Regulatory Consulting at Pew Charitable Trusts (Policy Initiatives)

Overview

The Pew Charitable Trusts is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization distinct from its research affiliate Pew Research Center: where Pew Research Center studies public opinion, Pew Charitable Trusts runs direct, evidence-based policy-reform projects and funds its own Innovation Fund investigators. Its state fiscal-policy and government-performance work has increasingly turned to how state governments are using AI to become more efficient under tight budgets, tracking specific state initiatives with real, measurable results rather than publishing abstract AI-governance frameworks. Pew’s broader portfolio spans government performance, broadband access (including administering research on the federal BEAD program), and public-sector innovation — with AI increasingly woven into its state government-performance research as fiscal pressure pushes states to find efficiency gains.

AI-Focused Regulatory Work

Pew’s most directly relevant 2026 contribution, ‘As Budgets Tighten, States Double Down on Efficiency and Tech Innovation,’ documents specific, named state AI deployments with concrete results — exactly the kind of ground-level evidence base an AI-policy directory should surface. It reports that one state’s GRIT initiative saved more than 12,000 hours of staff time and $7.7 million while delivering $9.8 million in service enhancements without added cost; that New Jersey’s Office of Innovation uses AI to rapidly distill thousands of public comments submitted through a state-website feedback widget so staff can identify and respond to usability issues faster; and that California’s ‘Engaged California’ is an interactive digital-democracy platform (modeled on a similar effort in Taiwan) soliciting employee input on how government can operate more efficiently. Pew also tracked Washington State’s September 2025 executive order rebranding its well-regarded performance-management office from ‘Results Washington’ to ‘Your Washington,’ explicitly to emphasize ‘bridging people and government to deliver timely, fair, and tailored services that exceed customer expectations’ — illustrating how AI-era efficiency pressure is reshaping not just tools but the institutional branding of state government-performance offices. That combination — concrete, sourced examples of AI actually working (or not) inside specific state agencies — is the kind of evidence base most AI-governance think tanks only theorize about, making Pew Charitable Trusts a valuable, if narrower, complement to Pew Research Center’s public-opinion work.

Notable AI Policy Work

• Published ‘As Budgets Tighten, States Double Down on Efficiency and Tech Innovation’ (Jan 2026), documenting specific state AI deployments including a GRIT initiative that saved 12,000+ staff hours and $7.7 million.
• Tracked New Jersey’s Office of Innovation using AI to rapidly distill thousands of public comments submitted through a state feedback widget, helping staff identify and respond to usability issues faster.
• Documented California’s ‘Engaged California,’ an AI-supported interactive digital-democracy platform (modeled on a Taiwan initiative) soliciting state-employee input on government efficiency.
• Tracked Washington State’s September 2025 executive order rebranding its performance-management office from ‘Results Washington’ to ‘Your Washington,’ reflecting AI-era pressure on government service delivery.
• Maintains a broader portfolio in government performance, federal policy, and broadband access (including BEAD program research), distinct from its affiliate Pew Research Center’s public-opinion AI surveys.

Thought Leadership

1. As Budgets Tighten, States Double Down on Efficiency and Tech Innovation
   Documents concrete, named state AI deployments — including cost and time savings — as states use technology to stretch tightening budgets.
2. Insights & Perspectives — The Pew Charitable Trusts
   Pew’s broader policy-analysis hub covering state fiscal policy, government performance, and technology innovation.

Clients

Nonpartisan, nonprofit; no commercial clients. Funds its own Innovation Fund investigators and runs direct policy-reform projects with state and federal governments. Distinct governance and funding structure from its affiliate Pew Research Center.