Election Day is just over two months away, but Democrats — with reason to be confident that they can win control of the House — are already planning their legislative agenda for 2019.
In addition to a slate of potentially dozens of aggressive oversight hearings and investigations into the Trump administration, the initial agenda also includes legislative packages covering health-care costs, infrastructure investment and ethics and lobbying reform, Axios’ Mike Allen reported Monday.
On health care: The legislation would be divided into two areas, according to Axios, with one centered on lowering overall costs and reducing premiums and the other focused specifically on driving down prescription-drug prices.
On infrastructure: The Trump administration’s plan — which calls for $200 billion in direct federal spending in hopes of spurring some $1.5 trillion in total investments from private, state and local partners — has gone nowhere. The Democrats will reportedly propose $1 trillion in federal infrastructure spending, with the plan being pitched “as a way to boost jobs and wages.” Despite pressure from the left wing of the party to push for a bold agenda and worry less about how to pay for it, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi reportedly remains committed to reviving “pay-go” rules that would require new revenue or spending cuts to pay for the newly proposed spending.