February 01, 2019

Weekly Wrap

This week, the New Democrat Coalition proudly announced eight new and expanded policy task forces in the 116th Congress. The task forces will be led by freshman Members, Committee Members, and New Dem issue area experts in order to develop policies to help Americans get ahead in a changing economy and make America more secure.

The new and expanded task forces are charged with meeting with stakeholders and developing policy positions for the Coalition to advance in both the near term and long term. The task forces will target areas where the Coalition can advance policies that help our economy and this Congress get on track. Read more in Roll Call and Politico.

More on what NDC Members have been up to below.

Coalition Highlights

New Democrat Coalition Announces Policy Task Forces

  • The New Democrat Coalition announced eight policy task forces in the 116th Congress. The task forces will be led by freshman Members, Committee Members, and New Dem issue area experts in order to develop policies to help Americans get ahead in a changing economy and make America more secure.
  • The new and expanded task forces are charged with meeting with stakeholders and developing policy positions for the Coalition to advance in both the near term and long term. The task forces will target areas where the Coalition can advance policies that help our economy and this Congress get on track. Read more in Roll Call and Politico.
  • “We’re excited about the diverse perspectives and impressive ideas that all of our members will bring to the table,” New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer said. “At a time when Congress hasn’t historically been a legislative juggernaut, it’s more important than ever that we target some areas where we can move the ball forward and advance some policies that help our economy.”
  • “The New Democrats are about finding innovative solutions to complicated issues,” said New Democrat Coalition Vice Chair for Policy Suzan DelBene. “The American people have said they want Congress to get things done. With this talented group, we’re committed to finding the best ideas to expand our middle class and create opportunities for hardworking families in this new economy.” 

The New Democrat Coalition Task Forces are:

  • The Climate Change Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Don Beyer, Sean Casten, Susan Wild, and Elaine Luria
  • The Future of Work Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Bill Foster, Chris Pappas, Haley Stevens, and Lisa Blunt Rochester
  • The Healthcare Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Angie Craig, Kurt Schrader, Kim Schrier, and Greg Stanton
  • The Housing Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Denny Heck, Katie Hill, and Ben McAdams
  • The Infrastructure Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Stacey Plaskett, Jason Crow, Elissa Slotkin, and Salud Carbajal
  • The National Security Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Anthony Brown, Brendan Boyle, Brad Schneider, and Abigail Spanberger
  • The Technology Task Force
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Sharice Davids, Kendra Horn, Harley Rouda, and Darren Soto
  • The Trade Task Force 
    • Co-Chairs: Reps. Ron Kind, Rick Larsen, Greg Meeks, and Lizzie Fletcher

What's in a Position? This is How Caucus's Show Their Strength via Roll Call

  • Earlier this week, Roll Call wrote about how the New Democrat Coalition and other caucuses take formal positions. In this story, Roll Call outlines how the NDC has updated its internal process for making endorsements and taking formal positions. See more in the excerpt below:
  • The New Democrat Coalition has amended its bylaws to make it easier for the group of centrist Democrats to take official positions on policy ideas or legislation — a tool used by congressional caucuses to show their strength as they try to line up support behind specific policy ideas or legislation.
    Procedures for taking an official position vary by caucus. Most include a vote of their members, but thresholds for what level of a majority is needed to adopt the position differ among caucuses.
    The New Democrat Coalition’s threshold is 50 percent plus one member. The group recently grew to 101 members, so it would need 51 lawmakers to agree to a policy idea or legislation before it became an official position of the caucus. The change the coalition made to its bylaws last week was to allow its leadership to initiate endorsement of a policy position or a bill. Previously, only the coalition’s policy task forces could bring recommendations before the group to endorse.
    To bring a position before the larger coalition, the New Democrats’ leadership needs to approve it by a two-thirds vote themselves. Another change in the bylaws would allow the coalition to solicit votes directly from members rather than just those present for a meeting in which a vote on the position occurs.

“We’ve heard from members that may have an interest in having the coalition take stances on our biggest priorities this Congress,” New Democrat Coalition Chairman Derek Kilmer said, explaining the bylaw changes are designed to make that easier. The Washington Democrat said he envisions the coalition endorsing specific measure or sets of bills that best fulfill the group’s policy mission, but it won’t weigh in on every issue.

Member Highlights

House Passes Connolly Bill to Give Pay Raise for Civilian Federal Employees

  • The House passed Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (VA-11) bill to provide a pay raise for civilian federal employees and a resolution decrying government shutdowns to highlight GOP mismanagement.

House Passes Vargas Fight Illicit Networks and Detect (FIND) Trafficking Act

  • The House passed Rep. Juan Vargas’ (CA-51) bipartisan bill, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect (FIND) Trafficking Act. The bill would require the Comptroller General of the United States to study how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to facilitate sex or drug trafficking and propose regulatory and legislative actions to put an end to these illicit activities.

House Freshman Introduce The "Shutdown to End all Shutdowns" Act

  • Reps. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Dean Phillips (MN-03) and Colin Allred (TX-32) led a group of more than 20 freshman lawmakers in introducing the Shutdown to End All Shutdowns (SEAS) Act, a bill aimed at protecting federal employees from being used as pawns in future political negotiations by transferring the financial hardship of shutdowns to the Executive Branch and Members of Congress. More in the Dallas News.

Boyle Introduces Ban Government Shutdowns Act

  • Rep. Brendan Boyle (PA-13) introduced the Ban Government Shutdowns Act which would trigger an automatic 90-day continuation of current funding levels at the termination of an appropriations bill, rather than a lapse in appropriations triggering a shutdown.

Soto Introduces Bipartisan AI Jobs Act of 2019

  • Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) introduced the AI Jobs Act of 2019, legislation that would authorize the Department of Labor to work with businesses and educational institutions to analyze the future growth of artificial intelligence and the impact is has on American workforce. This legislation will determine which industries are projected to have the most growth through artificial intelligence and the demographics which may experience expanded career opportunities.

Mucarsel-Powell Introduces Bill to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Venezuela

  • Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26), the first member of Congress born in South America, introduced the Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019, legislation that would call on the Trump Administration to form a long-term humanitarian aid strategy; provide up to $150 million in humanitarian aid directly to the Venezuelan people; and direct the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to make increased humanitarian assistance a priority of the international community.

Norcross Introduces the Fairness for Federal Contractors Act

  • Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01) introduced the bipartisan Fairness for Federal Contractors Act to provide lost wages up to $1,400 per week to federal contractors who were impacted by the partial government shutdown that recently ended.

Peters Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Improve Disaster Preparedness

  • Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) reintroduced the bipartisan Strengthening The Resiliency of Our Nation on the Ground Act (STRONG Act) to help communities better prepare for, withstand, and recover from natural disasters like wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes by aggregating best practices on disaster readiness and response. It establishes a central agency and information center to combine the expertise of local, state, and federal agencies in developing short- and long-term resiliency strategies for communities.

Kuster Introduces Legislation to Support STEM Education

  • Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) introduced a bicameral bill to create a commemorative coin to honor New Hampshire school teacher Christa McAuliffe and reaffirm Congress’ commitment to invest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

Soto Introduces Bipartisan Bills Preventing Virtual Currency Price Manipulation

  • Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) introduced two pieces of legislation, The Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2019 and the U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2019. These two pieces of legislation will analyze what can be done to protect consumers from price manipulation and position the United States to be a leader in the cryptocurrency industry.

Norcross Introduces the Rebuild America’s Schools Act

  • Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01) led House and Senate Democrats in introducing a proposal to invest more than $100 billion in America’s public schools. According to economic projections, the bill would also create more than 1.9 million good-paying jobs.

Carbajal Introduces Bill Banning Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing

  • Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) is reintroducing a bill that would permanently ban future offshore oil and gas leasing in areas of the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California. The announcement from Carbajal’s office comes on the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill.

Larsen Talks US-China Relations on Bloomberg

  • Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined Bloomberg Daybreak Asia to discuss U.S.-China relations and the impacts of the partial government shutdown on trade and discussions with China. Watch the full interview.
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