worked on a wide range of health policy challenges, including improving substance use prevention and treatment and addressing antibiotic resistance. In recent years, Pew has expanded its health research to examine and identify how to reduce the risk of suicide and to employ data to help state health agencies advance Americans’ well-being.

Broadband expansion

As unprecedented federal funding for broadband flows to states, high-speed internet access for all Americans has never been more achievable. Pew’s research and technical assistance can help states identify and adopt evidence-based strategies to effectively administer federal funds and accelerate progress toward universal, affordable broadband connectivity.

Energy modernization

The energy modernization project works with state and federal policymakers to advance the nation’s transition to electric vehicles; build a clean, reliable electric grid; and expand renewable energy solutions, such as offshore wind. Pew advocates for policy change, conducts research to address critical gaps, and convenes and mobilizes key stakeholders.

Conservation and resilience

Outdated planning and the increasing frequency of natural disasters are damaging ecosystems, disrupting fish and wildlife migration routes, harming livelihoods and property, and straining state and federal finances. To address these challenges, Pew’s U.S. conservation project collaborates with state and federal decision-makers, stakeholders, and rights holders to advance science-based plans and policies  that increase the resilience of natural and human communities while anticipating and lessening harm to wildlife, ecosystems, and people.

Pew experts are available to respond to individual inquiries, provide an overview of their research, and work one on one with states. If you’d like to connect with a Pew expert, please contact [email protected].

To stay apprised of Pew’s state work, sign up for our State Policy Update, Burden of Proof, or The Ledger newsletters. Find a full list of Pew’s newsletters here.