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The House Passes the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Posted on August 31, 2021March 27, 2023 by Scot Wilson

On Tuesday, August 24, the House of Representatives passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by a vote of 219-212.¹ The bill is an attempt to reestablish some voting protections that the Supreme Court struck down as outdated and unconstitutional in its 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder.² The bill faces a steep climb in the Senate, where it may not receive a vote.³ The bill is named for John Lewis, the Georgia congressman, civil rights leader, and former chairperson of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee who passed away in 2020.⁴

LISTEN: “The Right To Vote: The Impact Of Shelby County v. Holder on Voting Rights,” from NPR

In a written statement, Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated the passage of the legislation. “Congressman John Lewis was an American hero who dedicated his life to fighting for our nation’s highest ideals,” she said. “Today, the House of Representatives honored Congressman Lewis by passing his namesake legislation, which restores and expands the historic Voting Rights Act. This important step represents progress, but there is more work to do. The Senate must pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act so it can become the law of the land and protect voters across the country.”⁵

What Is in the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act?

The legislation restores “voting rights protections that have been dismantled by the Supreme Court. Under the proposal, the Justice Department would again police new changes to voting laws in states that have racked up a series of ‘violations,’ drawing them into a mandatory review process known as ‘preclearance.’”⁶ Essentially, it would require certain jurisdictions “with a history of racial discrimination in voting” to get permission from the Department of Justice to make changes to their voting rules.⁷

What Are Supporters Saying?

Representative Terri Sewell, D-Ala., argued, “When we see states running amuck, we need federal oversight. If it wasn’t for federal oversight, we not only would not have gotten the Voting Rights Act, we wouldn’t have gotten the Civil Rights Act. After the Shelby v. Holder decision, we saw states like North Carolina and Texas reinstate restrictive voting laws and those voting laws are suppressive, oppressive, and depressive. They stop the people who need to vote from voting.”⁸

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress had “not only an ironclad Constitutional mandate, but a moral responsibility” to pass the bill. “We should have the right to vote and shouldn’t be diminished by anyone. It is unpatriotic to undermine the ability of people who have a right to vote, who have access to the polls,” she said. “As John knew, this precious pillar of our democracy is under attack from one of the worst voter suppression campaigns since Jim Crow.”⁹

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Attorney General Merrick Garland contended that the Voting Rights Act’s “preclearance” provision was “enormously effective” and helped block “thousands of discriminatory voting changes that would have curtailed the voting rights of millions of citizens in jurisdictions large and small.”¹⁰

What Are Opponents Saying?

For the most part, Republicans are not supporting the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and will likely filibuster the bill in the Senate. As the bill was being considered in the House, Representative Rodney Davis, R-Ill., the top Republican on the House panel that oversees federal elections, denounced the legislation as a “federal takeover” of elections and a “partisan power grab.”¹¹

Representative Michelle Fischbach, R-Minn., said the bill would make it easier for advocacy groups and lawyers to “file as many objections as possible to manufacture” lawsuits. “It empowers the attorney general to bully states.”¹²

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called the bill “unnecessary” because “it’s against the law to discriminate in voting on the basis of race already.” Furthermore, he said it would “grant to the Justice Department almost total ability to determine the voting systems of every state in America.”¹³

What’s Next?

The bill still has significant hurdles to clear in the Senate. So far, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is the only Republican senator who has indicated she will support the bill.¹⁴ There remain opportunities for citizens to weigh in by contacting their senators.

Discussion Questions

What have you heard about election laws and voter suppression in the news or from other sources?
What different laws, ideas, and proposals to address elections and voting concerns have you heard about?
Which arguments in support of this bill resonate most with you? Which arguments in opposition resonate most with you?
If you were a member of Congress, how would you vote on this bill? Explain or justify your vote.
What other proposals or measures would you support to reform voting rights or access?

Get Involved

Write to your senators about this issue. Use this directory to find how to contact them.
Call your senator or representative by phone through the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
Post about the bill on Twitter or Instagram using #hr4 or #votingrights.

Related Blog Posts

Restoring Confidence or Destroying Democracy? The Fight Over Access to the Ballot

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Sources

Featured Image Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

[1] Congress.gov: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22HR+4%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=1

[2] Brennan Center for Justice: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/court-cases/shelby-county-v-holder

[3] CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/25/politics/john-lewis-voting-rights-senate/index.html

[4] BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45875045

[5] CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act-bill-passes-house/

[6] Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/voting-us-supreme-court-laws-bills-voting-rights-40773a3825d282478a6e88dff887d2ce

[7] CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act-bill-passes-house/

[8] ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-passes-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act/story?id=79620766

[9] Yahoo News: https://news.yahoo.com/house-passes-john-lewis-voting-233100948.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHDfIk8Bh8gg6FazzAOzKxtygunr2fKkXt7DUNmf_zcQjPBk03WKaS8-0jKJ7qds3YZAe1tfR5k_veq-672TW3QFVVK7gx457xcM7T9cY-FwC8iHWdAhUs4HkSLWIbEn-1iO8_Z2gMbXf1NvBkRRN1sldGAfyi5v9Hq8-J9rSfVl

[10] CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/24/politics/john-lewis-voting-rights-advancements-act-house/index.html

[11] Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/24/house-passes-lewis-voting-rights-bill-506798

[12] Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/voting-us-supreme-court-laws-bills-voting-rights-40773a3825d282478a6e88dff887d2ce

[13] CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/24/politics/john-lewis-voting-rights-advancements-act-house/index.html

[14] NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/manchin-murkowski-call-congress-reauthorize-voting-rights-act-n1267644

The House Passes a $3.5 Trillion Budget Framework

Posted on August 25, 2021November 22, 2023 by Scot Wilson

On August 24, the House of Representatives passed a $3.5 trillion spending bill, committed to passing an infrastructure bill, and moved forward with significant voting rights legislation.¹ It was an important step in enacting such a large spending plan, but it was not the final step. Republicans and a number of conservative and moderate Democrats oppose some measures in the $3.5 trillion spending bill; thus, the final version of the legislation has not yet taken shape.²

What Is in the Current Spending Bill?

The budget framework includes the following spending targets:

Over $700 billion for universal preschool for three- and four-year-olds, child care for working families, tuition-free community college, funding for historically Black colleges and universities, and other grants for higher education³
$330 billion to invest in public housing and housing affordability⁴
$200 billion for natural resources and clean energy development⁵
Over $100 billion to address forest fires and drought concerns and to reduce carbon emissions⁶
An increase in the debt ceiling⁷

Clearly, this bill would lead to significant, structural, economic changes by increasing access to education and housing and taking some steps to address environmental concerns.

What Are Supporters Saying?

Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the initial architect of the spending plan, argued that the needs of working- and middle-class people “have been neglected for decades.”⁸ He noted that “three people own more wealth than the bottom 50%” and that “real wages for workers haven’t increased in almost 50 years.”⁹

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the budget framework “so transformative [that] we haven’t seen anything like it.”¹⁰ In a letter to his Democratic colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote, “When we took the majority in the Senate earlier this year, the American people entrusted us with a great responsibility: to make their lives better. I am happy to report that we are making great progress towards that goal.”¹¹He added, “The Democratic budget will bring a generational transformation to how our economy works for average Americans.”¹²

What Are Opponents Saying?

Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., stated that she does not support the $3.5 trillion spending bill. “I have told Senate leadership and President Biden that I support many of the goals in this proposal to continue creating jobs, growing American competitiveness, and expanding economic opportunities for Arizonans,” said Senator Sinema in a statement. “I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion.”¹³

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called the budget framework a “historically reckless taxing and spending spree.”¹⁴

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., “railed against the spending plan, saying it would fuel inflation, lead to higher taxes and energy costs for working Americans and open the border to more illegal immigration.”¹⁵

What’s Next?

Now that there are House and Senate versions of this budget framework, both chambers of Congress will move forward with outlining the specifics of the spending package.⁶ There are still hurdles to clear, as well as opportunities for citizens to weigh in by contacting their members of Congress.

Discussion Questions

Review the list of what is included in the $3.5 trillion spending bill. Which of those items would you most highly prioritize? Which would you prioritize the least?
Is there anything that you would add or subtract?
Which arguments in support of this bill resonate most with you? Which arguments in opposition most resonate with you?
If you were a member of Congress, how would you vote on this bill? Explain or justify your vote.

Get Involved

Write to your House member about this issue. Use this directory to find out how to contact them.
Write to your senators about this issue. Use this directory to find out how to contact them.
Call your senators or representative using the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Sources

Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

[1] CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/24/house-passes-budget-resolution-advances-infrastructure-bill.html

[2] Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/23/sinema-35t-spending-bill-506583

[3] NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1026055615/senate-democrats-release-3-5t-budget-framework

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/us/politics/house-budget-social-safety-net.html

[8] Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-825739838a790668b2d2855a72821d56

[9] Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/infrastructure-trillion-reconciliation-bernie-sanders-biden-american-jobs-plan-ajp-11628023540

[10] Axios: https://www.axios.com/democrats-stall-35-trillion-budget-plan-negotiations-74f13c58-13fa-4788-9b11-afe0f5055561.html

[11] NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1026055615/senate-democrats-release-3-5t-budget-framework

[12] CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/11/senate-passes-3point5-trillion-budget-resolution-after-infrastructure-bill.html

[13] NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sinema-opposes-3-5-trillion-price-tag-democrats-sweeping-social-n1275330

[14] NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/11/1026635503/senate-passes-3-5t-budget

[15] Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-poised-pass-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-debate-35-trillion-budget-2021-08-10/

[16] Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/24/democrats-near-deal-to-break-budget-impasse-506749

2021 Summer Round-Up: Infrastructure, Afghanistan, the Delta Surge, and the Climate Crisis

Posted on August 17, 2021 by Ashleigh Barber

As teachers welcome students back into the classroom, it is important to establish good habits and routines for the new school year. One important habit is incorporating current issues discussions into civics, social studies, and humanities courses. To help teachers get started on the right foot, we’re offering a round-up of some of the most important news stories of the past month and some discussion questions to engage students.

Infrastructure Bill Moves Forward

President Joe Biden’s administration cleared an important hurdle in its efforts to pass a massive infrastructure bill through Congress with a 69-30 vote in the Senate. Although the $1.2 trillion bill still needs House approval before the president can sign it, it has the potential to be the largest infrastructure investment ever passed by Congress.¹

The bill needed at least 60 votes to pass the Senate. The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as the tie-breaking vote. This breakdown, combined with Republicans’ use of the filibuster, means that for virtually any legislation to pass the Senate, Democrats must gain the support of at least 10 Republican senators.² Given how strong the partisan divide in Congress has been for more than a decade, many Americans were skeptical that the Senate could reach any bipartisan agreement, with some urging senators to abolish the filibuster requirement of 60 votes. To the surprise of many, Senate Democrats were able to secure the support of not just ten but 19 Republican senators.³

LEARN MORE about the infrastructure bill and related issues

With the bill now in the House, it is almost a certainty that it will eventually pass but it remains unclear how long that will take and what the bill will contain by that time. Currently, the bill allocates funding for building new roads, bridges, and railways; repairing existing transportation infrastructure; and expanding broadband internet, clean air and water infrastructure, power systems, and pollution clean-up.⁴ The bill also represents a significant scaling back of the original $2.6 trillion plan, with the biggest changes being in the removal of many of the environmental initiatives.

House Democrats, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have said they will not support the new infrastructure bill unless much of the removed environmental funding is added to a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. Negotiating this process could take weeks if not months. However, since budget reconciliation bills require only 50 votes in the Senate, much of the additional spending could be signed into law with or without Republican support.⁵

The United States’ Infrastructure Report Card

Discussion Questions

Why do you think the Senate was able to reach a bipartisan agreement on the infrastructure bill (keeping in mind that the original bill was $2.6 trillion while the final bill is $1.2 trillion)?
Should Congress continue to pursue bipartisanship? Or should congressional Democrats seek to pass their policies regardless of Republican support?

Afghanistan Withdrawal and the Taliban Offensive

In April 2021, President Biden announced that he would press ahead with the withdrawal of all remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a move first sought by President Donald Trump’s administration. President Biden set September 11, 2021, as the deadline for withdrawal, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks (which were the impetus for the conflict).⁶ The United States has had combat troops continuously operating in Afghanistan since October 7, 2001, making this conflict the longest continuous military conflict in U.S. history.⁷

In recent weeks, the Taliban, a militant group of Islamic fundamentalists, has launched successful offensives across Afghanistan as U.S. troops and officials have withdrawn. Prior to the war in Afghanistan, the United States assisted the Taliban in its efforts to combat an invasion by the Soviet Union in the 1980s. After repelling the Soviets, the Taliban became the ruling authority during the 1990s. The group also forged connections with and harbored al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization controlled by Osama bin Laden that carried out the 9/11 attacks.⁸

LEARN MORE about the modern history of Afghanistan

The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan overthrew the Taliban in 2001. However, despite U.S. support over the past 20 years, the new government of Afghanistan has struggled to govern the country effectively as it has been plagued by corruption and infighting. The U.S.-trained Afghan military and police forces have not fared any better, offering little resistance to the Taliban’s resurgence. In recent days, the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the Afghan capital, and declared itself the only legitimate government of the country.⁹ Many Afghanis who worked with U.S. forces now fear for their lives, as the Taliban is notorious for torturing and executing those whom it considers to be traitors.¹⁰ The swift pace of the Taliban takeover, downplayed as “highly unlikely” by President Biden in July, has prompted both the United States and the United Kingdom to deploy thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan to protect evacuation efforts out of Kabul.¹¹

LEARN MORE directly from lawmakers about the withdrawal from Afghanistan

Discussion Questions

Do you agree with the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan even if it means surrendering the country back to the Taliban?
What obligation, if any, does the United States have to those who support U.S. troops in countries where those troops are engaged in military action?

The Delta Variant and Mask Mandates

On May 13, 2021, President Biden celebrated an end to nearly all outdoor mask mandates and most indoor mask mandates for individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This announcement was heralded as a turning point on the road “back to normal.”¹² However, as a vaccination rates began to plateau, it became apparent that a significant portion of the U.S. population (18 percent) had no intention of getting vaccinated.¹³ Disease experts feared that with such a large cohort of people refusing the vaccines, COVID-19 would continue to mutate and spread.¹⁴

There have been dozens of such mutations, with more virulent and contagious strains emerging. Particularly widespread in the United States and abroad is the Delta variant and its subvariants. The Delta variant is estimated to be twice as contagious as other variants, with some data suggesting it might cause more severe illness in unvaccinated persons than previous strains.¹⁵ It is important to note that all available data indicates that the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against the Delta variant. Almost all COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have occurred among people who are not vaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated.¹⁶Still, as infection and hospitalization rates rose, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance for indoor masking and social distancing.

LEARN MORE about the impact of vaccination

In August, Arkansas set a record for hospitalizations, while health officials in Mississippi said that the state’s hospital system could collapse in a matter of days if the current caseload trajectory continues.¹⁷This resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the country has prompted some areas to issue new mask mandates and others to refuse to issue new rules that follow federal guidance and CDC recommendations.¹⁸ Recently, some schools in Texas, Florida, and other highly impacted states refused to comply with their governors’ bans on mask mandates. And some schools and businesses around the country have begun to mandate vaccination for their employees and patrons.¹⁹

HEAR FROM lawmakers about the impacts of COVID-19 on students

Discussion Questions

With the Delta variant on the rise, should schools be allowed to mandate that students and teachers wear masks? Should schools be returning to in-person classes?
Many public schools in the United States already require vaccinations against illnesses such as measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and polio. Some of these illnesses are rarely fatal; others have the potential to be more harmful or deadly than COVID-19. Vaccination against COVID-19 is already available to those 12 or older and it is expected to become available for younger children pending approval. Should public schools be allowed to mandate vaccination against COVID-19 when it becomes available?

The IPCC Climate Report

On August 9, 2021, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of thousands of climate experts from 195 member nations, issued a dire report on the state of Earth’s climate and its implications for humanity’s immediate and long-term survival.²⁰ The report states that human beings are “unequivocally” causing climate change and that the world may inevitably cross the 1.5^oC overall temperature increase that has long been cited as a point of no return by climate scientists.²¹

Drawn from data from over 14,000 studies, the IPCC report details that once-in-50-year heatwaves now occur at least once a decade, and that historic flooding, hurricanes, and drought are to be expected for decades if not centuries to come. UN Secretary General António Guterres called the report a “code red for humanity.”²²

HEAR FROM lawmakers about their views on climate change and how to address it

Currently, vast stretches of the North American Pacific Coast, Siberia, the Mediterranean, and dozens of other places are experiencing wildfires of unprecedented scope.²³ In July, historic flooding occurred in Western Europe, killing more than 200 people with almost 200 more still missing.²⁴ And with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, disease and climate experts warn that climate change will contribute to new outbreaks of illnesses, particularly as mosquito populations spread with warmer weather.²⁵

Leaders from around the world will meet in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021 for a climate change conference. Climate activists and scientists are hopeful that leaders will be receptive to more aggressive policies to cut down on carbon emissions. The United States rejoined the Paris Agreement in February 2021, but climate advocates now argue that the targets set under that agreement are inadequate.²⁶

VIEW the IPCC report and its implications

Discussion Questions

Should the United States do more to combat climate change? If so, what sorts of actions should it take? If not, how should this challenge be addressed?
The UN is an organization made up of voluntary members. Ultimately, it has little power to compel countries to comply with any resolution or recommendation it makes. This is particularly true of large, economically powerful countries. The United States, Russia, and China, in addition to being among the biggest producers of fossil fuel emissions, are permanent members of the UN Security Council, each with the individual authority to override any decision made by the UN. With the climate threat as imminent as the UN says it is, can the world actually take unified action to address it?

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Related Blog Posts:

Build it and They Will Come – The Biden Infrastructure Plan

How Can We Overcome Vaccine Skepticism?

Time to Reform the Filibuster?

Sources

Featured Image Credit: David Carpio/Shutterstock

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/politics/infrastructure-bill-passes.html

[2] CNN News: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/05/politics/filibuster-senate-explained/

[4] Ibid.

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/28/upshot/infrastructure-breakdown.html

[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/us/politics/infrastructure-deal-budget.html

[6] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/08/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-drawdown-of-u-s-forces-in-afghanistan/

[7] https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-07-12/the-cost-of-the-afghanistan-war-in-lives-and-dollars#:~:text=The%20nearly%2020%2Dyear%20American,the%20United%20States’%20longest%20war.&text=July%2012%2C%202021%2C%20at%202%3A28%20p.m.&text=KNICKMEYER%2C%20Associated%20Press-,The%20nearly%2020%2Dyear%20American%20combat%20mission%20in%20Afghanistan,the%20United%20States’%20longest%20war.

[8] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718

[9] https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/taliban-to-declare-islamic-emirate-of-afghanistan-official-297971

[10] https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/23/afghanistan-threats-taliban-atrocities-kandahar

[11] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/panic-grips-afghanistan-civilians-flee-taliban-s-relentless-advance-n1276528

[12] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-celebrates-new-end-mask-requirement-fully-vaccinated-n1267285

[13] https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2021/07/15/why-wont-americans-get-vaccinated-poll-data

[14] https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/coronavirus-variants-experts-fear-mutations-could-mean-covid-19-reinfections

[15] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html

[16] https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/covid-19-vaccine-breakthrough-cases-data-from-the-states/

[17] https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027103023/florida-mississippi-arkansas-hospitals-overwhelmed-covid-19-delta

[18] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html

[19] https://floridanewstimes.com/half-a-dozen-school-districts-are-arguing-or-arguing-to-disobey-the-governors-no-mask-mandate-order/320862/

[20] https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/ipcc-who-are-they

[21] https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/un-sounds-clarion-call-over-irreversible-climate-impacts-by-humans-2021-08-09/

[22] Ibid.

[23] https://gizmodo.com/here-are-the-5-major-regions-literally-on-fire-right-no-1847389046/slides/8

[24] https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/europe/germany-belgium-europe-floods-death-climate-intl/index.html

[25] https://earth.stanford.edu/news/how-does-climate-change-affect-disease#gs.8c0zs7

[26] https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56901261

Extended Unemployment Benefits: Helping Workers or Holding the Economy Back?

Posted on June 1, 2021November 22, 2023 by Scot Wilson

After April’s jobs report fell short of predictions and unemployment ticked up for the first time in the last year, some politicians and policymakers, particularly conservatives, called for an end to the generous unemployment insurance (UI) benefits that have been place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.¹

Although federal pandemic-related UI benefits are set to cease in September 2021, the majority of Republican-led states have set expiration dates between mid-June and early July. For example, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming will end COVID-19-related UI benefits the week ending June 19.² So far, no Democrat-led states have sought to end benefits early.

In March 2020, in response to the rise in unemployment due to the pandemic, Congress passed several emergency UI benefits programs designed to help workers maintain financial security as “non-essential” businesses closed due to stay-at-home orders.³ Subsequent legislation, most recently the American Rescue Plan Act, extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by expanding the number of eligible workers, increasing the number of weeks workers are eligible, suspending the requirement to look for work, and providing a federally funded $300 bonus in weekly benefits beyond which workers would normally qualify.⁴

Economists and policymakers have studied the effects of UI on the economy for decades. One side has concluded that bolstered and extended UI benefits in a recession keep the economy from spiraling downward and should not be removed until the economy is clearly recovering. The other side claims that generous extended UI benefits can expand recessions and keep people from going back to work, as they make it more profitable to collect unemployment, particularly in low-wage jobs.5 As states are removing COVID-19-related restrictions and policymakers are working to develop strategies that continue the economic recovery, this unemployment debate has surfaced again. This issue is important because approximately 20 million Americans are still receiving UI benefits, and changes in policy could have a significant effect on them.⁶

Conservative lawmakers and business owners generally agree that now is the time to reduce UI benefits. Business owners, particularly those paying lower wages, have reported difficulty attracting employees despite offering hiring bonuses and higher wages than have been normal in industries such as food service.⁷ Industry giants such as Amazon and McDonald’s may be able to absorb the extra cost of labor, but small businesses such as independently owned restaurants already operate on razor-thin margins and risk going out of business. They argue that it is unwise policy to continue to pay Americans, and pay them handsomely, to stay home from work when vaccines are widely available and the economy is ready to fully reopen.

LISTEN: Representative Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., explains his stance on unemployment benefits

Liberal policymakers and labor unions are seeking to keep the extended unemployment insurance benefits until the economic recovery is stronger and the pandemic is better contained.⁸ Food service and warehouse workers have seen the economic disruption caused by the pandemic as an opportunity to demand higher wages and better working conditions.⁹ And, a Census Bureau survey reported that 4.2 million workers are not returning to their jobs due to fears of the coronavirus.¹⁰ Americans’ hesitancy to return to work may actually be pushing wages higher, as businesses compete for a limited pool of employees who may be unwilling to go back to the status quo even after the pandemic is over.¹¹ Progressives and workers’ rights organizations herald this shift in employer-employee power as a step toward more equitable treatment of low-wage workers and a silver lining in a recession that has been devastating for Americans.¹²

Discussion Questions

How has unemployment due to the pandemic affected your community?
What goals do you think conservatives are pursuing? What goals are liberals pursuing?
What values do you think conservatives are prioritizing? What values are liberals prioritizing?
Which side of the unemployment debate over insurance benefits do you support? Why?

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Sources

Featured Image Credit: Charles Krupa/AP

[1] New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/business/economy/jobs-report-april-2021.html

[2] National Law Review: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/unemployment-insurance-system-update-part-iii-additional-states-opting-out-federal

[3] U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.dol.gov/coronavirus/unemployment-insurance

[4] Center on Budget Policy and Priorities: https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/how-many-weeks-of-unemployment-compensation-are-available

[5] New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/business/economy/unemployment-benefits-hiring.html

[6] Brookings Institution: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/congress-extended-unemployment-benefits-what-should-come-next/

[7] New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/business/mcdonalds-wage-increase.html

[8] New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/business/economy/jobs-report-april-2021.html

[9] ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/US/restaurant-workers-protest-poor-working-conditions-low-wages/story?id=77599754

[10] Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-other-reason-the-labor-force-is-shrunken-fear-of-covid-19-11618163017

[11] Marketplace.org: https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05/13/employers-try-raising-wages-attract-workers/

[12] Center for Employment Equity: https://www.umass.edu/employmentequity/covid-19-recession-opportunity-reform-our-low-wage-economy

Conflict in Israel and the U.S. Response

Posted on May 24, 2021March 20, 2023 by Scot Wilson

A ceasefire has brought an end to weeks of increasing violence between Israel and the Palestinian communities in the territory it controls, particularly the Palestinian Islamic-nationalist group Hamas. This latest outbreak of conflict ended a period of relative calm that had persisted for the better part of a decade. Adding to the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the role of the United States and emerging disagreements over what the nature of that role should be.

Israel’s history has been fraught with struggle and violence between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, even before the state of Israel was founded in 1948. Numerous wars with neighboring Arab countries and the lingering consequences of those wars also inform this issue.

If you’re looking for more information on the broader history of Israel and its Palestinian population, check out “Israel-Gaza Violence: The Conflict Explained” from BBC News.

Timeline of the Current Conflict

While the full history between Israelis and Palestinians is beyond the scope of this blog post, the current conflict does have an immediate timeline of events that can help shed light on the situation.

APRIL 13: The first night of Ramadan (Islam’s most sacred month) in 2021 coincides with Israel’s Memorial Day commemorations. The president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, is set to make a speech at the Western Wall near the Al-Asqa Mosque. The Western Wall and the site of the Al-Asqa Mosque are sacred sites to Jews. However, Al-Asqa itself is currently open only to Muslims, as it is among the most sacred sites in Islam as well.¹ The president’s team requests that the loudspeakers that are used to call Muslims to prayer be turned off during his address, claiming that they could drown out the speech. The mosque refuses the request but Israeli police enter the complex and allegedly disconnect the loudspeakers, sparking backlash from Muslims in Israel, most of whom are Palestinian.²

APRIL 13 – MAY: The Al-Asqa controversy occurs in the midst of growing unrest surrounding the attempted eviction of several Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Protest and unrest continue to escalate throughout April, with direct fighting taking place between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli police and pro-Israeli counterprotesters. Forming a backdrop to all of this are political crises in both the Israeli and Palestinian governments, adding to the instability of the situation.³

MAY 4: Hamas, which the United States has officially labeled as a foreign terrorist organization, presents itself in the midst of this crisis as the bold, revolutionary leadership that the Palestinian people need to assert their rights and independence. It announces a “final warning” on May 4, declaring that Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah must be allowed to remain and, more broadly, that the Israeli police and military must stop clashing with Palestinian demonstrators.⁴

MAY 7: On the last Friday of Ramadan, Israeli police raid the Al-Asqa Mosque. Police claim that the action is in anticipation of the site being used as a gathering and supply storage space for violent Palestinian demonstrators. The Arab-Palestinian community responds with even more demonstrations, and violent clashes between Jewish and Arab groups spread throughout the country.⁵

MAY 10: Coinciding with the final hearing in the Sheikh Jarrah case and celebrations and demonstrations for Jerusalem Day (a holiday celebrating East Jerusalem coming under Israeli control following the Six Day War in 1967), another raid takes place at Al-Asqa. At 6 pm, Hamas launches 150 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts many of the rockets. Ultimately, no one is killed in the attack but the rockets injure some people and damage property.⁶

MAY 10– MAY 20: Immediately following the rocket attack, which in part targeted the capital, Jerusalem, the Israeli military begins an airstrike campaign killing 20 people, including nine children. Hamas rocket fire, street clashes, Israeli airstrikes, and military and police actions continue. Thus far, the conflict has resulted in deaths of more than 200 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel, with thousands more injured and hospitalized on all sides. Adding to the tensions are rocket attacks that are suspected of originating in Syria and Lebanon, as well as growing anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian demonstrations in neighboring Lebanon and Jordan. Across the world, demonstrations are also taking place with various groups demanding support or condemnation for the actions of Israel and Hamas.⁷

MAY 20: Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire to be monitored by Egypt.⁸

The U.S. Response

Historically, the United States has been a strong supporter of Israel and it remains among Israel’s closest allies. Public support for Israel, and specifically for the Israeli people, has remained fairly widespread in the United States, with roughly 70 to 75 percent of Americans expressing a favorable view of Israel in Gallup polls between 2018 and 2021. Sentiment toward the Palestinian Authority has gradually warmed over time, with favorability increasing from 21 percent in 2018 to 30 percent in 2021.⁹

A possible result of this shifting sentiment is an increasing number of lawmakers, particularly liberal Democrats, speaking out against U.S. policy toward Israel. Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the nation’s first Palestinian American elected to Congress, has been vocal in her opposition to the Biden administration’s statements of support for Israel in this conflict and has spoken frequently about crimes she alleges Israel has carried out against its Palestinian population.¹⁰Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also made headlines when she recently drafted a resolution to block a $735 million arms sale to Israel, a resolution which has gained the support of other prominent officials such as Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.¹¹Most Democratic leaders have yet to publicly make such criticisms, but the willingness of any national politician to be so openly critical represents a significant development and a likely shift in Democratic voters’ opinions.

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans have remained steadfast in their support for Israel, choosing either to not comment beyond voicing their support for Israel’s right to defend itself or to outright condemn Democratic colleagues who have voiced opposition. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats of “regularly engaging in hateful antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric,” while Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has criticized the Biden administration and suggested that President Joe Biden will yield to the “far-left” and block the upcoming arms sale.¹²

For its part, the Biden administration has been relatively cautious in its public statements on the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Initially, the administration made little commentary beyond President Biden affirming Israel’s right to protect its interests.¹³However, on May 19, it was reported that President Biden held a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging a de-escalation of the conflict. Despite this, Netanyahu recommitted to the offensive against Hamas as necessary for any ceasefire to occur.¹⁴Although a ceasefire has now been agreed to, this seeming divide between the two leaders has fueled speculation about how the U.S.-Israeli alliance will evolve moving forward.

Discussion Questions

What are questions you have about the current and historical Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What do you know for certain about the region and its people? What are areas you need to learn more about?
What do you believe the role of the United States should be in conflicts outside of the country? What role could the United States play if it is not already doing so?
For decades, the typical response of U.S. politicians regarding conflict in Israel has been that “Israel has a right to defend itself.” Do you agree with that sentiment? To what extent? Is that sentiment alone sufficient to address the issue? Why or why not?

President Trump Seeks to Further Reduce U.S. Military Presence in Syria

Calm or Chaos: The Role of the Media During a Crisis

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Sources

Featured Image Credit: GETTY IMAGES

[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/12/6/al-aqsa-mosque-five-things-you-need-to-know

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/15/world/middleeast/israel-palestinian-gaza-war.html

[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-palestinians-sheikh-jarrah-eviction-east-jerusalem-explained/

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/15/world/middleeast/israel-palestinian-gaza-war.html

[5] Ibid.

[6] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-iron-dome-rockets-gaza-hamas/

[7] https://www.dw.com/en/timeline-how-the-current-israel-hamas-conflict-has-expanded/a-57573511

[8] https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-official-predicts-ceasefire-soon-israel-gaza-fight-goes-2021-05-19/

[9] https://news.gallup.com/poll/340331/americans-favor-israel-warming-palestinians.aspx

[10] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/18/us/joe-biden-news-today/tlaib-biden-palestine-israel#tlaib-biden-palestine-israel

[11] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/20/sanders-follows-aoc-tlaib-objecting-us-arms-sale-israel/5179770001/

[12] https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-republicans-seek-to-use-israel-hamas-fighting-to-divide-democrats/

[13] https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/biden-calls-netanyahu-says-israel-has-right-to-defend-itself-121051600045_1.html

[14] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/19/biden-says-he-expects-significant-de-escalation-today-gaza/5162735001/

Public Service In America

During this Close Up Conversations webinar, Close Up’s, Joe Geraghty discusses ‘Public Service In America’ with guest speaker Tim McManus, COO of Partnership for Public Service.

Public Service is key to making many sectors of our government run smoothly. Service comes in many different forms, in this Close Up Conversations we will discuss the importance of government civil service in the United States and how being a public servant has changed and evolved over the years.

Reshaping the Economy

Posted on May 18, 2021July 9, 2021 by Scot Wilson

President Joe Biden is currently promoting his plan to transform the U.S. economy.¹ In a previous blog post, we explored one element of that plan: infrastructure. In this post, we will examine some details of the Biden administration’s American Families Plan.

What is in the Plan?

According to the White House, the American Families Plan is “an investment in our kids, our families, and our economic future.”² The White House argues, “It is not enough to restore where we were prior to the pandemic. We need to build a stronger economy that does not leave anyone behind—we need to build back better.”³

The American Families Plan focuses on education, medical leave, and the costs of raising children. Some of the most significant elements of the plan include:

Making College More Affordable: The plan would invest roughly $160 billion to make two years of community college free and increase Pell Grants for low-income students who are admitted to universities. The plan would also create a program to subsidize tuition for low-income students who attend historically Black and other minority-serving institutions.
Universal Preschool: The plan calls for a $200 billion investment to create universal preschool for three- and four-year-old children. The plan would call for state governments to pay half of the cost with the federal government paying the rest.
Child Care and Child Nutrition: The plan would subsidize child care for low- and middle-income families and expand current programs to include roughly ten million more children in free and reduced-price meal programs.
Paid Family Medical Leave: Under the plan, the federal government would subsidize sick leave for all workers who do not have sick leave from their jobs. The White House estimates that this would cost $225 billion over ten years.⁴

The Biden administration argues that it would be able to pay for the plan by raising taxes on the top one percent of earners to pre-2017 levels, raising the tax on investment income for anyone earning over $1 million through investment, eliminating a tax break for real estate investors, and enhancing Internal Revenue Service enforcement on the very wealthy.⁵

The Debate

Congressional Republicans have raised many concerns about the American Families Plan. They argue that the tax increases would hurt the U.S. economy, slow job growth, and harm the very people that the plan is intended to help.⁶ They note that the plan throws astronomical sums of money—which the government simply does not have—at new entitlements, such as universal preschool, that some Americans do not need. Kelsey Bolar, a senior policy analyst at the conservative-leaning Independent Women’s Forum, argues that the plan is not what women, and especially working moms, need. She contends that the one-size-fits-all approach would further limit people’s flexibility and choice.⁷

A recent poll showed that nearly 60 percent of voters support the American Families Plan and 30 percent oppose it, with the rest having no opinion.⁸ Kevin Shafer, a health and social policy expert at Brigham Young University, argues that the plan is necessary to bring about equity in the economy and to protect children from poverty.⁹ Bernard Yaros of Moody’s Analytics said that the plan has “meaningful longer-term economic benefits by increasing labor force participation and the educational attainment of the population.”¹⁰

This is a large bill that would impact many aspects of the U.S. economy and it is made all the more complicated because it is part of the president’s broader economic plan for recovery and infrastructure. As Congress debates the future of the U.S. economy, this is a good time for voters to make their voices heard on these issues.

Discussion Questions

How has your community’s economy been affected by the pandemic?
Do you think there are people in your community who struggle with the cost of child care? What about higher education?
Do you think that it is the government’s responsibility to address economic inequality? Is that an appropriate power of the federal government?
How would passage of the American Families Plan impact the community in which you live?
Do you support the ideas in the American Families Plan? Why or why not?

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Sources

Featured Image Credit: Evan Vucci/AP

[1] Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/28/biden-child-care-plan-484883

[2] WhiteHouse.gov: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/

[3] Ibid.

[4] CNN.com: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/american-families-plan/index.html, WhiteHouse.gov: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/, NPR News: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/28/991357190/white-house-proposes-massive-spending-on-children-and-families

[5] CNN.com: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/american-families-plan/index.html

[6] Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/04/24/biden-families-plan-tax/

[7] The Hill: https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/551279-bidens-american-families-plan-is-not-what-women-need?rl=1

[8] Morning Consult: https://morningconsult.com/2021/05/05/biden-american-families-plan-support-poll/

[9] Deseret News: https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/5/17/22436823/president-joe-biden-american-families-plan-childcare-paid-family-leave-child-tax-credits-education

[10] FactCheck.org: https://www.factcheck.org/2021/05/two-views-of-american-families-plan/

Build It and They Will Come: The Biden Infrastructure Plan

Posted on May 10, 2021July 9, 2021 by Scot Wilson

President Joe Biden is currently campaigning to promote his administration’s infrastructure plan. The plan is intended to address three main areas of concern: crumbling or inadequate infrastructure, job creation and economic growth, and environmental issues. In this post, we will focus on the infrastructure goals of the plan.

What is Infrastructure?

Infrastructure refers to the basic facilities and structures that allow a community or nation to function. It can include transportation, energy and power, basic resources such as water, telecommunications (phones and internet access), and waste removal and management. While talking about infrastructure often conjures images of rebuilding old bridges and adding new highways, it also includes other less “tangible” structures such as broadband access.

What’s in the Biden infrastructure plan?

The plan, formally named the American Rescue Plan, would invest two trillion dollars over a fifteen-year period to rebuild or build new infrastructure, make the economy more equitable, combat climate change, and boost economic growth.¹ Major infrastructure-related portions of the proposal include²:

621 billion dollars for transportation, with a focus on roads, bridges, and railways.
300 billion dollars towards reinvesting in U.S. manufacturing, with a focus on green energy, high tech, and medical manufacturing.
213 billion dollars on affordable and energy efficient housing.
111 billion dollars for water infrastructure, including replacing old pipes and removing any pipes containing lead, and upgrading sewage and water runoff systems.
100 billion dollars to build or upgrade public school buildings.
100 billion dollars in digital infrastructure, including providing nation-wide affordable broadband access, with a focus on rural and urban areas.

The plan also calls for raising corporate taxes to pre-2017 levels and changing tax codes to encourage large global companies to invest and produce more in the U.S.³

Hear from Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and David Rouzer (R-NC) as they discuss President Biden’s 2 trillion dollar infrastructure plan.

The Debate

Most of the debate over the infrastructure spending outlined above revolves around how much the U.S. can afford to spend and whether it is a good idea to raise taxes. Steve Scalise, a Republican member of Congress from Louisiana, called the plan a “budget-busting tax hike spending boondoggle masquerading as an infrastructure bill,” and said it would send more jobs overseas and hurt the middle class.⁴ Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) the Republican leader in the House, said the plan is too big and too expensive. He also cautioned that “the real challenge is in these great big bills there’s just waste, fraud, abuse, but more importantly corruption.”⁵While critics of the plan have focused on cost, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg argued that “doing nothing is what’s truly unaffordable.” He went on to say that, as infrastructure fails and the U.S. continues to fall behind other nations, the cost for addressing these issues will only grow. “We’re either going to pay now or we’re going to pay a lot more later.”⁶

While Congress is largely divided along party lines, the plan is finding some Republican support among governors and mayors. Nic Hunter, the Republican mayor of Lake Charles, Louisiana said, “I do believe we can agree on the dire need here in Lake Charles for an infrastructure plan that can build us a new bridge and I do believe we can agree on the dire need to support disaster relief in Southwest Louisiana…Any member of Congress out there listening: Lake Charles needs help right now. And we are asking for it.”⁷

This is a large and complicated plan. In this post, we’ve only examined some of the largest elements of the proposal. As the proposal takes shape in Congress, the debate may become even more contentious, or there may be places where the two parties can negotiate.

Discussion Questions

How would you describe the infrastructure of your community? Think of road quality, traffic, access to rail and public transportation, the state of public school buildings, and internet access, among other things.
How would you prioritize infrastructure spending? Think of the specific goals outlined above.
How would you advise your member of Congress to vote on this proposal? Which elements of the proposal are most important to your community? Which elements are the least important?

As always, we encourage you to join the discussion with your comments or questions below!

Sources