Public policy expert on gov't reform

AUSTIN (KXAN) - In “If We Can Put a Man on the Moon: Doing Big Things in Government,” William D. Eggers and John O'Leary set out to answer the question: Why do some government initiatives succeed while others lead to catastrophe? The authors cite 75 historical examples of what government reforms worked and why they did so. The book outlines the process that needs to take place in order to put forward truly beneficial legislation for the public.

One of the authors, Executive Director of Deloitte's Public Leadership Institute and the Global Director of Deloitte Research-Public Sector, William Eggers, sat down with Jenny Hoff to discuss how these tools pertain to the current debate raging in Washington over healthcare reform.

”For healthcare reform to work, two things need to happen,” said Eggers. “First, it needs to get past Congress. Secondly, it needs to be a design that can actually work.”

Eggers proposed lawmakers give states more options when it comes to reforming healthcare insurance and testing out policies before implementing them full-scale.

Eggers and his co-author, John O’Leary with Harvard, are featured authors at the Texas Book Festival. Their speech is in the Capitol Extension, room E2.016 from 3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.