The Academy is Ready to Tackle 2025’s Public Policy Challenges

By Geralyn Trujillo, Senior Director, Public Policy 

The start of a new year is something to be anticipated. Every January, we start off with 365 empty days on our calendar, ready to be filled with events, birthdays, and more. Some of us make sure that we eat “lucky” foods—black-eyed peas, greens, pork, and sauerkraut—and toast the new year, hoping for luck, health, and happiness. 

The uncertainty that a new year brings can trigger excitement, opportunity, fear of change, or that uncomfortable feeling when there’s so much unknown. That is increased this year with the presidential election behind us and the start of new federal and state legislative sessions already taking shape, challenging what we think will be the key issues of the day with shifting leadership and new political priorities. 

With the inauguration over, policymakers, interested stakeholders, and the Academy are looking toward a variety of agendas, wanting to figure out what comes next in our policy, advocacy, and outreach efforts. On the plus side, we have a bit of a roadmap to follow. 

The January/February edition of Contingencies highlights some of the priorities, opportunities, and challenges that the Academy and our volunteer leadership are anticipating in this new year. Not only did Academy President Darrell Knapp lay out his vision for his presidential year in his inaugural address, the vice presidents of the practice councils also highlighted what they anticipated as the focal points in their respective areas.  

In addition, our three senior fellows spoke about what they are anticipating in 2025 —leveraging their actuarial training and their expertise in public policy to anticipate key areas of interest for our Academy volunteers and members. And Academy senior staff also shared their perspectives on what to anticipate in the year ahead and how the Academy will be looking to support the efforts of the practice areas and our leadership.  

In the public space, the newspapers and media are full of regular updates from pundits and representatives of the new president, congressional leadership, and nominated Cabinet secretaries, focused on what may happen in the first 30 days, the next six months, and the first full year of the new administration. 

Presidential elections occur every four years, and the Academy was already preparing for and thinking about what the potential policy shifts would be in the new year. We’ve been considering whether the policy priorities that our practice councils identified late last summer remain the right mix, while also asking ourselves how we can match our planned work projects, webinars, and external events with the priorities of the leadership in Congress, in state capitals, and in the White House.  

Being prepared, thinking logically and drawing connections between seemingly disparate points of fact—that sounds suspiciously familiar to me. In fact, it seems pretty representative of the natural skills and abilities of actuaries. So, when I’m asked if I’m anticipating big changes in the Academy’s policy priorities or the opportunities we will have to engage with our federal and state partners, I say no. Will we need to pivot and reassess some of our priorities? Without a doubt. Is it likely that there will be issues or questions that present themselves that aren’t currently on our priority list? Of course, but that is true every year. 

The strength and benefit of the Academy’s public policy work is its grounding in some basic truths. Consider the Academy’s vision statement—that the financial security systems in the U.S. be sound and sustainable. That means we will always be focused on the solvency of public programs, like Social Security and Medicare. Issues that impact the broader insurance and financial systems, such as artificial intelligence, or the broader U.S. population, such as aging or extreme events, will always require the preeminent experts in risk and financial security to help propose, evaluate, and implement solutions. 

Keeping actuaries at the table with other key decision makers means that while some of our key priorities may shift to reflect external pressures, the heart of what we do will remain consistent and balanced.  

If you’re interested in learning more, check out Contingencies. Sign up for our quarterly practice area newsletters and make sure that you’re reading our weekly updates in This Week or our monthly roundup, Actuarial Update. Continue to follow our blog and check out the Academy’s podcast, Actuary Voices. Make sure you are following us on social media, particularly on LinkedIn. When you’re ready to be part of the discussion and the process, volunteer! Our practice councils are always looking for a few good men and women who are interested in serving the public and the U.S. actuarial profession.  

That’s the best part of the new year—lots of new opportunities to get engaged, to become more aware, and to participate in making the new year a better one than the last.