Sam Oliker-Friedland

ED @Responsive_Gov. Voting, Election Admin, Airplanes, Dogs, Practical Policy. Former @CivilRights. Opinions my own.

[Responsive Gov @Responsive_Gov]

The 2025 elections were hailed as secure, fair, and accessible thanks to dedicated election officials. Read the full statement from @SamOlikerF here: https://t.co/y7uB4HC7N6

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

This is a bad policy (more public transit is way more important than free public transit), and it's phrased annoyingly. I get doing bad policies for a good sound bite, and that good policy can yield a bad sound bite. I deeply do not understand choosing the bad version of both.

[Ed Markey @SenMarkey]

Public transit is a public good—and it should be free.

That’s why @RepPressley and I are reintroducing the Freedom to Move Act to make fare-free transit a reality and close the transit equity gap.

[Responsive Gov @Responsive_Gov]

"[Medicaid] re-enrollment is more time consuming and expensive than a regular renewal, leaving state administrators, caseworkers and clients with more work."

The solution? Ex-parte Medicaid renewal.

@AmandaRenteria from @codeforamerica writes in @thehill on why: https://t.co/4mzphrnAyb

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

@jon_m_rob Aw, thank you!

[Responsive Gov @Responsive_Gov]

The Trump administration’s latest effort to undermine trust in our elections & the public servants who administer them?

DOJ efforts to prosecute election officials.

We're appalled. Read our executive director @SamOlikerF's @nytimes letter to the editor: https://t.co/N5yZJ8sYJW

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

Read the CBO letter here: https://t.co/VLfR5a7bd6

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

This is an important lesson for everyone in policy world. The nonpartisan CBO doc that this number came from was unclear about who the 4.8M estimate was, yet it should have been obvious that the number would be cited in exactly the way it's being cited in media right now.

[Adrianna McIntyre (@adrianna.bsky.social) @onceuponA]

The distinction matters!

Best evidence we have suggests work requirements largely screen people out of coverage because they don't know about them — you can't comply with reporting requirements you don't know about — or don't adequately report their qualifying activity/exemption

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

Clarity is as important as accuracy in policy work product. But very few policy shops reward clarity or penalize lack of clarity with nearly the same oomph as they do with accuracy.

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

This is true *especially* for hourly-wage workers, where clocking in late because the bus schedule is unreliable and unpredictable is much more expensive than a transit fare.

[Daniel Pearson @DPearsonPHL]

When I was taking hourly buses on NJT to get to work, I understood very well that a second bus per hour had more value to me than a free fare. I would also prefer a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth bus to a free fare.

[Nicholas Bagley @nicholas_bagley]

This is good! Forcing every governmental decision to be made in public does little to prevent corruption or improve transparency, but it *for sure* makes it impossible to have honest and candid discussions about policy.

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

It's not pro-regulation to create a regulatory state that doesn't actually work correctly.

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

I love the idea behind this, but the response to realizing its impossible to comply with "over 6,000" regulations can't just be to cut fines, and the answer also isn't programs that already exist and only 3% of businesses use: 3% means that's not the right solution.

[Zohran Kwame Mamdani @ZohranKMamdani]

It’s time this city empowered small businesses—not bury them in fines, fees and endless bureaucracy.

Here’s my plan.

[Responsive Gov @Responsive_Gov]

Rather than promoting efficiency or accountability, proposed cuts to federal Medicaid funding would undermine state flexibility, strain local economies, and ultimately cost taxpayers more in the long run.

Read our latest report: https://t.co/wgnzQylY6W

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

Fascinating work!

[Adrianna McIntyre (@adrianna.bsky.social) @onceuponA]

It's great to finally see this out in the world as a no-longer-working paper — this was the first project I started working on as a PhD student, helping put together the grant application in *checks notes* 2017

[Sam Oliker-Friedland @SamOlikerF]

This story isn't just blatantly unconstitutional; it's also just such poor quality work by the Biden DOJ. We should be furious at DOGE. We should also be angry at years of needlessly crappy government by both parties that opened the door to it.

[Billy Binion @billybinion]

This is Linda Martin. A few years ago, the FBI seized her life savings: $40,200.

The kicker: She was never charged with a crime—and the government couldn’t tell her why it took her money.

Martin is far from the first. But she is trying to make sure she is the last. A thread.

[Responsive Gov @Responsive_Gov]

NEW: The latest white paper from Responsive Gov Fellow Jamila Michener makes the case for government agencies to more meaningfully engage with the people they serve – so they can build more efficient & effective programs. https://t.co/LUIZOHeAjl

[Tyler Austin Harper @Tyler_A_Harper]

“Moderate” and “left” are no longer analytically useful terms that provide purchase on our political situation. Populist economic messaging is no longer viewed as especially radical or even “left.” Voters who think Dems are “too liberal” are talking about culture not the economy.

[Lakshya Jain @lxeagle17]

Democrats keep treating paperwork like crack cocaine — the party has a whole ton of noble priorities, but far too often, they seem to only serve the endless desire for meetings, paperwork, and internal/environmental review without actually getting anything *done*

[Responsive Gov @Responsive_Gov]

Our ED @SamOlikerF returned to the Gaily Show to talk about our latest Election Policy Progress Reports. Minnesota was 1 of 3 states to receive an A+ this year, including for passing a state Voting Rights Act, ensuring civil rights protections across MN. https://t.co/HJHpCfxTo0

[States United Action #SUAction @SUAction]

In North Carolina, a losing Supreme Court candidate is seeking to overturn the results of a free & fair election by dismissing up to 60K ballots, falsely claiming that the voters who cast them were ineligible.
https://t.co/rus7VHrWD1