Since 1948, The Pew Charitable Trusts has helped build strong communities, starting with our hometown of Philadelphia. Through support for nonprofit organizations, strengthening local and state governments, and finding solutions to economic and environmental challenges, our work alongside partners has helped individuals, families, and neighborhoods thrive.
At the heart of this work is the belief that government performance is important—with a focus on implementing efficient and effective programs that reflect the priorities of a diverse citizenry. And there’s only one way to get there: compromise. That’s why we recently joined Disagree Better to host the “America at 250 Forum” with Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R), Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D), and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R). The conversation focused on ways these governors have worked across party lines and highlighted how effective governance is central to their vision for a more prosperous future. The governors also agreed that communities thrive—and faith in democracy grows—when civility, partnership, and finding common ground guide government decisions. Gov. Stitt emphasized this point when he said, “Here’s a Republican and a Democrat governor from different states that literally agree on probably 80% of things. And the things we disagree on, we can have honest conversations about.”
Pew’s commitment to nonpartisanship has also led us to find novel ways to make life safer, healthier, and financially secure for Americans who struggle with rising costs. One of these potential solutions is reducing red tape in multifamily housing construction. A recent study by Pew found that tall multistory buildings are now safer from fire than single-family homes—making some government requirements for multiple stairwells in apartments both costly and obsolete. This may come as a surprise to many readers, but as Alex Horowitz, director of Pew’s housing policy initiative, explains in this issue of Trust, “If we look at the newest apartments built since 2010, they’re 17 to 18 times safer than pre-1970 homes.” And for housing built since 2000, deaths from fires in apartment buildings is one-fourth the rate for homes built for a single family. That means that government has a relatively easy way to make construction of affordable housing easier.
Ensuring that workers have a secure retirement is another nonpartisan tool for building communities. That’s why Pew has been helping states to develop auto-IRA programs for many years. These innovative retirement plans automatically enroll private sector employees in a state-facilitated savings program if they do not have a workplace retirement plan.
The first auto-IRA was created in Oregon in 2017, and since then, nearly 1.2 million workers across 15 states have saved close to $3 billion for retirement. However, even with this noteworthy progress, most small businesses cannot afford to provide their employees with a pension or alternative plan such as a 401(k). This means that for 60 million Americans, Social Security and personal savings—if they have any—are the only retirement income they can expect to have.
Auto-IRAs are portable from job to job, and although workers are automatically enrolled, they can opt out at any time. And, as you’ll read in this issue of Trust, the benefit of these programs goes beyond retirement security for individuals and their families. They also support a financially secure labor force that, in turn, improves the fiscal health of state and local governments by reducing the cost of public assistance programs like Medicaid. With both Republican and Democratic governors in favor, there are now proposals in Congress to create a national version of state auto-IRA plans that would give every worker in America the chance to save for retirement.
Pew’s role as a global organization also brings its community-building mission to remote and environmentally endangered places around the world. That includes the Gran Chaco region of Bolivia, where Pew is helping Indigenous communities regain stewardship of their ancestral lands and waters by promoting three new protected areas; partnering with the Enduring Earth initiative and other organizations to advance the Indigenous component of Bolivia’s Project for Permanent Finance, which will be led by the Guaraní people of Charagua Iyambae; and strengthening Indigenous territorial governance. And Pew is helping to establish long-term financing mechanisms to ensure the longevity of these conservation measures.
In addition to learning more about Pew’s environmental work in Bolivia, readers in this issue of Trust will be able to enjoy photos of herders moving animals across Andean mountains in Patagonia through rich landscapes Pew has worked to safeguard.
Building communities, making government more effective, and helping people have been in Pew’s DNA from the start. We will continue this work with dedication and rigor as we prepare to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and long into the future.
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