MSU SciComm held its first of six science policy lunches today. Jeremy Reuter and David Bertram from the MSU Washington office led an introduction to policy session, specifically focusing on how policy works in the state of Michigan.
David began by defining public policy as “a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated [promoted] by a governmental entity or its representatives.” He then broke policy into three key parts: the problem, a goal to address the problem, and a policy instrument to address the problem. David continued by describing the make-up of the Michigan Legislative and Executive Branches and the various methods by which public policy is often created. He then outlined the general process of how a bill becomes a law, starting with the initial reading, passing through committees and receiving approval from both legislative houses before the governor decides to approve or veto the bill.
Later in the session, Jeremy outlined MSU’s relationships with the state legislature and how students could get involved. He specifically mentioned MI Spartan Impact and becoming a Spartan Advocate, which allows members of the Michigan State community to receive updates about issues relevant to the university and the appropriate legislators to contact about the issue.
MSU SciComm’s next policy lunch is September 19th, 2019 at 12 pm - 1 pm in the Engineering Building, room 3549. It will cover the differences between state and federal policy. Those interested should RSVP on the MSU SciComm website.