New York, NY—June 29, 2020—The bipartisan Campaign for Common Good, which launched last Thursday, will hold its first virtual forum on Tuesday, June 30, at noon (EDT). The one-hour Zoom forum will focus on “The Legal Framework for COVID-19 Recovery” and will cover the following challenges: avoiding red tape delays in reopening; creating a reliable liability framework that avoids chilling reopening while incentivizing safe protocols; and learning from other developed countries. The forum will feature the following panel members:

• Phil Goldberg — Director, Center for Civil Justice, Progressive Policy Institute

• Karen Harned — Executive Director, Small Business Legal Center, National Federation of Independent Business

• Patrick Hedren — Vice President, Litigation and Deputy General Counsel, National Association of Manufacturers

• Nick Malyshev — Head, Regulatory Policy Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 

• Philip K. Howard (moderator) — Chair, Common Good

The Campaign for Common Good is a bipartisan initiative to overhaul legacy bureaucracies, so that government can deliver results without stifling human initiative. It proposes an operating vision focused on goals, not red tape. This vision, like that of the Framers, is built upon the firm foundation of individual responsibility and clear lines of accountability. 

To stimulate debate in the 2020 election cycle, the Campaign will roll out a 16-plank platform with specific proposals for overhauling bureaucracy in America’s social institutions. The first plank—on COVID-19 recovery—is the focus of the June 30 virtual forum.

The Campaign was launched with a petition calling for “spring cleaning commissions” signed by 100 prominent leaders from both parties, including former Senators, Governors, Mayors, and business and thought leaders. Among them are former government officials including Mitch Daniels, Bill Bradley, Alan Simpson, Kit Bond, Arne Carlson, Dave Durenberger, Wyche Fowler, Stephen Goldsmith, and Tom Kean. Other signers are leading experts in different fields, including economists Glenn Hubbard, Alain Enthoven, Eugene Steuerle, and Bob Litan, law professors Peter Schuck, Gillian Hadfield, and David Schoenbrod, former officials Admiral Bobby Ray Inman (former NSA Director), Bob Stone (Reinventing Government administrator), and Chris DeMuth (former head of OIRA), social philosophers Jonathan Haidt and Yuval Levin, social activists Rohan Pavuluri, Lenore Skenazy, and Heather Higgins, and management experts Richard Foster and David Osborne.

The Campaign is generating support across the country, including from Members of Congress:

US Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming writes: “The overarching goal of Common Good helps us remember that our government and our laws should be focused on actually helping hardworking families across the country, not just creating an overcomplicated bureaucracy. The best ideas are the ones that keep in mind what actually works, instead of harmful policies that restrict the ability of folks to take action. We should unleash their productivity and empower their personal responsibility to improve our country.” 

US Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin states: “We already know that excessive regulation and government bureaucracy slowed America’s response to the coronavirus outbreak: those mistakes, like barring private labs from developing and distributing their own COVID-19 tests, are behind us. But one of the lessons we should learn from the pandemic is that we must take the time now to look for and dispose of existing regulations that could hinder our recovery. I look forward to working with Common Good to push for policies that will allow us to govern using common sense rather than bureaucracy.”

Registration for the June 30 Zoom forum is required and is available here. The plank on COVID-19 recovery, which will be the focus of the forum, can be found here.

More information on the Campaign—including the petition, the initial list of signers, and the first set of platforms—is available at www.commongood.org. To speak with Philip Howard, contact Emma McKinstry at emckinstry@highimpactpartnering.com.

Common Good (www.commongood.org) is a nonpartisan reform coalition to radically simplify government and restore the ability of officials and citizens alike to use common sense in daily decisions. The Founder and Chair of Common Good is Philip K. Howard, a lawyer and author, most recently, of Try Common Sense (W. W. Norton, 2019).

*On July 21, the name of the campaign was changed to Campaign for Common Good to avoid confusion with other campaigns launched around the same time. This press release has been updated to reflect the new name.