Letter of Support

A proposal to establish a post-doctoral Wisconsin Science, Technology, and Engineering Policy Fellowship (WI STEP) would strengthen evidence-informed policy deliberations in the Wisconsin Legislature. Under the proposal, trained fellows will be placed within nonpartisan legislative service agencies, with agreement from service agency leadership, to provide nonpartisan information to legislators on science and technology related policy matters.

This program will bolster the capacity of Wisconsin’s legislative service agencies to respond to increased demands for scientific and technological information and data analysis on priority topics for the Legislature and the state of Wisconsin. This will strengthen the Legislature's capacity to address complex policies and ensure Wisconsin continues to build on its legacy of leadership in nonpartisan legislative research support.

Fellows will assist with confidential policy analyses, standing and study committee research, public information memoranda and issue briefs, fiscal analyses, and data dashboards to enhance the capacity of service agencies to provide policy analysis for the increasingly complex technological and scientific policy challenges facing Wisconsin. Fellows will be placed in legislative service agency host offices, which will direct fellow activities.

Funding for the WI STEP fellowship program will be obtained from third party foundations and partners interested in advancing evidence-informed science and technology policy in the State of Wisconsin. Ethical guidelines will be established in consultation with legislative service agency directors to assure objective, unbiased advice is provided by the fellows participating in the program, uninfluenced by funder interests and modeled on guidelines established by similar programs throughout the country.

As members of the Wisconsin Legislature and leaders of its legislative service agencies, we support the formation of a nonpartisan WI STEP Fellowship to build capacity in the legislative service agencies and advance evidence-informed policy deliberations in the Wisconsin Legislature to best serve constituents.