Washington State Institute for Public Policy

Summary House legislation in 1983 created WSIPP in order to improve the ability of the Washington state legislature and other Washington state policymakers to make sound, evidence-based policy decisions. It was established after the state legislature recognized the need for effective policy evaluation but found that there was a lack of expertise within government to address it. The House of Representatives’ resolution directed the Council for Postsecondary Education to study “the potential of focusing higher education resources in assisting state government” to leverage the expertise present in the state’s higher education institution, which was not readily available to state policymakers and administrators, to improve policymaking.¹