Feb 15, 2021

Greetings! Today we celebrate Washington’s Birthday (which is still the legal name for “Presidents’ Day”). Here in Washington, D.C., the left is trying to make election chaos even worse with a misbegotten “For the People Act.” Meanwhile, we show how the plan to double the federal minimum wage would hurt parents with young children, and why parents and politicians must stand up to teacher union bullying to reopen schools. There are also important webinars, podcasts, and more highlighted in this week’s Agenda.

The Left Has a Plan to Create More Election Chaos
The left has renewed its efforts to make sweeping changes to America’s election laws, most recently by reintroducing H.R. 1 in Congress. Unfortunately, instead of bringing needed fraud-prevention reform, this bill would federalize state elections and tear away protections that keep our elections free and fair. It would impose “unnecessary, unwise, and unconstitutional mandates on the states,” explain Heritage experts in a report detailing the many flaws of the “For the People Act.” Read the full report for a breakdown of everything that H.R. 1 would change about our electoral processes.

Biden’s Proposed Minimum Wage Hike Hurts Families
A proposal for increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 passed a House committee last week. But doubling the federal minimum wage will bring anything but relief to families with young children. In fact, the wage hike would raise childcare costs by an average of 21%, according to Heritage research fellow Rachel Greszler. She says this added cost “could force some parents to give up their jobs and live on lower household incomes, while causing others—particularly single parents—to turn to non-licensed, typically illegal, childcare.” Greszler’s report was cited by Fox Business. Read Greszler’s full report to find out why the proposed minimum wage increase would do more harm than good.

Want to Get Kids Back in School? Stand Up to Teacher Unions
Parents want their kids back in schools. The CDC says it can be done safely. And remote learning isn’t working out for many. So why aren’t schools reopening? Because teacher unions are fighting to keep them closed. Case in point is what’s happening in Philadelphia, which Jonathan Butcher, Heritage’s Will Skillman fellow in education, explains in a new op-ed. “Students and their education in the classroom should be made the priority. Families and policymakers alike should tire of teachers’ unions’ attempts to maintain power when they are not delivering for our students,” he writes. Read Butcher’s latest commentary to learn more about how unions bullying has kept students out of school.

Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., Gen. James McConville, chief of staff of the U.S. Army, will discuss how to build an Army ready for the great power competition. The event will be hosted by Thomas Spoehr, director of Heritage’s Center for National Defense. Register for this event.

This week on “Heritage Explains,” Emilie Kao, director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, explains the left’s agenda with gender, how it’s impacting our kids, and tells us where things stand with the Biden administration. Listen to the episode.

Fox News featured a Heritage Foundation report about the impact of a $15 minimum wage on childcare costs. Watch the segment with Fox News’ Dana Perino, Bill Hemmer, and Chris Wallace.

George P. Shultz, one of America’s leading statesmen and champions of free markets, passed away recently. He was 100. Learn more about why all Americans own him a debt of thanks.

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