Other Points of Interest

Electronic Policy Network - Keep track of the latest articles and reports from the Electronic Policy Network (EPN), its members and affiliates.

EPN is sponsored by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center is located in Washington, D.C, and is a leader in analyzing a broad range of budget and policy issues, with an emphasis on those affecting low-and moderate-income Americans. The Center has attained a national reputation for blending rigorous research with the ability to present work in a timely and non-technical manner. The Center is a principle source of information and analysis for policymakers, program managers, the media, nonprofit organizations, and researchers at the federal, state, and local levels. Washington Monthly magazine called the Center one of the five best among 2,000 nonprofit organizations working on public policy issues in Washington.

Research is the foundation of all Center activities. Using data from the most reliable sources, the Center analyzes such matters as federal and state budget and tax policies, poverty and income trends, wage and unemployment issues, and welfare, job training, and housing issues. The Center's work on federal budget and policy issues dates back to its inception in 1981. In the late 1980s, the Center began to expand its work on state issues, and in 1992, the Center established the State Fiscal Project, which studies state budgets and tax matters and related issues in depth.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization supported primarily by major foundation grants. With approximately 45 employees, it has an annual budget of nearly $4 million.

KidsCampaign - KidsCampaign is the Benton Foundation's new communications hub for research and opportunities for action on behalf of children. It uses new and traditional media for civic engagement on behalf of kids. People who care about the declining well-being of American children but don't know how to make a difference are able to pick and choose from a wealth of how-to information, resource, volunteer opportunities, and model programs by mail, fax and online.

The Benton foundation has teamed with the Advertising Council, one of the nation's top ten advertisers, to bring public service campaigning into the age of interactive media. The multiyear initiative features public service ads aimed at inspiring Americans to act on behalf of children and a comprehensive communications hub called KidsCampaigns, connecting people to solutions.

This is the first time in the Advertising Council's more than 50-year history that it has focused a majority of its substantial public service dollars on a single beneficiary--children. The new campaign builds on Benton's long leadership in the Coalition for American Children', a nonprofit group of 350 children's organizations, which will sign the public service spots.

Inspired to act, the public want to know how. Benton's communications hub will help citizens learn how to give time or money to improve the lives of children . . . get better information about children's status in their community, state, or nation . . . learn tools and techniques to help them address a specific interest related to children . . . get connect to groups that can act on behalf of children . . . and exercise citizenship with children in mind.

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Starting Points E-Mail: startingpoints@carnegie.org