Expect to hear the words “free,” “guaranteed” and “for all” a whole
lot more in the new year as Democrats prepare an arsenal of
big-government bills that could actually see a floor vote once they take
control of the House.
Come January, proposals like “Medicare for
all” and a host of other generous-but-costly welfare programs that were
little more than talking points in recent years could have a shot at
passing a chamber of Congress.
“There are dozens of measures like
this that have been languishing with Republicans at the helm for years,
and I expect to see many of them finally come to the floor under
Democratic leadership,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., told Fox
News.
With
the GOP’s expanded majority in the Senate, it’s unlikely these measures
would make it to President Trump’s desk. But their consideration on the
House side would mark a first step in formally considering major
government expansions – concerning everything from education to health
care – that Democrats increasingly favor. And with “Medicare for all”
and similar proposals amounting to litmus tests for modern progressives,
roll-call votes on any of these issues would reveal just how broad
their support is.
At the same time, floor votes putting Democrats
on record for multi-trillion-dollar policies could embolden Republicans
working to recover from their midterm losses.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, shortly before the November elections, told Breitbart News Daily
that Democrats are moving “toward clear socialism,” and suggested
Republicans need to make the case for “unleashing the great powers of
liberty and freedom.”
Some of the Democratic Party’s agenda, likely to be spearheaded by Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, was spelled out in their “A Better Deal” campaign platform.
The set of proposals claims nearly every item could be paid for by
rolling back the Trump tax cuts. The most liberal bills have emerged
from the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
This, however, does not include
“Medicare for all,” which according to one estimate could cost nearly $33 trillion over 10 years.
And
“Medicare for all” is just one component of the much broader “Green New
Deal” platform being pushed by progressives like Rep.-elect Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez – which also calls for a tuition-free and federally funded
education system, guaranteed jobs with an emphasis on “green” jobs, and
more.
The Daily Caller reported
that more than 40 Democratic lawmakers back the plan – though it’s
unclear whether the plan would ever be translated into a bill, let alone
come to a vote.
Still, Democratic members, while in the minority,
sponsored individual bills calling for “college for all,” “debt-free
college,” “child care for all,” and a “jobs guarantee” during the last
two years, which could now be voted on along with climate legislation,
pro-labor union bills and attempts to roll back the tax reform bill that
passed in late 2017.
“The American people picked Democrats in
November because they were tired of watching Republicans ignore working
families and pass laws lining the pockets of big corporations,
millionaires and billionaires,” Watson Coleman said.
Watson
Coleman introduced the Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act in 2018,
and said she expects the bill to reach a vote in 2019. Under the bill,
the Labor Department would establish job-guarantee test sites in 15
high-unemployment areas across the country. The federal government would
match those seeking employment with jobs in understaffed fields.
Watson
Coleman argued that the measure would build “economic security for
working families and grows our country’s middle class while placing
workers in industries with real need.”
There is one area of “A Better Deal” that could see bipartisan cooperation and support from President Trump -- a $1 trillion infrastructure package.
“A
Better Deal” also calls for spending $50 billion to increase public
school teacher pay, and another $50 billion for school infrastructure.
Rep.
Bobby Scott, D-Va., likely the incoming chairman of the Education and
Workforce Committee, also introduced a “Worker’s Freedom to Negotiate
Act” that bans state laws that allow employees to opt not to join a
union and pay union dues. Currently, 28 states have some form of a
“right-to-work” law.
The Democratic campaign plan also calls for spending $40 billion on “universal high speed
Internet.” A similar bill was promoted by Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., who pushed to expand Internet into rural areas.
Rep.
David Cicilline, D-R.I., has been a leading advocate of the Child Care
for Working Families Act, a concept promoted in the party’s campaign
plan. The legislation would ensure that no family under 150 percent of a
state’s median income pays more than 7 percent of their income for
child care. The legislation also would establish a federal-state
partnership to provide child care from birth through age 13.
Rep.
Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he anticipates his Job Opportunities for All
Act—with 22 Democratic co-sponsors—will make it to the floor in the new
Congress.
The legislation, which Khanna, elected the first vice
chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has said fulfills part
of President Franklin Roosevelt’s proposed “economic bill of rights,” would provide federal funding to put people to work immediately in both the public and the private sector.
“The
Job Opportunities for All Act, H.R. 6485, will help create good paying
private sector and public sector job opportunities for people in places
left behind,” Khanna told Fox News. “I expect my bill, along with
innovative thinking from my colleagues, to be considered as Democrats
work to build a jobs agenda.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal D-Wash., could
play a prominent role in such legislative proposals. She is a
co-chairwoman of the Medicare For All Caucus, which has nearly 80
members committed to a complete government-run health care system. She
was also elected co-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
set to have more than 90 members after the election.
Jayapal was
also the sponsor of the College for All Act in 2017, which would
eliminate tuition and fees at public colleges and universities for
families earning up to $125,000, and make community college free for
everyone. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the Senate version.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., the other progressive caucus co-chairman,
introduced a similar bill, the Debt-Free College Act, which would provide more federal funding to states to alleviate student loan debt.