Democrats work for Americans by addressing everyday issues. In Washington and Harrisburg they are pushing back against Republican plans that endanger Social Security and Medicare. They are fighting for proposals to expand retirement and healthcare benefits, building on legislative wins to lower the cost of prescription drugs and working across the aisle to find policy solutions to drive down inflation and cut costs for the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. Read more to see how Democrats have already solved some of our common kitchen-table issues and how they are continuing to do more.
Mental Health Crisis
President Biden is laying out a vision to transform how mental health is understood, perceived, accessed, treated, and integrated – in and out of health care settings. The American Rescue Plan laid the groundwork, providing critical investments to expand access to mental health services. Now, far more is needed to ensure that everyone who needs help can access care when and where they seek it.
The Child Tax Credit
The Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan provides the largest Child Tax Credit ever and historic relief to the most working families ever. Most families are automatically receiving monthly payments of $250 or $300 per child without having to take any action. The Child Tax Credit will help all families succeed.
Voting for College Students
Student voting is surging but in some states Republicans are working to suppress voting. One way is to close polling locations on campus. 1688 polling sites across 13 states have closed in the six years since the Shelby v Holder decision gutted key voter protections. But if you are a student in Pennsylvania, you have many options. Follow the link to find out how to vote while you are in college.
Student Loan Forgiveness Program
From Day One of his Administration, President Biden vowed to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a pathway to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. Already, the President has cancelled more student debt than any President in history – delivering lifechanging relief to students and families – and has created the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever: the SAVE plan. While Republicans in Congress and their allies try to block President Biden every step of the way, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers, and is leaving no stone unturned in the fight to give more borrowers breathing room on their student loans.
Increasing the Minimum Wage
Federal minimum wage currently sits at just $7.25 an hour, a figure that was set by an act of Congress in 2009. Although states are free to increase the wage floor within their borders, minimum-wage workers in at least a dozen states are compensated using the federal baseline. At the moment, Pennsylvania’s wage floor is $7.25 an hour — the same as the federal minimum. The legislature last increased the state’s minimum wage in 2006, and every neighboring state currently has a higher wage floor. For Democrats, that’s unacceptable. Pennsylvania Democrats are working on passing a bill to change that.
Preventing Gun Violence
With 33,000 Americans dying every year, Democrats believe that we must finally take sensible action to address gun violence. They have been leading the fight to pass common-sense legislation to end gun violence and save lives. In 2023 Congress passed the Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act which incorporates a number of bills. It creates a federal gun licensing system and requires a federal or state-issued firearms license to purchase or own a gun, and establish a grant program to help states set up their own systems.
Protecting Social Security
In recent years, Democrats have beaten back Republican plans to privatize Social Security — plans that would have exposed the retirement funds of millions of American seniors to great risk on the eve of the financial crisis. Instead, no one lost a penny of Social Security.
Seniors should not have to choose between putting food on the table, keeping a roof over their heads, or buying the medication that they need to stay healthy.
Reducing Prescription Drug Costs
When President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, it granted the Secretary of Health and Human Services—for the first time—the authority to negotiate lower drug prices for America’s seniors. It was a historic achievement that lifted restrictions that had been in place for nearly 20 years preventing Medicare from negotiating drug prices. The law also further reduced drug prices for seniors by penalizing pharmaceutical companies that raised prices faster than the rate of inflation.
