Regional Leadership Council Advancing Democrats’ ‘Invest in America’ Mission

WASHINGTON — When it comes to one political party advancing its economic agenda, few can lay claim to the level of success Democrats reached in the period when the Biden administration coincided with the Democratically controlled 117th Congress.

At something close to breakneck speed, Congress passed and the president signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, an economic stimulus package, the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors, the $350 billion bipartisan infrastructure law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which, among other things, included the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history.

Trouble was, even as bridges were raised, roads laid, factories opened and fiber optic cable deployed, the public at large didn’t appear to notice; a spike in inflation — a natural consequence of having to restart the economy after the pandemic — effectively left many Americans in a pessimistic mood.

It was as if, despite a surging economy, Mr. and Mrs. America and the inhabitants of all ships at sea, to borrow a line from the late Walter Winchell, were viewing it through a pair of mud-covered glasses.

In response, Biden and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., created the Regional Leadership Council, not only to advance their respective messaging in regard to what’s been achieved to date, but to tell state, local and community leaders when they can participate in grant and other programs to extend the beneficial reach of all those bills even further.

Just this past month, during Congress’ most recent district work period, the council achieved a new milestone, holding over 160 events as part of what it called its “Investing in America Week of Action.”

Earlier this week, The Well News spoke with Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., chairman of the council, about its efforts to date and about where it is headed as the promised funding turns into tangible, implemented projects.

“This whole thing started as a result of a conversation Leader Jeffries and the president had early last year,” Hoyer said early on in the conversation. 

“The deal was that we in the 117th Congress had had an extraordinarily productive agenda centered on growing American manufacturing and our competitiveness, and helping individual Americans and trying to bring costs down,” he said. “We passed some very, very significant, transformative legislation.

“And so after they spoke, President Biden directed his cabinet and Leader Jeffries directed the House Democratic Caucus to make sure Americans knew how productive the last Congress had been and how much it impacts their quality of life and their long-term futures,” he said.

As the plan developed, those involved in the planning of the new leadership council divided the nation into 12 regions and Jeffries appointed a member of the Democratic Caucus to be the representative of each one.

Hoyer, the majority leader during the 117th Congress, was also tapped for chair, and Jeffries serves as the body’s 13th and ex-officio member.

With that, the Regional Leadership Council held close to 25 meetings with the heads of all the federal departments and several of the agencies to get a read on what they’d done to date to get the intended assistance and funding out to communities across the nation.

“What we found was what we expected to find: that a lot had already been done and more was in process,” Hoyer said. “And yet the polls showed that the American people were not very knowledgeable about the progress that had been made on their behalf.”

Soon, each regional leader within the council was given their marching orders — get this information out to the public.

“In effect, we empowered the members to go to the state and local leaders in their jurisdictions and remind them what we’ve done and that there’s additional funding — competitive grants, formula grants and so on — that we want to make sure gets to them and starts making a difference in people’s lives as soon as possible,” Hoyer said.

When it came to the Investing in America Week of Action (actually two weeks of action, given the length of the recess), individual events were tailored around specific problems and solutions.

“For instance, when it comes to the infrastructure law, we did a clean water provision,” Hoyer said. “Now, obviously, Flint, Michigan, was the poster child for the clean water issues, but there are other communities around the country that are affiliated with a similar lack of clean drinking water and water resources.

“So we’ve gone out and we’ve talked directly to the public about the problem and explained how the infrastructure bill helped ameliorate the situation and how it will ensure their water doesn’t get dirty again,” Hoyer said.

“Another thing we’ve been talking about at events is the [broadband] connectivity program,” he said. “Interestingly enough, while a lot of the focus of that program has been expanding access to the internet in rural communities, we’ve also identified issues in places like Manhattan, where there are places people could not get an internet connection.

“We’ve gone in and we’ve put a lot of money in there because if people are not connected to the internet, they’re going to have trouble being fulfilled and productive members of contemporary society.

“I mean, the internet is where students are doing their homework and where people are getting jobs or doing their jobs. So it is critical to have that,” Hoyer said.

“Those are some of the things that we are doing and that we will continue to do, and we’re urging the departments and agencies to keep us informed … so that we can continue to provide the American people with new information on what we’ve done for them and what is available to them,” he said.

Hoyer seized on the Week of Action as an opportunity to, among other things, join a roundtable on how Investing in America funding is connecting families in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District to reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband and internet-capable devices. 

He also met with constituents in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, where expanding broadband access through the Affordable Connectivity Program is allowing scores of low-income households to be connected to the internet for the first time.

To date, the Connectivity Program has provided benefits to 21,036 households in Maryland’s 5th District — creating savings of up to $30 a month for low-income households and up to $75 a month for households on qualifying tribal lands. 

St. Mary’s County government also recently announced that 4,500 Chromebooks were awarded to low-income households through the Maryland Connected Devices Program, which was created through American Rescue Plan funding.

“For many, if not most, it was their first encounter with a computer,” said Col. John Lombardi, director of the Maryland Veterans Home Program. “Others, like Mr. Bump, a 98-year-old World War II veteran, realized he could listen to music on [his Chromebook] and takes full advantage of that daily.”

One St. Mary’s County resident in attendance at the second event recalled how a lack of high-speed internet access during COVID forced their high school-age daughter to go to a friend’s house to keep up with her studies and attend classes.

“I had to rely on a hot spot that struggled to keep up with my day-to-day work responsibilities. I was not able to keep a connection while attending [Microsoft] Teams meetings and found myself having to travel to the local church parking lot to get connectivity,” the meeting attendee said. “Receiving our high-speed internet in November was a lifesaver, as my employer now has us working from home on a full-time basis. I don’t know what I would have done without this program.”

“As a result of St. Mary’s County’s support, I was able to have access to high-speed internet in my rurally located, newly constructed home,” said another St. Mary’s County resident. “Because we were not part of an existing neighborhood, the expense was much too high for me to encumber as a single mom on a teacher’s salary. My daughter was able to participate in online learning due to this installation.” 

The Well News’ conversation with Hoyer shifted gears and moved on to the disconnect between the amount of aid and funding that’s flushed through the economy since the pandemic and peoples’ perception of their own well-being.

“Our economy right now is one of the best economies we’ve ever had,” Hoyer said emphatically. “We’ve recovered from the pandemic faster and more broadly than any other country in the world. Fifteen million jobs have been created — that’s net 5 million jobs over 2020.

“Manufacturing is up because of our investment in manufacturing. Health care costs are down for families. The price of insulin is capped at $35. Prescription drug costs for seniors are capped at $2,000, which is a huge benefit to individuals whose prescriptions are priced at $10,000 or more when their retirement and Social Security might only amount to $30,000 or $40,000 a year.

“So, ‘What’s up?’ you ask. Gas stations and grocery stores. That’s what’s up,” Hoyer said.

“The two places families or individuals go every single week, with some exceptions, are the grocery store and the gas station,” he continued. “And every time they go to the grocery store, they see higher prices than they have experienced in the past. And as far as the gas station is concerned, the price of gasoline was down substantially and now it’s back up. It’s sort of a roller coaster.

“And people say to themselves, ‘They tell me the economy is so great, but gee whiz, I can’t afford my gas and I’m having trouble affording my groceries.’ Now, that’s true all over the world, but that doesn’t make a difference,” he said. “People are most concerned with what they perceive as true for them and their families.

“So, people can be shown all of the statistics that say we’re experiencing an extraordinarily robust economy and one that’s better than almost any place in the world, but it won’t make a difference when they are having a tough time or difficultly paying their bills.

“That’s why, with everything else we’re trying to communicate, we also need to empathize with how people are feeling, and we need to act to try to bring prices down and the way you do that is by being a responsible steward for the economy,” he said.

Hoyer’s words brought to mind an op-ed penned by James Roosevelt Jr. and Patrick J. Kennedy, which appeared in USA Today last November.

In it, the scions of two of America’s most famous political families compared Biden’s record with that of the FDR and JFK administrations.

They opened by saying they believe the president is “doing exactly what is wanted and needed by struggling American families, to empower and create opportunity for them and their children.”

“Like FDR, Biden inherited an economic mess and a democracy in peril. Not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic. And like FDR, he has rebuilt and strengthened the American economy, with three basic fixes: Get people back to work, and raise their wages; build infrastructure of all kinds; and build a fairer marketplace that does less harm to people and businesses,” they wrote.

“Like JFK, Biden has aimed for bold, transformative, long-term progress,” they added, noting that Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act “is fundamentally transforming our energy economy, to create millions of new jobs and halt the devastating impacts of the climate crisis.”

The two men note that as in the case of FDR and JFK, nothing Biden has tried to do has been easy.

“But compared with both the FDR and JFK administrations, we think Biden’s record of accomplishment so far is stunning. … Biden needs a second term to finish the job,” they said.

Again Hoyer was asked why so many people don’t appear to see that.

“You know, when it comes to the average individual, it’s all about me. It’s all about my family,” he said. “Forget for a moment that we have added 15 million new jobs. Forget that they can say to themselves, ‘You know, I kept my job despite the pandemic’ or ‘I have got the same job, but my wages are up.’

“Because when they go to the grocery store, in the same breath they’re saying, ‘My wages may be up, but golly, they’re taking it all away from me with these prices,’” he continued. “It’s human nature, I guess, not to see the big picture, which is that we are in great shape.”

Asked to benchmark the success of the Regional Leadership Council to date, Hoyer said he thinks it’s doing “good.”

“I don’t think we get an A-plus for results — at least not yet,” he said.

“And this goes right back to what we’ve been talking about: You can tell people facts that are interesting to them, but if they are not their facts — things they can actually experience tangibly — they don’t really resonate with them,” he said. “So we haven’t gotten there yet. And that’s one reason you see the president spending a lot of time visiting a lot of places around the country.”

With that the 84-year-old Hoyer reflected for a moment on the 81-year-old Biden’s stamina.

“People keep talking about his age, and I share their concerns — I think he’s a little young to be running for president,” Hoyer joked.

“But, you know, seriously, I think he exhausts a great many people because he has all sorts of energy and does all sorts of things … and that’s why I think he’s probably been, as you pointed out, one of the most productive presidents since Franklin Roosevelt in terms of the impact he’s made and is going to continue to make on the economy, on America, and on individual Americans,” he said.

While much of the Regional Leadership Council’s work is outward facing, it also plays a key role on the Hill itself during caucus meetings and in ensuring the Democratic agenda continues to advance, despite the party currently being in the House minority.

“We have a budget, because of the Democrats. We didn’t default on the debt, because of the Democrats. We have continued investment in our country as a result of the infrastructure bill because Democrats prevented it from being repealed,” he said. “Health care is still affordable because the Democrats and the president wouldn’t allow the Affordable Care Act to be repealed. And we got money for Ukraine so that it could defend freedom and democracy with their guys in the field. As a result, we’re not fighting Russians in NATO countries, which we are pledged to do if they invade any of them. You know, even Speaker [Mike] Johnson, R-La., said he thought Putin would not stop in Ukraine if he prevails there.

“So we’re continuing to deliver even though we’re not in the majority. And very frankly, the reason for that is those in the majority, the Republicans, can’t deliver. They’ve shown it over and over and over again. They can’t get the votes for responsible legislation. And so we have stepped in and done exactly that,” he said.

Turning to the future, Hoyer said that will be driven by what he called the “three i’s”: Identify, implement and then inform.

“So much of what we’ve been talking about comes down to those three things. We need to identify what we’ve done and what we still intend to do, then, in regard to the latter, we’ve got to say, ‘Okay, let’s get it done and let’s get it in the hands of the locals and their families and their businesses so we can make a difference.’ Then it’s a matter of informing Americans so that they can see these investments are making a difference.

“As for the future … well, remember, none of these bills that we passed were about one year or two years, they were about a decade or more of transformation. Joe Biden said at the beginning of his presidency that he wanted to do transformational things. And he did. And we did. And now we have to make sure, on an ongoing basis, that the American people know how we’ve invested their tax dollars to benefit them and benefit their communities,” Hoyer said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue