Rep. Jayapal: Measuring the Popularity of the Progressive Agenda, Six Months In
By Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
Six months ago, the Congressional Progressive Caucus articulated our goal for the new Democratic majority in Congress: deliver on our promises to the American people by passing bold, inclusive, and visionary policies that meaningfully improve people’s lives.
To achieve this, we put forth a policy agenda that centered on equity and justice, economic and democratic fairness, and addressing some of the most urgent crises our country — and the world — face. We lifted up a package of bills that would achieve these goals, as well as an approach to government-wide initiatives to make sure that working families' needs are met.
The good news: these policies aren’t just popular with Progressive Caucus members — they’re popular with the American people.
A Fairer Economy and Democracy
For too long, our economy and democracy have been rigged in favor of those with the most power and the most money, and structurally weighted against everyday working people. It’s past time to rewrite the rules of our economy to give working families a fair shot.
That’s why the Progressive Caucus agenda included the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a bill that would be the most significant workers’ rights legislation of the 21st century. It would make it easier for workers to join unions, institute steeper penalties for employers who violate workers rights, and empower unions in negotiation. A July poll found that 56 percent of respondents support passing the PRO Act through reconciliation and 52 percent support increasing penalties for employers who engage in union busting activity.
We worked to secure a $15/hour minimum wage for federal contractors, which will affect hundreds of thousands of workers in January 2022 — a change overwhelmingly supported by voters.
Throughout the pandemic, Progressives have also fought to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are met. We helped secure survival checks (overwhelmingly supported across party lines, with 83 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Independents, and 70 of Republicans in favor) as well as the eviction moratorium. Just this month, it was Progressive Caucus members, led by Rep. Cori Bush and Rep. Maxine Waters, who won the fight to extend that moratorium (an effort with a 22-point margin of support — and 50-point margin with likely voters under 45).
We have also fought to protect the right to vote against nationwide backlash. We rallied behind the For the People Act, because everyone should be able to make their voice heard and their vote count without racist voter suppression tactics, partisan gerrymandering, or corporate money drowning them out. Despite months of Republican attacks and misrepresentation, these reforms are still popular, with 62 percent of likely voters across party lines in favor. We also worked with our colleagues to pass D.C. statehood, which would finally grant equal representation to the 700,000 residents of the District, who are mostly people of color (supported by a majorityies of voters across the country).
Equity and Justice
For too long, historically oppressed communities have been fighting against the law to assert their rights, rather than being supported by it.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the persistent unequal and unjust treatment of Black Americans by law enforcement and the criminal justice system. That’s why a key part of our 2021 agenda was passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would take significant steps to hold officers accountable for abuse, and create national standards for police conduct. This bill is favored by 74 percent of voters across the political spectrum — including 88 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of independents.
2021 is also on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender people, with that violence disproportionately affecting trans women of color. About one-third of LGBTQ+ Americans report experiencing workplace discrimination, and about one-half report experiencing discrimination in public spaces. It’s more than clear that we need the Equality Act, another key bill for our Caucus, to create nationwide, consistent, explicit protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and public spaces and services like stores, hotels, and more. And the public agrees: research from Data for Progress found a clear 38-point margin of support (66 percent support, 28 percent opposed) for the Equality Act.
The public is clearly behind President Biden’s emphasis on racial justice, from efforts to center racial equity in COVID relief to his promise to put a Black woman justice on the Supreme Court. Progressives in Congress share that commitment, and this year took a historic step; the House of Representatives advanced H.R. 40, legislation that would create a commission to study reparations for the descendants of slavery.
The Trump presidency put the lives of millions of immigrants and their families in peril. Building back better from the previous administration mandates fair treatment and full inclusion for these members of our communities. That’s why we supported The National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which would set standards to ensure a president can no longer issue discriminatory immigration laws like the Muslim Ban., and As well as the Access to Counsel Act, to ensure that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested party to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. We supported the Dream and Promise Act, to create a roadmap to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders, as well as the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, to do the same for farmworkers. And a significant majority — 82 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of Independents, and 53 percent of Republicans — are with us.
Building Back Better
As a recent report from the United Nations climate body showed, we are at an inflection point in the climate crisis: either we keep emissions down such that global warming stays below 1.5 degrees, or we risk unlivable, irretrievable damage to both the planet and its inhabitants.
At the CPC, we understand that climate change is an emergency—and are working with the urgency it deserves.
As the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill began to come together this spring, it became clear that the legislation wouldn’t do nearly enough to tackle the climate crisis, or deliver the transformational change the President and Democrats were elected to deliver.
In the fight to enact a Build Back Better agenda, our caucus prioritized climate actions that we, and the American people, believe will treat the crisis like the emergency it is. This includes the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps (59 percent support), investments in clean energy (71 percent), and environmental justice initiatives that ensure frontline communities most impacted by the crisis are centered (67 percent). And our members continue to push to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and to renewable energy resources, with the introduction of the Green New Deal (with a 31-point margin of support) and the American Renewable Energy Act (supported by nearly two-thirds of likely voters).
Our members were clear: we need to go big and bold. Getting these vital initiatives funded would require going outside the bipartisan infrastructure framework the Senate was pursuing. In May, our Caucus was the first to articulate that we would need a budget resolution with a topline number to fully fund our five priorities in addition to sending reconciliation instructions to the appropriate Committees for our five priorities — and that these should move simultaneously, as two parts of one whole. On this approach, the public was with us too; by a 31-percentage-point margin, likely voters support using reconciliation to ensure the full promise of the Build Back Better agenda becomes law.
And we continue to press for investments in all types of support that working families need — including paid and medical leave, universal child care, lower drug prices, affordable housing, and ensuring care workers have the right to join a union and make no less than $15/hour. Empowering the care economy has strong support across the political spectrum, including 58 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of Independents, and 89 percent of Democrats.
The Next Six Months and Beyond
Our Progressive Caucus is the largest it has ever been, and the most powerful. Every single one of our priority bills passed the House of Representatives. And because of our unified advocacy, Congressional leadership has also agreed to that two-track approach to passing the infrastructure package.
But there is still significant work to be done. Without abolishing the filibuster, most of this legislation won’t reach President Biden’s desk. And if we do not see this reconciliation bill cross the finish line, we will have missed our opportunity to act on climate and other crises. We’ll keep advocating for those urgent, necessary, and popular reforms, as well as to ensure the needs of working families are centered in every campaign we take on and every policy we champion.
But together, this data makes one thing clear: the progressive agenda is one we can all get behind. It’s grounded in a vision of a fairer, more equitable, more inclusive world where we can all thrive. The Progressive Caucus will continue to fight until it becomes our reality.
Representative Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) is the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.