The first bill of a House Democratic majority will concentrate on lowering costs, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters at a news conference Monday.
“We believe, every single one of us, that the cost of living in this country is far too high, and that we need to make life more affordable,” the New Yorker told reporters in response to a question from POLITICO.
With fewer than five months left before the midterms, Democrats are beginning to plot their agenda in the event they win back control of the chamber.
His comments come with fewer than five months left before the midterms, and as Democrats have been meeting for months to plot their legislative agenda in the event they win back control of the chamber in November. Jeffries is expected to be named speaker in that scenario.
His remarks also came on the heels of a new “Dear Colleague” letter from Jeffries to all House Democrats, announcing the creation of five working groups to develop different components of affordability legislation: on housing, gas and utilities, groceries and goods, caregiving and health care.
Each of the working groups will meet this week to begin discussions about what will go into Democrats’ H.R. 1 — shorthand for a majority party’s signature bill.
While Jeffries said he will seek input from “every part of the caucus” to hammer out the specifics of an affordability package, he added that “it’s fair to say that when we look at the legislation that we’re going to lean into — including but not limited to H.R. 1 — it will be hyper focused on driving down the high cost of living and of course fixing our broken health care system as a part of that.”
Separately, the centrist House New Democrat Coalition and Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled their affordability platforms earlier this year.
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