NPP Executive Director Doug Hall will present at the Participatory Budgeting Conference taking place in San Francisco on September 25-27 on how to influence the federal budget process. In honor of the power of participation, we bring you a guest post from Tarsi Dunlop, of the Roosevelt Institute, on what participatory budgeting is and why cities should adopt it.

Americans say that ensuring the Social Security system and improving the job situation in our country are two of the most important issues facing Congress and the president in 2014. Here at NPP we have developed a set of Voter’s Guides that break down key federal budget issues like these into easily digestible facts and provide you with important questions for the candidates.

Congress has settled how the government will spend billions of dollars over the next couple of months. From Syria to our own homegrown border crisis, here’s what you need to know.

Even the Pentagon has called climate change a national security threat. Why do we spend so little on climate change initiatives compared to so much on other programs?

It’s election season, when the political ads and campaign claims will fly. National Priorities Project’s 2014 Voter’s Guides will help you pierce through campaign rhetoric and get to the bottom of how candidates approach critical federal budget issues.

August recess is the best opportunity to tell Congress your thoughts on Iraq, immigration, corporate taxes, unemployment benefits, and more.

Competing funding proposals to deal with the border crisis express vastly different priorities about border security, refugee assistance, and legal representation, echoing the deep divisions about immigration reform overall.

With elections looming in November, most observers don’t expect Congress to pass a budget before the October 1 deadline. 

The Government Accountability Office recently found that $619 billion in federal grants and loans was improperly reported in 2012.

This Congress is on track to be one of the least productive ever, with a full slate of immediate problems still unaddressed.