State “Blue Ribbon” commissions can help small interestgroups to defeat the aims of big industry

Do the biggest industries control the political and policy agenda across the U.S.? Despite the general sentiment that they often do, Mark Ritchey argues that small interest groups can win out against big industry in influencing government policy. Using the example of autism advocacy groups in the late 2000s and early 2010s, he writes that these groups were able to take advantage of state ‘Blue Ribbon’ policy taskforces to influence some of them to recommend that state law makers mandate private insurance coverage for autism therapy. This in turn, increased the likelihood that such legislation would be adopted by state lawmakers.