Clinton Foundation Launches Nonpartisan Policy Institute for State Governments

The Clinton Foundation unveiled a new initiative Monday aimed at helping state and local governments craft nonpartisan policy solutions to improve health outcomes, economic security, and democracy. The Clinton Policy Institute (CPI) marks the foundation's first major new initiative in over a decade.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement, 'Rising costs, economic uncertainty, rapid technological change, and growing pressures on our public institutions are making it harder for families to get ahead. We created CPI because we believe there are still practical, evidence-based solutions that can improve people's lives.'

CPI has already begun convening political leaders from both parties, research experts, and citizens affected by the issues under study. Its approach builds on work with New York state to ban cellphones in schools last academic year. Though CPI did not formally exist then, the foundation saw promise in the strategy and decided to expand it before publicly announcing the institute's creation. This mirrors the approach used when the foundation launched the Clinton Health Access Initiative in 2004.

Leadership and Early Successes

Zayn Siddique, former principal deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, will serve as CPI's chief executive officer. Jennifer Klein, who directed the White House Gender Policy Council under President Joe Biden, will be CPI's chair.

In New York, CPI helped create the Teen Tech Council, allowing students to help refine the phone-ban program. According to Governor Kathy Hochul's office, educators reported marked improvements in classroom behavior and engagement.

Hillary Clinton emphasized the focus on states: 'CPI is bringing together policymakers, researchers, business leaders, and community organizations to identify what works, build stronger policy networks, and help turn those ideas into policy. We're taking a particular focus on states and local communities, where so much innovation is happening.'

Kansas Governor Praises Nonpartisan Approach

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat in a heavily Republican state, called a recent CPI conference on improving children's lives 'the best roundtable I've been involved with since becoming governor.' She said CPI's nonpartisan approach inspired her, noting, 'It became very clear to me that if I wanted to accomplish anything in my political life, I was going to need to do it in a bipartisan way.'

Kelly, who leaves office in January due to term limits, believes CPI can succeed despite political polarization, especially on issues involving children and healthcare. 'Every once in a while, you get people from both sides of the aisle who come together and crafted, maybe not sexy legislation, but something that really needed to be done. And they get it through.'

Former Surgeon General Sees Bipartisan Potential

Dr. Jerome Adams, U.S. Surgeon General under President Donald Trump, agrees that nonpartisan solutions are possible but require intentionality. 'Health is inherently political,' Adams said. 'When you talk about access to healthcare coverage, when you talk women's health issues, particularly around the issue of abortion and contraception, when you talk about drug policy and whether you're in favor of harm reduction, when you talk of firearm safety -- all of these are inherently political issues.'

Adams noted that CPI has already achieved bipartisan buy-in for solutions addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Through CPI, he co-chairs the National Leadership Council for the ACE Resource Network, which aims to expand California's ACEs Aware initiative to other states. 'We bring in states and say, 'Hey, let's look at the best evidence in terms of what works around adverse childhood experiences and state level policy and then try to implement it in your state,'' he said. This strategy has led Republican-led states like Utah and Georgia to consider parts of California's work.

Adams sees this as a sign that CPI's approach works and can be scaled. The foundation hopes so too. Hillary Clinton concluded, 'Too many people have lost faith that progress is possible. But across the country, leaders are developing innovative policies that are strengthening families and communities. Those ideas deserve to be shared and scaled.'

For a liberal audience in Guyana, this initiative raises questions about whether such nonpartisan efforts can truly avoid the ideological pitfalls of big-government solutions. While CPI's focus on evidence-based, state-level innovation is commendable, skeptics will watch closely to see if it remains free from the interventionist tendencies that often accompany well-intentioned philanthropy.