What Does GPAC Do For You?

Government Affairs Working For You and the Field

PAA works alongside the Association for Population Centers to educate federal policymakers about population research activities and findings and the federal agencies that indirectly and directly support the population sciences. These objectives are achieved through the work of the PAA/APC Government and Public Affairs Committee (GPAC).

Your dues support the work of GPAC and advocacy for population research on Capitol Hill. Here are just a few of the successes GPAC has had over the past few years:

  • Secured annual funding increases from Congress for the National Institutes of Health, NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences, National Center for Health Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, and National Science Foundation.

  • Successfully nominated PAA members to serve on National Academy of Sciences advisory panels and the Census Bureau’s advisory committees.

  • Successfully secured language in reports accompanying annual bills funding the National Institutes of Health in support of population research programs supported by the National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 

    • Met with leaders of the NIA, NICHD, NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, and National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to share population research findings and encourage continued funding of programs that promote and support the population sciences.

    • Organize meetings with other federal agency officials, such as the Director of the NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Directorate, to share population research findings and encourage continued investments in programs important to the population sciences.

    • Met with 100 congressional offices over two years to advocate for funding federal agencies that support the population sciences and to discuss issues important to the field.

    • Conducted annual meetings with Chief Statistician of the United States at the White House Office of Management and Budget to raise awareness about PAA’s interests in the federal statistical agencies.

    • Draft and submit comments to Federal agencies in response to requests for public comments on proposed policies that could impact the population sciences. 


    Secured language in appropriations reports     promoting population research activities and findings supported by the NIA and NICHD. Encouraged NIA and NICHD to continue investing in the surveys, centers, and grant programs that support the field.

    Represents needs of the federal statistical system by working to not only ensure agencies, including the Census Bureau, National Center for Health Statistics, and Bureau of Labor Statistics, are adequately funded, but also are protected and strengthened. GPAC has worked independently as well as with coalition partners to restore missing federal statistical data, support planning for the decennial census, and promote the independence of the federal statistical system overall. 

    Represent interests of population research community through participation in DC-based coalitions, including the Consortium of Social Science Associations, Coalition for Health Funding, Coalition for National Science Funding, Friends of National Center for Health Statistics, and the Census Project.

    7wyFyHFKQDiJOcEaBPFa_webinar thumbnail gpac-L.pngHeld congressional briefings featuring member experts on a variety policy-relevant topics including climate change, COVID, rural demography, and the 2020 Census. The virtual and in-person briefings have been attended by hundred and viewed online continuously as a resource.

    Since 2011, PAA has supported an average of two annual briefings at the Government Accountability Office headquarters in Washington, DC. PAA facilitates these seminars to share subject area and technical expertise of PAA members with GAO professionals, including statisticians, data analysts, economists, and demographers. Over the years, the briefings have focused on a wide range of topics, such as population forecasting, biomarkers and social surveys, immigration, U.S. adult mortality, and the American Community Survey.