Agenda

Day 1: Thursday, October 16, 2025

11:00 a.m.

Welcome

• Bill Downe

RAND update

• Jason Matheny

11:45 a.m.

SEP: New Direction for the Divisions and the Advisory Board

• Andy Hoehn, Heather Schwartz, Peter Hussey

12:15 p.m.

Buffet Lunch

12:30 p.m.

RAND Budget Model: What It Would Take to Reduce the Federal Debt

• Vegard Nygaard
• Vegard Nygaard will present on the application of the RAND Budget Model to analyze the challenges and solutions related to the national debt. The presentation will begin by highlighting that the country has successfully overcome significant debt burdens in the past, emphasizing that it is possible to do so again through one of three main approaches: growing the economy, raising taxes, or cutting spending. The motivation for this analysis is clear: inaction is not a viable option, as projections show the nation will soon be spending an unsustainable amount on servicing its debt. What sets this work apart is the unique value added by the RAND Budget Model, which offers a more comprehensive and nuanced analysis, including looking 30 years ahead. The presentation will outline three distinct policy options for addressing the debt, followed by an open discussion to engage the audience in considering the implications and trade-offs of each approach.

1:30 p.m.

Building Smarter and Easier

• Jason Ward, Heather Schwartz
• Jason Ward, economist and codirector of the RAND Center on Housing and Homelessness, will present an overview of RAND’s research portfolio on housing affordability, including key findings from a recent, high-profile study comparing apartment production costs in California with other, lower-cost states, and a recent study on the effects of real estate transfer taxes aimed at generating funding for affordable housing development on both overall multifamily housing production and the production of income-restricted affordable housing. He will also discuss current and future directions of research being pursued at RAND on this and related topics.

2:30 p.m.

Break

2:45 p.m.

Unpacking the Impact of Key HR-1 Medicaid Provisions

• Peter Hussey, Preethi Rao
• Preethi Rao and Peter Hussey will discuss the various provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that will impact Medicaid financing, eligibility, coverage, and access. This session will start with an overview of these provisions, before describing the likely impacts of the policies at the state level. They will discuss possible state responses to some of the provisions, and how we may see differences in the interpretation and application of the policies across states.

3:45 p.m.

Break

4:00 p.m.

Reimagining the U.S. Social Safety Net: SEP Rethink Volume 2

• Anita Chandra
• This session will provide an update on the Social and Economic Policy Rethink Initiative. We will briefly update the group on key findings from volume 1 on the pace of AI adoption and outline the next volume on reimagining the U.S. social safety net. This includes the development of a dynamic lifecycle model to support state decisionmaking in response to federal changes (e.g., OBBBA impacts on programs such as food assistance) and the need to reform the social safety net system for impending demographic, workforce, and technological changes.

4:45 p.m.

Break

6:00 p.m.

Reception & Dinner

• The Ambassador Room at The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City

Day 2: Friday, October 17, 2025

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast

8:30 a.m.

Legalize Psychedelics? Building the Research Portfolio to Inform These Debates

• Beau Kilmer
• For more than 15 years, RAND has informed cannabis policy throughout the U.S. and other countries. There is now an emerging movement to increase access to psychedelic substances like psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”) and MDMA—from clinical settings to legalizing supply for nonmedical use—and the policy considerations are both similar to and different from cannabis. This presentation will review RAND’s seminal report, Considering Alternatives to Psychedelic Drug Prohibition, highlight ongoing research with the RAND Psychedelics Survey, and describe our efforts to build a new initiative focused on psychedelic treatment practice and policy research.

9:15 a.m.

Inflection Point: How to Reverse the Erosion of U.S. and Allied Military Power and Influence

• David Ochmanek
• Over the past 15 years, the military balance between the United States and its principal state adversaries has shifted unfavorably. The People’s Republic of China has undertaken a sweeping military modernization program, Russia has adopted an openly hostile stance toward the West, and North Korea and Iran have developed new capabilities to threaten neighboring states. This presentation explores why the United States has been slow to respond to these changes and examines the military challenges posed by China, drawing on insights from wargames and related analyses. It concludes with recommendations for how the United States, along with its allies and partners, can adapt military capabilities, force postures, and operating concepts to reverse this trend.

10:15 a.m.

Break

10:30 a.m.

Board: What’s on Your Mind?

11:30 a.m.

Meeting Ends