Our second New Liberal Action Summit in Washington D.C. (NLAS D.C.) was a big success and here we share some highlights from the weekend we spent together. 


Together with New Democracy, we kicked off NLAS D.C. with around 200 New Liberals and other guests at a reception where we heard from Rep. Scott Peters (CA-50) and Rep. Jeff Jackson (NC-14). Their remarks included an emphasis on the importance of having young advocates who can campaign for pragmatic policy goals — such as permitting reform — and develop a stronger message for the center-left that appeals to a majority of voters.

“When I approach legislation, I tell my staff, first figure out the right answer, then let's build the politics around it,” Representative Peters said at the opening reception. “But what we see again and again and again, is people stop finding the answer because they're scared of the politics. You need to build the politics for sanity around nuclear energy, around housing policy, around markets.”


Friday morning the New Liberals hosted a series of panels and conversions including a panel with Andy LaVigne, Executive Director of the Blue Dog Coalition, Andy Flick, Executive Director of the New Democrat Coalition, Kathryn Sorenson, Executive Director of the NewDem Action Fund, and Phil Gardner, Senior Advisor to Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03).


"The Center for New Liberalism and its extensive grassroots network is an invaluable resource for the New Democrat Coalition and our members," said Andy Flick, Executive Director of the New Democrat Coalition in the House of Representatives. “I was proud to participate in NLAS to share insight on the New Dems' work in the 118th Congress and discuss how we can accomplish our shared policy priorities.”

Rep. Val Hoyle (OR-04) discussed pathways to opportunity which don’t need to include a four year degree. We closed out the policy portion of the program for Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10) who spoke on the need to organize young center-left activists in support of a new, pragmatic approach to policy and realigning U.S. politics around a center-left majority.

Forty-five New Liberals headed to the Hill and visited 20 Congressional members' offices where they connected with members and staff to discuss issues such as infrastructure, broadband, housing, and permitting and climate. There are clear opportunities for New Liberals to work together with these offices to advance policy toward common goals. 

Saturday we invested time back into our communities with a day of training for chapter leadership. Interactive trainings included themes of Messaging and Framing, Organizing, and Strategic Planning, with trainers Vaisly Kinsuko, Senior Organizing Director of ACLU and Matti Miranda, Director of New Democracy.

We thank all of our speakers and elected officials who shared their insights with us. Our members were energized by the overlap in values reflected in policy, and the outlook on what political battles we foresee in this 2024 election cycle. 


We also thank our chapter leadership who spent their weekend refining the tools that they will need to take action locally and become better and more effective policy influencers. 


Be sure to check out the picture gallery and if you haven’t already please follow us, and New Democracy, on social media.


CNL

New Democracy

We hope you stay involved throughout the coming weeks as we will be hosting more in-person and online opportunities for networking and strategic paths for policy change. Be sure to check our events page regularly: cnliberalism.org/events