While Donald Trump’s tariff fiasco worsens the affordability crisis, Democratic state legislators remain focused on expanding economic opportunities for hardworking Americans.
WASHINGTON — Yesterday, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) hosted a press conference with Illinois Speaker Pro Tempore Kam Buckner, New Mexico Speaker of the House Javier Martínez and Washington Senate Deputy Majority Leader Manka Dhingra on how Republicans’ disastrous economic agenda – from tariff taxes to the billionaires-first budget law – is fueling the affordability crisis facing families nationwide.
The DLCC’s “States of Play” presser series will continue with state legislative leaders from across the country responding to the extremism in DC.
Watch the press conference here.
Illinois Speaker Pro Tempore Kam Buckner
- “It isn’t a trade war, it’s a kitchen table war. And it’s not strength, it’s recklessness. These tariffs are a cover charge on the American dream, families are paying more just to get in the door, and the show inside is not even worth the price.”
- “Across the country, families are already stretched to the breaking point. We know that groceries cost more, rent and mortgage costs more, medical bills are piling up higher than the paychecks do, and instead of helping, Republicans gave us something that made it all worse: Trump’s tariffs. But while Trump’s tariff fiasco drives up the price of food and housing, and health care, state Democrats are driving down costs and raising wages. That’s the difference. We fight for families, they fight for billionaires. While Republicans cut Medicaid and SNAP, Democrats are expanding paid leave and child care. While Republicans are giving tax breaks to the wealthy, Democrats are putting money back in working people’s pockets.”
- “We talk a lot about democracy, but I want to be clear about this. Democracy isn’t a construct. It isn’t a theory. Democracy isn’t a giant that lives in the hills and periodically comes down to visit the townspeople. The people are democracy, and it lives at the checkout line, in the plant, on the farm, and in the shop, and that’s where Democrats are standing shoulder to shoulder with communities making sure democracy works for the people who need it the most.”
- “In Illinois, I talk to these people every single day. A diner owner who’s worried about a broken freezer, and whether or not that will break her business because tariffs on steel and aluminum have driven up the cost of every piece of kitchen equipment that she needs. A farmer who’s lost contracts that he’s held for decades because other countries retaliated, now he’s sitting on soybeans that he can’t sell. Families who walk away from building their dream homes because Trump has slapped 15 grand extra on the price of lumber. That’s not tough on trade. It’s tough on families.”
New Mexico Speaker of the House Javier Martínez
- “We’re not going to sit back and let Trump and his fascist lapdogs steal the American dream from so many of us.”
- “[The Trump Campaign] promised to lower grocery prices, they promised to lower the cost of health care. In the first eight months of that administration, they’ve done exactly the opposite. That’s why they’re going after Texas congressional seats, because they know how unpopular those policies are with working people.”
- “It is clear to me that Republicans in DC care more about lining the pockets of billionaires than they do about delivering on the promises that they made last election cycle. Like the mom and pop restaurants in my district who were promised greater economic prosperity, prosperity and flexibility and are now facing increased prices due to supply chain disruptions, or the blue collar parents across the street here where I live, who were promised a brighter future for their kids and now risk losing their health care and their ability to make ends meet.”
- “Fortunately, for Democratic lawmakers like me here in New Mexico, affordability is a lot more than a campaign slogan, for us it’s a way of life, and we are on the front lines of many of the policy decisions that are making life better for New Mexicans across the state.”
Washington Senate Deputy Majority Leader Manka Dhingra
- “The tariffs will decrease Washington’s robust exporting economy and raise prices at the grocery store for everyone. The impact from imported oil and gas from Canada is tremendous, and let’s be very clear, this is an artificially created crisis due to the impulse of one man, which will impact the pocketbook of every Washingtonian and every American.”
- “This is an intentionally created chaos, and it is devastating for businesses that need predictability to retain employees and make future business decisions. This is why we need leaders who are going to stand up and fight back, and that is what so many of us in these blue states are doing.”
- “These tariffs impact us in terms of affordability, but also, when you couple it with the policies coming out of the federal government, they’re actually devastating to the average human, the average Washingtonian.”
- “We have to show the rest of the country, the rest of the world, what governance looks like, what adults in power look like. And this is where you have to turn to the blue states to really see how we are standing up and taking care of people.”
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the campaign arm of Democratic state legislatures and leads the national strategy for building power and winning new majorities. Over the last three decades, we have strategized cycle over cycle to win majorities and lead the effort to bring national attention and investment to our ballot level, winning nearly a dozen new chamber majorities over the last decade. Our work has ensured that nearly half of Americans are represented by at least one Democratic majority in their statehouse. State legislatures are the building blocks of our democracy and have the closest connections to Americans’ day-to-day lives. From protecting fundamental freedoms and voting rights to growing the middle class and advancing opportunity, the DLCC and state legislators are moving the Democratic agenda forward and shaping the future of this country.
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