PLUS: Read the latest analysis from PPI's team of policy experts! 

View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** [link removed]

Progress Report
------------------------------------------------------------
News, events, and must-read analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute.
[link removed]
[link removed]
By Sarah Paden ([link removed]) , Stuart Malec ([link removed]) , and Reid Fauble ([link removed])
PPI Government Relations

Two years into President Biden’s first term, a narrow Republican majority in the House threatens to thwart the historic progress made by his Administration. Kevin McCarthy and the House Republican Caucus have already threatened to drive the U.S. into default, engaged in partisan investigations, and neglected to lay out a sound legislative agenda. Once again, a divided government endangers real progress.

At PPI, we hope President Biden will see this State of the Union address as an opportunity to chip away at the partisan stalemate that has taken hold of American politics. With Republicans content to do nothing but obstruct and finger-point, President Biden should play the long game and start charting the Democratic Party on a course to build a lasting, durable majority that is capable of withstanding the electoral swing every two years.

In order to achieve this goal, the President ought to focus on ways in which the party can dramatically expand the size of its coalition. In the 2022 election cycle, independent voters broke in large numbers for the Democratic party, making a dramatic difference in key states and races all across the county. President Biden should make a direct appeal to these voters and other working class Americans by offering a clear vision and compelling solutions to issues that polling shows they care about like crime, immigration, inflation, and the economy. The President should consider embracing cultural moderation and directly address the concerns of vital constituencies that far-left progressives have been alienating.

In terms of policy, this means embracing the innovation economy, not trying to break it up, reducing inflation and debt, and adopting an export-oriented trade policy. It means ending the disparity between the huge amounts of money Washington invests in college-bound people and the paltry investments it makes in the skills and career prospects of the non-college majority. It means championing public school choice and accountability rather than the K-12 status quo that’s failing low-income families. It means climate pragmatism that recognizes that we can achieve our greenhouse reduction goals through intelligent use of all energy sources and innovations like carbon capture and storage.

Finally, the President should unequivocally affirm America’s support for Ukraine and reject anti-democratic movements both abroad and at home. Free nations across the globe are dealing with the rise of authoritarianism, and America must show to the world that America will stand strong to defeat it.

Below, our experts at PPI have presented more bold policy suggestions and radically pragmatic solutions for the Administration to consider as they build out the agenda for the final years of the President’s first term.
READ PREVIEW HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-an-introduction-from-ppis-government-relations-team%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-an-introduction-from-ppis-government-relations-team%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]
By Ben Ritz ([link removed]) and Nick Buffie ([link removed])
PPI’s Center for Funding America’s Future Project

President Biden’s State of the Union address comes at a turning point for the economy. Although fiscal stimulus was right for the economy in the depths of a pandemic recession, continuing to pursue legislation and executive actions that increase rather than reduce deficits undermines the Federal Reserve’s progress in controlling inflation. After a midterm in which a plurality of voters in exit polls ranked inflation as their number one concern ([link removed]) and gave Democrats poor marks for their handling of it, Biden should use his speech to show that he will do the hard work to regain credibility on the issues of responsible fiscal management and inflation control. One way he could do this is by announcing a commission to review the recovery response and how policymakers can better address recessions and inflation in the future, which is an idea first proposed by PPI and endorsed in the New Democrat Coalition’s Inflation Action
Plan last year. ([link removed])

The president also needs to lay a clear marker for the upcoming fight over the federal debt limit. He is right not to reward Republican hostage-taking with the full faith and credit of the United States. But with annual interest payments on the national debt set to eclipse defense spending by 2030 and Social Security by 2050, Biden should outline a process for better budget negotiations ([link removed]) , such as the Responsible Budgeting Act and the TRUST Act, that he is willing to engage in good faith after Republicans take the threat of default off the table. Getting our fiscal house in order would help control inflation today and boost economic growth over the long term.

Finally, Biden should offer a real plan for making access to higher education affordable for all Americans. With the Supreme Court likely putting his attempt to enact roughly half a trillion dollars of mass student debt cancellation by executive action on ice, it’s not enough to simply blame “partisan lawsuits” for his inability to reduce costs and expand access in a responsible and sustainable way. He should challenge Congress to strike a “grand bargain” on higher education ([link removed]) and workforce development that controls costs and expands opportunity for workers across the income distribution. This includes both forcing colleges to get more cost-effective and finding new pathways to good jobs for non-college educated workers.

READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-the-economy%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-the-economy%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]

By Taylor Maag ([link removed])
New Skills for a New Economy Project ([link removed])

Last year’s State of the Union emphasized the Biden Administration’s commitment to the American worker. In his remarks, the President discussed the need to grow our skilled talent in the U.S. and create new jobs that offer stronger paths to the middle class. As we reflect on the past year, President Biden has kept some of his promises. The economy has continued to grow, with the last jobs report showing unemployment continuing to edge down to 3.4% with over 500,000 jobs created ([link removed]) . While this is good news, it does not mean the commitment ends here. This State of the Union, PPI looks to President Bident to recommit to American workers and confront current and future challenges facing our nation, hearing the Administration’s plan to:

1. Prepare people for jobs of the future. Jobs will continue to change and be created through technological advancements. In addition, as America works to implement the recently passed CHIPS & Science Act ([link removed]) , we need a workforce that is skilled at executing this policy’s vision and can grow America’s semiconductor industry.

2. Better support non-degree workers. To meet these skill needs, the Administration has continued to advocate for “college for all.” But most Americans don’t earn degrees, and a bachelor’s or advanced degree — which takes extensive time and resources — shouldn’t be the only path to a good, middle-class jobs. If the Administration truly wants to bolster America’s middle class, President Biden should stop discriminating against non-degree workers and commit to skill development strategies that work, are innovative and don’t promote college as the only postsecondary path.

3. Help eligible workers on the sidelines re-engage with the labor market. The last jobs report showed that our nation’s workforce participation rate, which represents the number of people working or actively looking for work, is at 62.4%, which is only one percentage point higher than it was at the start of the pandemic. This means roughly 37.6% of Americans ([link removed]) that could be working are detached from the labor market because they believe there are no jobs available to them, or they are facing personal challenges that make it hard to retain employment. The Administration must address this phenomenon and commit not only to skill development efforts but to other supports, including policies around child care, family leave, and other services that can get American’s re-engaged with the labor market and reboot our nation’s workforce participation rate.

Looking to the next year of the Biden presidency, these issues must be a priority to ensure individuals are prepared for careers of the future, economic opportunity is shared and the U.S. remains competitive in the global economy.
READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-the-workforce%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-the-workforce%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]
By Ed Gresser ([link removed])
PPI’s Vice President and Director of Trade and Global Markets

The U.S. needs a new driver of growth as COVID-era fiscal stimulus is set to be replaced by deficit-cutting, and the consumer boom of 2021 and early 2022 fading. Exports should fill this need, but over the past six years, the United States has lost market share abroad and exporting companies at home. Between 2016 and 2021, the U.S.’ share of world exports fell:
* From 8.6% to 7.3% in manufacturing
* From 10.4% to 9.4% in agriculture, and
* From 15.2% to 12.9% in commercial services.

Meanwhile, the count of U.S. exporting businesses dropped from 290,600 to 277,500.

We hope President Biden will take the State of the Union opportunity to launch an ambitious program to rebuild America’s export economy in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s retreat. This includes a return to efforts to reduce tariffs and other barriers to U.S. exports, strong support for the Ex-Im Bank’s export financing mission, and export promotion programs. American allies such as Japan, the U.K., and others have expressed hopes for closer trade and investment links to the United States, and officials such as Treasury Secretary Yellen have sketched out the outline of a “friendshoring” program that can achieve it, and there’s no better place to launch this than the SOTU.
READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-trade%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-trade%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]
By Elan Sykes ([link removed])
PPI's Energy Policy Analyst

President Joe Biden has achieved remarkable success for U.S. climate policy halfway through his term, and his first State of the Union after the midterms should reflect the accomplishments that Democrats have made in passing the Inflation Reduction Act and Democrats and Republicans both for their roles in the IIJA, CHIPS and Science Act, and the ratification of the Kigali Amendment. But what PPI’s Energy and Climate team wants to see most is what comes next: What are President Biden’s climate plans for the next two years of a divided Congress, for 2024, and beyond? And how will Biden position U.S. energy policy amidst continued turbulence in global markets as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on?

As hundreds of billions in spending and loans flow out of these new federal programs to firms, households, and state and local governments, President Biden and both parties in Congress should look to finally strike a deal reforming federal and other barriers to the deployment of crucial new clean energy technologies held back by the permitting process, environmental review delays, and inter-jurisdictional conflicts. Biden should also call on Congress to fully fund the energy-related provisions of the CHIPS and Science Act authorizing roughly $54 billion for R&D over the next 5 years through programs at ARPA-E, the NSF, and elsewhere. The 2023 Omnibus bill only included partial funding for these investments in basic science and early-stage energy technologies and only for the coming year; fully funding them for the next 5 years will help the U.S. maintain its position at the cutting edge of the energy transition.

Lastly, Biden's biggest climate challenge is not domestic but international. As my PPI’s Paul Bledsoe ([link removed]) has noted ([link removed]) , emissions from China alone are greater than all developed countries combined and still growing. The administration must work with our allies to find more effective means of compelling developing nations to reduce their emissions. Simultaneously, working more closely with allies like the EU, U.K., Japan, and South Korea that lack trade agreements with the U.S. will allow closer cooperation on provisions in the IRA that grant bonuses to countries with existing agreements, like Canada and Mexico. And with Russia’s war against Ukraine ongoing, American LNG exports continue to play a vital role in European and global energy markets by maintaining energy
security, offering especially low-methane supplies, and displacing coal-fired generation.

Let’s hope 2023 is a year of continued success for America’s clean energy leadership.
READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-energy%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-energy%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]

By Jordan Shapiro ([link removed]) , Data and Economic Analyst, and
Malena Dailey ([link removed]) , Technology Policy Analyst

Government action in regard to technology should serve to enhance the vibrant tech economy, supporting American innovation while addressing concerns that are top of mind for people who rely on it every day. The tech sector is a leader in job creation, and has held strong in the face of challenges such as the pandemic and periods of rising inflation, during which the sector was able to keep prices low. In his second State of the Union address, President Biden has the opportunity to reflect on the successes of this industry, while also calling for reform in areas where government intervention is needed to keep Americans safe, such as the protection of their data.

In the past year, the administration has pursued two major pieces of technology policy — one, the CHIPS and Sciences Act of 2022, was a resounding success, while the other, which was the partial subject of a recent op-ed ([link removed]) from the President, a data privacy law, remains on the docket for 2023. In his speech, President Biden should commend Congress on the landmark passage of the CHIPS Act. The law pledges $52 billion dollars to invigorate and onshore the crucial semiconductor industry, injecting vital funds into chip fabs and the infrastructure, workforce, and research and development. Reshoring chip fabrication and upskilling the workforce is crucial for the future of innovation.

The President should re-state his commitment to passing strong digital privacy protections for all Americans. In his first State of the Union, Biden indicated his commitment to improving children’s privacy and safety online. Now, the president is calling for “serious federal protections for American’s privacy. That means clear limits on how companies can collect, use and share highly personal data.” The strongest candidate to get privacy done is the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, a bi-partisan privacy bill that would set the standard for privacy protections for all Americans.

This is a moment for President Biden to recognize the value in American technological leadership and look forward to the ways in which our policy regime can uplift the sector on a global stage. With the debates on approaches to internet regulation heating up across the globe, the US must balance the benefits of innovation with regulatory guidelines and protections for everyday Americans in a way that the rest of the world may look to as a model. By securing privacy protections for individuals in this new Congress, we have an opportunity to do just that.
READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-the-future-of-tech-and-innovation%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-the-future-of-tech-and-innovation%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]
By Erin Delaney ([link removed])
PPI's Director of Health Care Policy

As the country continues to grapple with the consequences of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion for nearly half a century, it is critical for President Biden to reassure all Americans who can get pregnant that his administration will continue to work to restore abortion rights. President Biden needs to respond to Republicans doubling down on restricting and outlawing access to abortion as they ramp up their campaigns for the 2024 election by further expanding access to medication abortion drugs, including Mifepristone. The Biden administration should eliminate the pharmacy and prescriber certification requirements to dispense mifepristone, and assert the authority of the FDA to preempt state law for FDA-approved medications to prohibit states from banning access to medication abortion.

Now that the Biden administration has announced that the Public Health Emergency (PHE) declaration will end on May 11, President Biden needs to reassure Americans that the transition will not affect their access to coverage and affordable care. The PHE declaration that was issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in March 2020 provides flexibilities for the federal government to modify or waive certain requirements, including for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Those who are vulnerable — children and those with chronic illnesses and disabilities — will need more assistance in navigating the administrative process to regain coverage once the PHE declaration ends. President Biden should call for relaxing eligibility requirements that were exclusionary before the PHE declaration was issued by reducing administrative burdens using administrative data and targeting assistance to those groups to keep eligible individuals and families enrolled.

Additionally, various provisions that were authorized by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act into the COVID-19 PHE declaration are set to expire next year. These provisions permitted pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to administer COVID-19, flu, and all recommended pediatric vaccines without a prescriber order, even in certain states that have laws that limit pharmacies from administering some vaccines to certain populations. If these provisions expire, 25 states where the authority for pharmacist-administered vaccines has not been made permanent will face the consequences of the expiration most acutely as states will return to restricting pharmacists to administer certain vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine. President Biden should call on states to adopt and codify the PREP Act declaration expanding pharmacist ability to vaccinate in state law, which governs pharmacist practice, to ensure Americans continue to have greater access to these life-saving vaccines
beyond the end of the PHE.
READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-health%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-health%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]
By Tressa Pankovits ([link removed]) and Curtis Valentine ([link removed])
Co-Directors of PPI's Reinventing America's Schools ([link removed])

We’d like to see President Biden call for reinstating the universal “free and reduced lunch” program that Congress let expire last June. Too many low-income children are hungry at school, and many are incurring debt because they can’t pay for their lunches upfront. The School Nutrition Association estimates that America’s school children have incurred $19 million in debt this year alone. Schoolchildren should not have to choose between empty bellies or empty wallets.

President Biden should also announce he will direct the U.S. Education Department (ED) to monitor the proliferation of school voucher and education savings account (“ESA”) program in the states. Last summer, ED added restrictions to the federal Charter School Program (CSP) on the types of schools that are eligible for federal grants, eliminating all for-profit charter schools. The Biden administration’s effort to restrict the use of the federal money by private education entities should not stop at the public charter schoolhouse door.

One rationale ED offered for the CSP rule change was to encourage more collaboration between traditional district schools and public charter schools. To that end, we would like to see the federal CSP expanded to include autonomous innovation and partnership schools that operate autonomously from a traditional district office, pursuant to a performance contract with the elected school board. They are proving to be a resounding success in states like Texas where they are known as “1882 schools” and in cities such as Denver and Indianapolis, where they are known as innovation schools. Biden should direct ED to establish an innovation category in the CSP to encourage more district-nonprofit partnerships that improve student outcomes.

Finally, we call on President Biden to direct ED to expand the Center of Educational Excellence for Black Teachers Program at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (CEEBT) program, and to lobby Congress to increase its funding. CEEBT is designed to support HBCUs with demonstrable records of graduating skilled, well-prepared, Black teachers. Researchers from Johns Hopkins and American University in 2018 found that having even just one Black teacher in elementary school makes Black children more likely to graduate high school and makes them more likely to enroll in college. With 15 states enacting educational gag orders, many of them centered on race, it's important for the federal government to dedicate resources to increasing America’s Black teacher corps.
READ HERE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-education%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.progressivepolicy.org%2Fblogs%2Fppi-on-the-sotu-education%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
[link removed]
ICYMI: Ukraine Dispels the Myth of American Decline
By Will Marshall
Founder and President of the Progressive Policy Institute
For The Hill ([link removed])
[link removed]

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s vicious mauling of Ukraine is shattering quite a few grand illusions about the post-post-Cold War world.

For starters, Russia’s failure to defeat its much smaller and poorer neighbor has demolished its image as a military juggernaut. Instead of confirming its status as a great power and pillar of a new, multipolar world order, Putin’s war has exposed Russia as a declining power — at best a junior partner in the new league of autocracies directed from Beijing.

Plagued by old equipment, bad logistics and poor leadership, Russian troops have been outfought by determined Ukrainian defenders. In just under a year, the war has cost Russia
“significantly ([link removed]) ” more than 100,000 casualties, says General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. That’s more in one year than Russia suffered in a decade of war in Afghanistan.
READ MORE ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fopinion%2Fnational-security%2F3839741-ukraine-dispels-the-myth-of-american-decline%2F Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fopinion%2Fnational-security%2F3839741-ukraine-dispels-the-myth-of-american-decline%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
Don't Miss These PPI Reports
[link removed]

[link removed]

Get Social
[link removed]
FOLLOW PPI ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

============================================================
Copyright © 2023 Progressive Policy Institute, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in to programming.

Our mailing address is:
Progressive Policy Institute
1156 15th Street NW
Ste 400
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]