Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda 

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FY 2022–2026 Department of the Treasury

Learning Agenda

Table of Contents 

What is a Learning Agenda? .................................................................................................................................2

Background.......................................................................................................................................................2

Approach to Developing Treasury’s Learning Agenda......................................................................................2

Linking to Other Learning and Planning Processes...........................................................................................3

Section 1: Overview of Treasury’s Learning Agenda ............................................................................................4

Section 2: Planned Activities for Implementing the Learning Agenda .................................................................8

Background.......................................................................................................................................................8

 Goal 1: Equitable Economic Growth and Recovery......................................................................................8

Goal 2: Enhance National Security.............................................................................................................13

Goal 3: Protect Financial Stability and Resiliency ......................................................................................14

Goal 4: Combat Climate Change ................................................................................................................15

Goal 5: Modernize Treasury Operations....................................................................................................16
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda 

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What is a Learning Agenda?

Background

The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (“Evidence Act”) requires agencies to 

develop an evidence-building plan every four years as part of the agency strategic plan. Referred to as a 

learning agenda, this plan identifies the priority questions that, if addressed, will build evidence useful to

improving the administration and outcomes of the programs, policies, and regulations of an agency. The 

learning agenda must identify the agency’s planned activities to answer these questions as well as the 

data, methods, and analytical approaches that the agency may use to develop evidence and support 

policymaking. In the learning agenda, agencies must also address anticipated challenges to building 

evidence and proposed solutions to those challenges.

Approach to Developing Treasury’s Learning Agenda

As part of developing the FY 2022–2026 Strategic Plan, Treasury stakeholders identified priority questions 

aligned to strategic objectives where the Department wishes to strategically build evidence through research, 

evaluation, statistics, and analysis to inform decision-making (see Section 1 for an overview of the questions). 

The Department engaged over 200 stakeholders, including policy, program, and management officials, 

subject matter experts, and senior leaders, in drafting the plan. Learning agenda questions, along with other 

strategic plan content, were vetted through bureau and office planning teams, bureau heads, policy office 

leadership, and other key accountable officials including members of Treasury’s Data Governance Board. 

In addition, Treasury conducted targeted outreach to external stakeholder groups through its strategic plan 

public engagement efforts to understand how the Department can better strengthen its partnership with the 

public in implementing equitable economic growth and recovery, financial stability, and climate priorities. Of 

the more than 150 comments received, over a third recommended that Treasury engage more actively with 

community-based organizations. Specifically, commenters recommended Treasury increase outreach efforts 

to improve the access of Treasury programs and opportunities in communities that are disproportionately 

impacted by economic and environmental inequities. The feedback emphasized a need for Treasury to focus 

on partnering with trusted community organizations to advance equity in access to financial services and 

recovery program funds, climate initiatives, and overall customer experience. Responses to OMB’s Equity 

Request for Information1further underscored these recommendations and highlighted the need for 

improved data collection, disaggregation, and data sharing across the federal government. These 

recommendations informed the planning and prioritization of the implementation of the learning agenda 

(see Section 2), particularly for questions and activities around taxpayer experience (Treasury Objective 1.1), 

recovery programs (Treasury Objectives 1.3 and 1.4), climate initiatives (Treasury Objective 4.2), and data 

(Treasury Objective 5.3). 

Finally, Treasury considered the results of surveys, outreach, and other issue-specific external stakeholder 

engagement efforts led by bureaus and offices in the development of the learning agenda questions. For 

example, the IRS developed a bureau-level learning agenda (which informed the Treasury learning agenda) 

using information from external customer survey data, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

(TIGTA) reports on IRS operations and processes, and Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Most Serious 

Problems documentation. The Office of Recovery Programs (ORP) engaged with federal government 

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In 2021, as part of efforts to identify methods for assessing and advancing equity through the Federal 

government, OMB issued a Request for Information (RFI) to seek input, information, and recommendations from a 

broad array of stakeholders on available methods, approaches, and tools to assess whether agency policies and 

actions equitable serve all individuals and communities, particularly those 
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partners, recipient and grantees, and advocacy groups to inform program design, develop guidance for 

reporting, promote equity in program implementation, and inform evaluation opportunities. As part of the 

annual learning agenda update process, Treasury intends to seek input from external stakeholders, including 

recipient and grantees of Treasury programs, non-governmental researchers, and the communities and 

individuals the Department serves. 

The planned activities described in Section 2 are primarily focused on FY 2022 and FY 2023 and do not 

encompass all ongoing evidence-building activities within the Department’s bureaus and offices. As Treasury 

matures its evidence-building capacity, strengthens enterprise-wide coordination of evidence and evaluation 

activities, and builds foundational evidence for each of the priority questions, the learning agenda will be 

updated to include additional planned activities and further discussions on related data, methods, and 

analytical approaches used for answering these questions. Treasury will continue to engage with the 

Department’s evidence community, federal partners, and external researchers and evaluators to identify 

additional resources and opportunities to answer the questions in the learning agenda. 

Linking to Other Learning and Planning Processes

Within Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal) have 

developed learning agendas in alignment to their bureau-level priorities and the Treasury Strategic Plan and 

Learning Agenda. Additionally, Treasury’s Office of Recovery Programs (ORP) intends to develop a learning 

agenda that complements the Treasury Strategic Plan and their program needs. Other Treasury offices and 

bureaus, including the Office of Economic Policy, Office of Tax Policy, and Office of Financial Research, 

conduct extensive research and analysis activities as their core mission and will be key partners in 

implementing Treasury’s Learning Agenda. 

Where possible, this learning agenda identifies opportunities to partner with other agencies to develop 

evidence in support of shared priorities, such as working with the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development to understand the impact of emergency rental and mortgage assistance programs on housing 

stability. Further, we identify areas clearly aligned with efforts underway led by the White House and Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB), including the draft President’s Management Agenda (PMA) learning 

agenda, released by OMB for public input in December 2021, and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Equity 

Learning Agenda. Several of the questions on the draft PMA learning agenda align with Treasury priorities, 

including questions focused on advancing equity (Treasury Objective 1.3), strengthening the Federal 

workforce (Treasury Objective 5.1), and improving customer experience (Treasury Objective 5.4). 
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Section 1: Overview of Treasury’s Learning Agenda

Treasury’s mission is to maintain a strong economy by promoting conditions that enable equitable and 

sustainable economic growth at home and abroad, combating threats to, and protecting the integrity of 

the financial system, and managing the U.S. government's finances and resources effectively. For FY 

2022–2026, Treasury has identified five goals and 19 objectives to advance this mission consistent with 

the Biden-Harris Administration’s priorities and values. 

Treasury’s FY 2022–2026, Strategic Goals:

1. Promoting equitable economic growth and recovery: We will address systemic issues in the 

financial system, strengthen economic resiliency for all Americans, and partner internationally 

to advance equitable global recovery and sustainable growth.

2. Enhancing national security: As foreign and domestic actors threaten American economic and 

national security, we will strengthen bi-lateral and multi-lateral partnerships to defeat these 

threats and take a leading role in protecting the U.S. and international financial systems from 

abuse.

3. Protecting financial stability and resiliency: To improve financial resiliency ahead of the next 

inevitable crisis and reduce associated costs to the economy, we will address vulnerabilities in 

core financial markets through responsible regulatory reforms.

4. Combatting climate change: We will work alongside our domestic and international partners to 

respond ambitiously to tackle the challenges of climate change, adapt to an already changing 

climate, mitigate the risks, and position the global economy for clean and sustainable growth.

5. Modernizing Treasury operations: We will focus on a set of enterprise-level improvements to 

improve mission delivery across Treasury, including building and retaining a workforce that 

represents the diverse people and communities the Department serves, enabling work routines 

of the future to respond to lessons learned from the pandemic work environment, 

strengthening decision-making through improved use of data, and increasing trust in 

government by building consistent customer experiences.

This table on the following page lists all 31 questions identified in the Treasury FY 2022–2026 Strategic 

Plan as the priority questions to address each strategic objective under these five goals. The table also 

notes where questions may be aligned to other learning agendas and where no activities are currently 

planned. Treasury intends to explore additional opportunities to partner with other agencies and 

identify additional resources to fund evidence-building activities in support of these questions. 
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Strategic Objective Learning Agenda question Planned Activities?

1.1 Tax 

Administration and 

Policy 

How can the IRS/TTB address taxpayer needs and 

preferences to deliver a better taxpayer experience? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

How can the IRS/TTB simplify interactions for taxpayers, 

such as providing more self-service options, improving 

processes for filing, responding to audit notices or 

examinations, correcting returns, and remitting payments? 

No projects identified; 

anticipated alignment 

with PMA learning agenda 

How can the IRS/TTB use information reporting, artificial 

intelligence, data, and advanced analytic techniques to 

reduce the tax gap, improve compliance, and diminish 

repeat noncompliance? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

To what extent do barriers and bias in the tax code prevent 

equity and fairness in the administration and enforcement of 

the tax code and access to direct payments? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2; 

anticipated alignment 

with PMA and ARP Equity 

Learning Agendas 

1.3 Economically 

Resilient 

Communities

To what extent are American Rescue Plan (ARP) programs 

being implemented equitably? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2; 

anticipated alignment 

with ARP Equity Learning 

Agenda

What is the impact and/or outcomes of ARP programs on 

households, businesses, and governments? 

What are the impacts and/or outcomes of the Emergency 

Capital Investment Program, Rapid Response Program, and 

Minority Lending Programs on Community Financial 

Development Institutions (CDFIs) or minority depository 

institutions (MDIs)? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

How does the CDFI Fund impact and boost investments in 

low-income communities in the long term, including 

Persistent Poverty Counties? 

No projects identified

1.4 Resilient Housing 

Market

What strategies deployed in the recovery from COVID-19 

best prevented evictions and foreclosures? How can we 

track evictions nationwide? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2; 

anticipated alignment 

with ARP Equity and HUD 

Learning Agendas 

What are strategies to reduce the cost of production or 

preservation of affordable housing while still making it high 

quality and resilient to climate change?

No projects identified for 

FY22-23; anticipated 

alignment with HUD 

Learning Agenda

2.1 Cyber Resiliency 

of Financial System 

and Institutions 

How can Treasury strengthen its situational awareness of 

cybersecurity threats in the financial sector and encourage 

greater industry participation in the Office of Cybersecurity 

and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) initiatives? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

2.2 Economic 

Measures to Advance 

National Security

What would best facilitate cross-Treasury coordination on 

policy issues that leverages all Treasury tools and authorities 

to advance national security objectives?

No projects identified
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Strategic Objective Learning Agenda question Planned Activities?

2.3 Modernizing 

Sanctions Regime

How can Treasury best measure the effectiveness of its 

sanctions policies and leverage those insights to design and 

implement effective sanctions policies in the future? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

2.4 Transparency in 

the Financial System 

How will developments in digital assets and other Fintech 

innovations affect illicit finance threats?

No projects identified

3.1 Financial System 

Vulnerabilities

To what extent did nonbank financial firms and activities 

contribute to market stress in March 2020?

No projects identified

What additional data and analytical methods could be used 

to improve the monitoring of cyclical vulnerabilities?

No projects identified 

3.2 Resilient 

securities markets

How can Treasury improve its analysis of evolving securities 

markets, and how should it consider various tradeoffs when 

making recommendations to improve their resiliency?

No projects identified 

3.3 Financial 

innovation

How is Treasury currently using artificial intelligence, 

machine learning models, and alternative data in financial 

services (e.g., underwriting) and what further guidance, 

oversight, or regulation might be necessary to enable 

innovation that better serves and protects consumers?

No projects identified 

How can Treasury improve the delivery of government 

payments to hard-to-reach populations (e.g., unbanked)? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2; 

anticipated alignment 

with PMA learning agenda 

What are the risks and opportunities regarding the use of 

technology by financial institutions (regtech) and by the 

official sector (suptech) to conduct compliance and oversight 

functions?

No projects identified 

4.2 Climate 

Incentives and 

Investments 

How does Treasury ensure climate policies protect 

communities disproportionately impacted by climate-related 

risk? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

4.4 Sustainable 

Treasury Operations 

How can Treasury most effectively build capacity and 

climate literacy for climate adaption and sustainable 

operations? 

No projects identified 

Which professional communities of interest and 

organizations should be prioritized for rebuilding climate 

change expertise? 

No projects identified 

What investments does Treasury need to make to address 

Treasury’s climate vulnerabilities, and how much will it cost?

Planned activities 

described in Section 2

5.1 Recruit and 

Retain a Diverse & 

Inclusive Workforce 

How can Treasury increase representation with respect to its 

public-facing call-center workforce?

No projects identified; 

anticipated alignment 

To what extent has increased diversity in management and with PMA learning agenda 

leadership positions influenced organizational performance 

or improved employees’ sense of inclusion?
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Strategic Objective Learning Agenda question Planned Activities?

5.2 Future Work 

Routines 

How are Treasury’s customers’ needs changing, how are 

employee needs changing, and how do you foster innovation 

and collaboration in a hybrid organization? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2; 

anticipated alignment 

with PMA learning agenda 

5.3 Better Use of 

Data

How can Treasury combine its debt portfolio data with 

disaggregated demographic data to inform equity 

assessments?

No projects identified; 

anticipated alignment 

with PMA learning agenda 

What are ways to improve data collection, use, and sharing 

in order to improve Treasury’s ability to deliver services and 

make programmatic and policy decisions more equitably? 

5.4 Customer 

Experience Practices 

What are effective strategies for serving hard to reach 

customers, particularly those who lack access to reliable 

internet, banks/financial institutions, and the credentials 

required to verify their digital identity?

No projects identified; 

anticipated alignment 

with PMA learning agenda 

What is the right beacon metric for measuring customer 

experience for the department? 

Planned activities 

described in Section 2
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Section 2: Planned Activities for Implementing the Learning Agenda

Background

For 14 of Treasury’s 31 learning agenda questions, we have identified planned activities for FY 2022 and 

FY 2023, described in this section. These activities do not reflect all evidence-building activities carried 

out within the Department. As Treasury matures its enterprise-wide evidence capacity, including 

governance processes, the learning agenda will be updated with additional identified plans. The tables 

below describe the planned activities for these prioritized questions, including high level information, 

where possible, on data, methods, analytical approaches, and anticipated challenges. 

Goal 1: Equitable Economic Growth and Recovery

Strategic Objective 1.1: Tax Administration and Policy

Enhance tax compliance and service; improve tax policy design.

How can the IRS/TTB address taxpayer needs and preferences to deliver a better taxpayer experience? 

Lead: Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Support: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) 

Background The IRS seeks to improve taxpayer experience through a strategy that incorporates leading 

practices of customer service and ultimately creates a proactive, convenient, seamless, 

personalized, and effective interaction for taxpayers. As reflected in the 2021 Taxpayer 

First Act report to Congress, the IRS has developed a six-pillar strategy for improving 

taxpayer experience over the next 10 years. The IRS conducted in-depth research and 

devoted months to engaging a wide array of stakeholders to develop this strategy. As the 

IRS implements this strategy, it plans to continue an evidence-based approach that 

includes research and analysis projects on taxpayer experiences and strengthened data 

and analytics capabilities to promote an agency-wide understanding of taxpayer 

experience and emerging needs and expectations. 

Planned 

Activities

The IRS is working to understand the most effective methods to measure taxpayer needs 

and preferences and will subsequently seek to address these needs. In FY23, the IRS is 

planning four projects in FY23 which are focused on establishing, baselining, and 

strengthening measures of taxpayer needs and preferences to identify opportunities to 

deliver a better taxpayer experience. Activities 2-4 are included in Treasury’s FY 2023 

Evaluation Plan.

Activity #1 Business Online Account (BOLA) Foundational Research: The IRS will analyze phone call 

records, user engagement/interactions, CSAT surveys, behavioral insights, and interviews 

to understand challenges business taxpayers face, and map the online account customer 

journey. A challenge associated with this project is the need for a viable process for 

authorizing an individual to act on behalf, and the IRS will work to address this in 

developing a comprehensive BOLA product and experience. The IRS also anticipates 

resource challenges to implementing improvements to the BOLA product and experience 

but intends to use this research to understand which online account product features or 

services would greatly improve the business taxpayer experience and prioritize 

investments accordingly. 

Activity #2 Taxpayer Experience Analytics: The IRS will use Natural Language Processing techniques 

and machine learning to analyze customer experience data, including individual master 

file, notice delivery system, online services, and survey data, to identify opportunities to 

improve taxpayer experience and for process improvements. The IRS anticipates 
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challenges related to the pros and cons of each machine learning technique and will work 

to compare techniques using common objectives and criteria. Additionally, 

implementation of recommendations for process improvements would require buy-in 

from multiple stakeholders and often requires changes to established processes, 

procedures, and training, furthering the need for a robust evidence base prior to adopting 

any recommended process improvements. 

Activity #3 Customer Callback Expansion: The IRS will evaluate the effects of Customer Callback (CCB) 

and opportunities to gather feedback and maximize the expanded use of CCB to improve 

taxpayer experience by monitoring performance trends and measuring progress of CCB 

applications deployed against IRS Modernization Plan reportable measures and industry 

benchmarks for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Anticipated challenges include limited 

implementation bandwidth and limited CCB offerings, difficulty managing parallel evolving 

design applications and infrastructure upgrades, and variation in CCB acceptance based on 

individual customer behavior. 

Activity #4 Customer Expectation Surveys: The IRS will use surveys, focus groups, and behavioral 

insights to understand current customer experience and needs and expectations of SB/SE 

taxpayers and tax professionals. This will include the 2022 Customer Expectations, 

Experience, and Needs (CEEN) survey for small business and self-employed taxpayers and 

the 2023 Tax Professional Engagement Survey for the tax professional community. 

Gathering data from a representative sample of SB/SE taxpayers and practitioners can be 

challenging, meaning data gathered may need to be treated as directional and qualitative, 

rather than quantitative.

How can the IRS/TTB use information reporting, artificial intelligence, data, and advanced analytic 

techniques to reduce the tax gap, improve compliance, and diminish repeat noncompliance?

Lead: Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Support: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)

Background Improving compliance with the tax code and reducing the tax gap, defined as the amount 

of true tax liability that is not paid voluntarily and timely, are critical to the IRS’s mission 

and vision of enforcing the law with integrity and fairness and upholding the integrity of 

the nation’s tax system. The IRS seeks to take full advantage of advances in technology to 

inform decision-making and improve operational outcomes. The IRS’s Research, Advanced 

Analytics, and Statistics (RAAS) group also coordinates with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax 

and Trade Bureau (TTB) to apply leading practices and learnings from IRS projects to TTB’s 

tax administration and enforcement activities. 

Planned 

Activities

The IRS is planning four projects in FY23 which will involve using new data or analytic 

advances to identify emerging noncompliance issues and address the tax gap.

Activity #1 Negative Capital Accounts Validation: The IRS will build a dataset using existing e-filed 

partnership returns to investigate negative capital accounts. The IRS will build a dataset 

with partnership information and use the dataset to look at partnerships in a holistic way. 

Activities will focus on understanding how the IRS can use available data to better 

understand partnership, estimate a partner’s outside basis and at-risk amount, and 

enhance partnership workload selection for Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) and 

Large Business & International (LB&I) division audits. Anticipated challenges include 

managing and analyzing data which may be difficult to separate, merge, and reconcile, 

which may contribute to difficulty distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate negative 

capital accounts using the return data alone. 
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Return Preparer Scoring Model: The IRS will explore opportunities to develop a model to 

sort return preparers into different treatment streams and rank preparers for 

egregiousness within treatment streams. The IRS will use the return preparer database 

and preparer-level data and unsupervised soft clustering approaches to find meaningful 

and interpretable preparer clusters. The IRS anticipates difficulty producing interpretable 

results and reaching conclusions due to varying standards of egregiousness and the size of 

treatment streams. 

Big Data Analytics and IRS Criminal Investigation: The IRS will explore opportunities to use 

Big Data Analytics and artificial intelligence to improve selection of potential criminal 

cases, drive field office level criminal tax case selection strategies, and drive other 

actionable insights. Challenges to this project include identifying, obtaining, staging, and 

integrating the necessary and appropriate datasets, including external data sources, and

assessing model fairness, bias, and disparate impact. The IRS will also work to determine 

the appropriate way of communicating the insights from the project. 

Exempt Organization Noncompliance Initiative: The IRS will leverage existing data sources 

and data provided to other agencies (including Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed with 

the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Small Business Administration (SBA) 

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan information, and data from pay.gov) to explore 

opportunities to use analytic approaches and tools to identify fraud in the exempt 

organization space and identify lessons learned to further refine its approach. Anticipated 

challenges include coordination and communication between IRS divisions, data 

limitations, data storage and access, and employee resources and expertise.

Are there barriers and bias in the tax code that prevent equity and fairness in administration and 

enforcement of the tax code or access to direct payments?

Lead: Departmental Offices (Office of Tax Policy) 

Support: Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Background In 2020 and 2021, the Treasury Department, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and the 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rapidly sent out three rounds of direct relief payments 

during the COVID-19 crisis, and payments from the third round continue to be disbursed to 

Americans. These stimulus payments provided Americans with relief from the pandemic, 

putting money directly into their bank accounts so that they can pay bills, put food on 

their tables, and otherwise provide for their families. Most of the EIPs were provided 

automatically to those whose eligibility could be determined using tax return information 

from prior years. But this strategy alone would have left out millions of Americans because 

many lower-income individuals—among whom people of color are disproportionately 

represented—are not required to file tax returns. To address this challenge, Treasury and 

the IRS partnered with other federal agencies and community organizations—and 

conducted significant outreach—ultimately making more than 26 million payments to 

those who did not file tax returns in 2019 or 2020.

Planned 

Activities

Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy (OTP), with support from the IRS Research, Applied 

Analytics and Statistics (RAAS) Division, is examining whether and how eligible adults and 

families received an Economic Impact Payment (EIP), and is estimating equity impacts of a 

letter campaign about such payments. Once this work is completed, OTP plan to publish 

statistics on the composition of EIP recipients, including estimates of race and ethnicity 

and other demographic characteristics. As with all research using tax data, this report will 

carefully follow long-standing data protection protocols to prevent disclosure of taxpayer 
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information. OTP hopes to have results on the first and second round of EIPs in 2022, with 

results on the third round in 2023. 

Strategic Objective 1.3: Economically Resilient Communities 

Promote equitable financial recovery and growth through support and flow of capital to small businesses, 

industry, households, and communities.

To what extent are American Rescue Plan (ARP) programs being implemented equitably? What is the 

impact of ARP programs on households, businesses, and governments? 

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Recovery Programs (ORP)

Support: Departmental Offices: Office of Economic Policy (EP) 

Background Treasury is currently engaging with internal and external stakeholders for ORP programs to 

understand the most relevant and urgent questions around topics including federal 

emergency program stand-up, promoting equity at the state and local government level, 

and maximizing program outcomes while mitigating barriers to access and undue burden 

on program participants. The ORP Learning Agenda will include questions focused on 

specific programs authorized by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2021, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 

Security (CARES) Act, as well as questions about the broader impact of recovery programs 

that will generate evidence to inform future economic recovery and growth efforts. 

Further, the ARP Implementation Team is developing an ARP Equity Learning Agenda, 

which provides an overarching framework to guide the understanding of ARP investments 

on questions of equity, including Treasury questions.

Planned 

Activities

In FY22 and FY23, Treasury intends to conduct initial descriptive analyses to understand 

the geographic and demographic distribution of funds. Treasury is working to identify and 

prioritize evaluation questions for each program, including questions such as: 

• How equitable was the distribution of program funds? 

• What are the effects of funds on priority outcomes?

• How did technical assistance and outreach efforts affect program implementation 

and equity in distribution of funds? 

In addition to program-specific questions, Treasury is interested in looking across recovery 

programs to understand how funds overlapped in certain areas or how programs may have 

interacted to contribute to priority outcomes. Treasury will examine how the Department’s 

levers or tools can incentivize grantees to focus on the priority efforts of 1) ensuring funds 

are allocated to communities with the most demonstrated needs and 2) removing barriers 

to receiving the funds for low-income communities and communities of color. 

The Office of Economic Policy (EP) is responsible for analyzing and reporting on current and 

prospective economic developments in the U.S. economy and assisting in the 

determination of appropriate economic policies. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 

pandemic, EP has conducted evaluations, analysis, and research to develop evidence and 

inform decision-making for recovery programs. In FY 2022 and FY 2023, EP will conduct 

descriptive and impact evaluations to answer the questions identified above. Additionally, 

Treasury is working with the General Services Administration (GSA)’s Office of Evaluation 

Sciences to identify potential evaluations to answer short-, medium-, and long-term 

priority questions. Treasury is also exploring opportunities to leverage Federal resources 

(including the ARP National Evaluation contract) and to partner with external researchers 
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

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to evaluate the impact of ARP programs by answering the questions included above, in the 

ORP Learning Agenda, and the ARP Equity Learning Agenda. 

What are the impacts and/or outcomes of the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP), Rapid 

Response Program, and Minority Lending Programs on Community Financial Development Institutions 

(CDFIs) or minority depository institutions (MDIs)? 

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Domestic Finance (DF) and the Community Development Financial 

Institutions (CDFI) Fund

Background The Consolidated Appropriations Act of FY 2021 provided $12 billion of emergency support 

for CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) to help communities respond to the 

economic hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDFI Rapid Response Program 

(RRP) provided $1.25 billion in emergency funding which was distributed rapidly and 

broadly to address immediate needs in response to the pandemic. The Emergency Capital 

Investment Program (ECIP) invests $9 billion in CDFIs and MDIs, supporting their efforts to 

provide loans, grants, and forbearance for small and minority-owned businesses and 

consumers in low-income and underserved communities. The authorizing statute also 

required that the Secretary of the Treasury conduct a study of the impact of the programs 

on low- and moderate-income and minority communities. 

Planned 

Activities

By June 2022, Treasury will conduct and deliver to Congress an initial exploratory 

evaluation to describe how funding from the ECIP and CDFI RRP programs was distributed 

among participating institutions and the communities they serve, including low- and 

moderate-income and minority communities, and to observe program outcomes that can 

inform the design of a robust impact evaluation. Treasury has partnered with the General 

Services Administration (GSA)’s Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES) to conduct this initial 

exploratory evaluation and to identify opportunities for impact evaluations of these 

programs. OES will analyze data from ECIP and RRP applications and awards as well as 

recent historical CDFI data, including consumer loan reports, transaction level reports, 

annual certification reports, and certification applications, to examine the distribution of 

program funds to low- and moderate-income communities. To the extent possible, the 

analysis will be disaggregated by ethnic group. Following the initial study, Treasury will 

consider opportunities for evaluation approaches and methods based on OES’s 

understanding of available data and potential for causal inference. 

Strategic Objective 1.4: Resilient Housing Market

Together with HUD and other federal agencies, promote a stable and resilient housing market that expands 

fair and equitable access to homeownership and affordable rental opportunities and protects taxpayers.

What strategies deployed in the recovery from COVID-19 best prevented evictions and foreclosures? How 

can we track evictions nationwide?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Recovery Programs (ORP) and Domestic Finance (DF) 

Support: Departmental Offices: Office of Economic Policy (EP) 

Background The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 charged Treasury with administering the 

Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA), which provides up to $25 billion in funds to assist 

households that are unable to pay rent or utilities. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) 

provided an additional $21.55 billion in ERA funds. Additionally, ARP authorized the 

Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) and provided nearly $10 billion for state, territorial, 

and Tribal governments to provide relief to vulnerable homeowners to prevent mortgage 

delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and 

displacement of homeowners experiencing financial hardship. In FY 2021 and FY 2022, 

Treasury issued guidance and published promising practices to encourage recipient 
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

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governments to remove barriers that prevent participants or beneficiaries from accessing 

relief funds. 

Planned 

Activities

Treasury intends to assess equity in program implementation and evaluate program 

outcomes for both ERA and HAF. Treasury is exploring the feasibility of a descriptive 

analysis to understand where ERA and HAF funds were distributed and will evaluate the 

effect of funds on financial, income, and housing stability. 

Additionally, Treasury seeks to understand how the strategies deployed in the recovery, 

including strategies adopted by Treasury in implementation of the ERA and HAF programs 

and strategies that Treasury encouraged grantees to adopt, prevented evictions and 

foreclosures. Treasury is exploring opportunities to engage with federal partners, including 

HUD, to conduct evaluations of the emergency housing programs to inform future 

recovery efforts. In the short-term, Treasury will focus on understanding the effectiveness 

of strategies to prevent evictions and foreclosures. In the medium- and long-term, 

Treasury may explore how the results of these evaluations may inform considerations for 

the development of a national eviction prevention infrastructure. 

Goal 2: Enhance National Security 

Strategic Objective 2.1: Cyber Resiliency of Financial Systems and Institutions 

Harden assets and systems of Treasury and the broader financial system to promote financial system 

resiliency.

How can Treasury strengthen its situational awareness of cybersecurity threats in the financial sector and 

encourage greater industry participation in the Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure 

Protection (OCCIP) initiatives?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Domestic Finance, Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure 

Protection (OCCIP) 

Background Treasury Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) coordinates 

the Department's efforts to enhance the security and resilience of financial services sector 

critical infrastructure and reduce operational risk. The office works closely with financial 

sector companies, industry groups, and government partners to share information about 

cybersecurity and physical threats and vulnerabilities, encourage the use of baseline 

protections and best practices, and respond to and recover from significant incidents. 

Planned 

Activities

OCCIP seeks to strengthen its threat sharing and risk assessment programs in the coming 

years. In FY21, OCCIP engaged with Treasury’s Federally Funded Research and 

Development Center operated by MITRE to assess innovative information-sharing 

paradigms that advance mission performance and enhanced Financial Services Sector 

resiliency from cyber and all-hazards threat. MITRE’s research focused on potential 

approaches to enhance its situational awareness of cybersecurity threats by driving 

information-sharing and encouraging greater industry participation in OCCIP initiatives. 

MITRE interviewed industry stakeholders and leading practices for information-sharing 

and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), ultimately developing a Simplified Alternatives 

Analysis framework and providing preliminary recommendations for OCCIP to implement 

to gain stakeholder support. In FY 2022 and FY 2023, OCCIP intends to continue building 

upon this research and exploring opportunities to implement these recommendations. 

Strategic Objective 2.3: Modernize Sanctions Regime 

Modernize the development, implementation, enforcement, and maintenance of U.S. sanctions to ensure 

that sanctions remain a streamlined and effective foreign policy and national security tool.
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

14

How can Treasury best measure the effectiveness of its sanctions policies and leverage those insights to 

design and implement effective sanctions policies in the future? 

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence 

Background In 2021, Treasury conducted a broad review of the economic and financial sanctions that it 

administers and enforces and issued recommendations to preserve and enhance their 

effectiveness in supporting national security and U.S. interests now and in the future2.

Treasury’s review engaged hundreds of sanctions stakeholders, including former Treasury 

officials from both parties; key interagency partners including the Department of State, 

Department of Justice, and USAID; Members of Congress and their staffs; small and large 

commercial businesses and financial institutions; academics; non-governmental 

organizations; and the governments of our allies and partners abroad. Treasury’s review 

found that while sanctions remain an essential and effective policy tool, they also face new 

challenges including rising risks from new payments systems, the growing use of digital 

assets, and cybercriminals, as well as situations where careful calibration can help limit the 

impact of sanctions on the flow of legitimate humanitarian aid to those in need.

Planned 

Activities

Treasury will conduct additional evidence-building work to support implementation of the 

recommendations included in the 2021 Sanctions Review.

Goal 3: Protect Financial Stability and Resiliency 

Strategic Objective 3.3: Financial Innovation 

Encourage responsible financial sector innovation.

How can Treasury improve the delivery of government payments to hard-to-reach populations (e.g., 

unbanked)?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Domestic Finance

Support: Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Background Treasury seeks to promote a financial system that delivers inclusive access to financial 

services that effectively meet the needs of market participants while maintaining financial 

stability and market integrity. Emerging financial technologies have accelerated aspirations 

for a more equitable and inclusive financial system. Many innovations in digital finance 

(e.g., digital currency) remain nascent, with risks and benefits yet to be assessed. But the 

Department can and should do more to reach those whose financial needs remain unmet 

by the financial services sector. Expanding access to digital financial services (payments,

credit, saving, insurance) is a key component to increasing financial inclusion, domestically 

and internationally. Treasury should encourage the responsible use of innovative financial 

technology, both across the financial sector and in its own programs, to deliver affordable 

and secure financial services that better serve consumers and small businesses. Failing to 

do so could result in financial regulation becoming unresponsive to the needs and 

expectations of the public. Treasury seeks to improve delivery of payments to the public 

by leveraging private sector technology. Treasury’s commitment to transition to electronic 

payments from physical payments (e.g., checks) has the potential to advance both its 

financial inclusion and net-zero carbon goals.

Planned 

Activities

The Office of Domestic Finance and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service are planning several 

activities to develop evidence around barriers to receiving government payments and 

opportunities for improving efficiency while maintaining payment integrity and 

accessibility. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service led an Agency Priority Goal (APG) in FY 2020 

and FY 2021 aimed at increasing electronic payments and will continue to explore 

2 Treasury 2021 Sanctions Review
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

15

opportunities to increase electronic payments and the efficiency and security of Treasurydisbursed payments through another APG and research and evaluation projects. In FY 

2022 and FY 2023, Fiscal Service will lead an APG focused on creating a modern, seamless, 

inclusive, and secure Federal payment experience for the public that meets customer 

needs while reducing costs, expanding financial inclusion, and improving climate 

sustainability. As it works to achieve this APG and improve the delivery of government 

payments to hard-to-reach populations, Fiscal Service will work to build evidence in 

support of this learning agenda question.

Goal 4: Combat Climate Change

Strategic Objective 4.2: Climate Incentives and Investments 

Create and promote incentives and policies for the private sector to invest in climate-friendly and resilient 

projects and activities.

How does Treasury ensure climate policies protect communities disproportionately impacted by climaterelated risk?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Economic Policy and Office of Domestic Finance 

Background Climate-related financial risks may affect financial stability and the broader economy, but 

there are challenges in assessing such risks and in evaluating the need to mitigate such 

risks. Executive Order 14030, Climate-Related Financial Risk3, calls for action across the 

Executive Branch to assess and mitigate such risks in coordination with the independent

financial regulatory agencies. Necessary steps include developing and executing 

approaches to measure and monitor impacts on the financial sector, government, 

businesses, and households. Addressing these issues will ensure that investors and 

institutions can appropriately gauge climate-related investment risks and opportunities 

and that such risks are not amplified by adverse developments within the financial sector 

or government budget.

Treasury, in its leadership role on the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the 

Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC), seeks to advance climate priorities, 

including strengthening disclosures of climate-related financial risks and transitioning 

away from fossil fuels, while ensuring that climate policies and investments are designed 

to protect the economy from the impacts of climate change and do not disparately impact 

low-income communities and communities of color. 

Planned 

Activities

Treasury is working to better understand financial risks to households, especially in lowincome and historically disadvantaged communities, posed by climate change and climate 

transition. In October 2021, the FLEC launched an effort to study the impact of climate 

change on households and communities. This effort is part of the Biden-Harris 

Administration’s whole-of-government approach to tackling climate change and will bring 

together all FLEC agencies, and additional agencies, to write a comprehensive report with 

the goal of identifying priority policy actions to increase household and community 

financial resiliency. The report will explore financial risks to households and communities, 

especially low-income and historically disadvantaged communities, of climate change and 

climate transition. The FLEC will work to develop an understanding of:

• How households, communities, and the smallest businesses experience financial 

resilience in the face of climate change and climate transition, supported by 

resilience-supporting financial products and financial infrastructure supporting 

environments.

3 Executive Order 14030, Climate-Related Financial Risk
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

16

• How to map climate-related financial risks, and identify which groups and regions 

will be most impacted; and

• What tools and best practices could be effective at addressing risks and 

vulnerabilities and how to implement them equitably.

Strategic Objective 4.4: Sustainable Treasury Operations 

Improve the Department of the Treasury’s overall environmental and energy sustainability and invest in 

Treasury Bureaus’ adaptation and resiliency efforts to address climate change impacts on operations and 

services.

What investments need to be made to address Treasury’s climate vulnerabilities and how much will it 

cost?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Management 

Background Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad4, identifies the 

immediate need for comprehensive action to address the catastrophic impacts of climate 

change. It emphasizes that U.S. leadership—and that of federal agencies—will be required 

to significantly enhance global action and achieve the necessary policy outcomes on 

climate change. Treasury is committed to using its broad and far-reaching policy influence 

to lead and support implementation of this EO and identify the actions and investments 

Treasury must take to address the department’s vulnerabilities. 

Planned 

Activities

Treasury’s Climate Action Plan includes an initial assessment of Treasury’s vulnerability to 

climate change effects and a strategy for identifying and building climate resilience at 

Treasury facilities and in critical supply chains, to effectively sustain Treasury’s mission. 

Treasury is working to evaluate and assess the ongoing risks from climate change, identify 

primary vulnerabilities and prospective impacts to Treasury operations and missionrelated functions, including its international work, and to implement effective planning. 

Treasury’s policy also directs Treasury bureaus to integrate climate change adaptation 

planning and actions into their programs, policies, and operations.

Goal 5: Modernize Treasury Operations 

Strategic Objective 5.2: Future Work Routines 

Transform the Department’s work routines to support changing mission and workforce needs.

How are our customers’ needs changing, how are employee needs changing, and how do you foster 

innovation and collaboration in a hybrid organization?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Management 

Background The convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis has resulted in a critical 

decision point for Treasury about its long-term physical, IT, and human capital 

infrastructure. Treasury has an integrated vision for transforming work routines to support 

changing mission and workforce needs and the needs of the agency’s customers. To 

achieve this integrated vision, Treasury must modernize the Department’s workplace 

infrastructure and work routines to meet a “whole person” culture, maintain 

competitiveness, and enable a “new normal” for an engaged and inclusive workforce of 

the future.

Planned 

Activities

Treasury seeks to understand how customer and employee needs are changing and is 

working to foster innovation and collaboration in an environment that is continuously 

transforming. Treasury’s Office of Management has launched surveys and focus groups to 

4 Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad
Treasury FY 2022–2026 Learning Agenda

17

increase its understanding of employee needs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Several bureaus are also establishing pilots and demonstration projects to evaluate new 

work arrangements and workplace designs such as remote work and hoteling. 

Management, in coordination with bureau leadership and the human capital, information 

technology, and operations communities, is working to integrate the results of outreach 

efforts and leading practices across government to shape future planning. 

Strategic Objective 5.4: Customer Experience Practices 

Mature and embed strong customer experience practices across the Department, establishing Treasury’s 

reputation for consistently positive experiences.

What is the right beacon metric for measuring customer experience for the department?

Lead: Departmental Offices: Office of Management 

Background Treasury’s bureaus and offices serve a wide range of customers including American 

households, the financial sector, state and local governments, and other federal agencies. 

Since 2018, the IRS has been designated as a federal High Impact Service Provider (HISP)5

and has developed annual action plans to improve customer experience and performance 

of designated services. In 2022, Treasury was also designated as a HISP at the department 

level. In response to the designation and to Treasury leadership identifying Maturing 

Customer Experience Practices as a strategic objective, Treasury formed an enterpriselevel customer experience (CX) leadership team consisting of senior officials from 

Treasury’s bureaus and offices and is working to develop a broader CX Community of 

Practice to promote successful adoption of CX practices through collaboration and 

information sharing. While components of Treasury have invested in developing evidence 

around bureau- or office-specific customer experience metrics, Treasury currently lacks 

enterprise-wide metrics for measuring customer experience for the Department. 

Planned 

Activities

The leadership team, with the support of the Community of Practice, will conduct an 

annual enterprise wide CX capacity assessment and action planning. As part of these 

efforts to mature enterprise level CX practices, these groups will work to identify and 

operationalize potential metrics that can be used to consistently measure CX across the 

department.

5 Performance.gov – Department of the Treasury