The Concord Coalition, which has long viewed public engagement as essential to U.S. fiscal reform, is partnering with the Campaign to Fix the Debt to present  a series of public forums around the country in the coming weeks.

This joint project will focus its efforts on ten programs in six states: Colorado, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida and Tennessee. While these events will be open to the public, they will take a variety of forms.

The Campaign to Fix the Debt, which was launched last year, has been working with business leaders, political figures and hundreds of thousands of citizens from across the ideological spectrum who want to see elected officials step up to solve the nation's fiscal challenges. The impact is being felt in Washington already.

The speakers at the upcoming events will include both national and regional experts on the rapid growth of the federal debt and related issues, including the need fundamental reforms of the tax system and entitlement programs. There will also be an emphasis on the need to curbing future increases in health care costs. Some of the speakers hold either state or national positions with the Fix the Debt campaign.

The events in the coming weeks will help the American public to better understand many of the possible solutions that have been suggested by bipartisan commissions and others – and some of the trade-offs that should be carefully considered.  In addition, speakers at the programs will explain the importance of putting the federal budget on a sustainable track sooner rather than later.