The Colorado Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) publishes annual guidance to state departments requiring the use of data and evidence in the state’s budget process. It also provides definitions for key research and evaluation terms and “encourages agencies to use the evidence continuum outside the budget process as a means to evaluate programming internally, and to guide discussions with OSPB analysts and internal and external stakeholders.”

The Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab was “created in 2017 under the leadership of the Governor’s Office to work “with a broad range of government and community partners…to obtain the best available evidence to address” key policy priorities. This collaboration continues to this day, as the Lab is an active partner with OSPB and legislative staff to create best practices for building evidence. The Lab also supports the design and implementation of the state’s performance management system.