September 2021 Washington InfO

NASEM Releases Report on Women’s Workforce Participation COVID-19 Impacts

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released a report on “Short-Term Strategies for Addressing the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women’s Workforce Participation.”  Dr. Tammy D. Allen, Professor of Psychology at University of South Florida and SIOP Fellow, was selected as one of four authors of the report and contributed her expertise on the topic.  The report highlighted strategies including providing direct financial support for women and their families, investing in childcare infrastructure and workforce development targeted at women, providing access to mental health services for women, and more.  The report was organized through the Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN), a collaboration between NASEM, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation aimed at connecting social and behavioral science researchers with policy decisionmakers to assist in evidence-based COVID-19 response and mitigation.  SIOP has worked with both NSF and NASEM to highlight relevant expertise of I-O psychology and facilitate engagement with SIOP Members.

Congress Eyes Spending Extension as Fiscal Year Deadline Approaches

With fiscal year (FY) 2021 funding for the federal government expiring on September 30, Congress has begun working to extend current funding levels and avoid a government shutdown.  The House of Representatives introduced and passed a continuing resolution (CR) which extends FY 2021 funding levels through December 3, aiming to provide more time for the Senate to consider its annual spending bills and negotiate between the two chambers.  The CR would also give extra funding for natural disaster relief and Afghan refugee support. However, the bill failed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate as Republicans uniformly opposed the measure 48-50.  Opposition to the bill centered around  a provision suspending the debt limit until December 16, 2022, a measure taken to prevent the federal government from defaulting on its loans sometime in mid-October.  Democrats are now exploring more limited measures to prevent a government shutdown or loan default while negotiations continue.  At the time of this writing, no deal has been reached to address either deadline.

House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress Holds Hearing on Increasing Civility and Collaboration Among Members

This month, the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress held a hearing to discuss strategies on making Congress a less divisive workplace so that it can work better for the American people.  In his opening statement, Chairman Derek Kilmer (D-WA) pointed to research demonstrating that leaders who are civil and collaborative can achieve at higher levels than those who are not, emphasizing the importance of changing the culture of Congress.  The witnesses, who included experts on workplace civility, collaboration, and leadership development, recommended increasing the incentives for collaboration, suggested Members of Congress specify the norms of behavior for each committee they are on at the start of each Congress, and encouraged Members of Congress from opposite parties to get to know each other over a meal as viable first steps to changing the culture in Congress.  The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is expected to use the information shared in this and future hearings to create a set of recommendations to the House of Representatives on actions to take to make Congress more effective.  Additional information on the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is available here.