2024 Democratic Party Platform: Economic Security

ECONOMIC PROGRESS
At the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in 100 years, experts feared a stagnating recovery and even worried about a new recession. But Democrats chose to put workers first, and instead of recession, America has seen remarkable strength and resilience. Our economy grew by 3.1 percent last year – the fastest rate of any major economy in the world.

We’ve added nearly 16 million jobs – not only recovering all the positions lost during Trump’s botched handling of COVID, but also adding 6.3 million more than existed before the pandemic – surpassing pre-pandemic projections for the labor market. During this Administration, 30 states from Mississippi to Pennsylvania have seen record-low unemployment; and the run of low unemployment nationwide hasn’t been this long in over 50 years. Wages are up across the board, and rising fastest for lower-income workers, Black workers, Latinos, and women. Today’s recovery is the fairest on record; in just four years, we’ve erased 40 percent of the wage inequality gap that took four decades to build. A record 18 million small business applications have been filed since President Biden took office, each one of them an act of hope.

While too many families still feel the pain of inflation at the grocery store, or around the kitchen table when they sit down to pay their bills, we’re making progress. Wages are rising faster than prices, and inflation today is down nearly two-thirds from its peak. We have to finish the job. Democrats will keep fighting to prevent the kind of supply chain shocks and corporate greed that have done so much to raise prices. And we’ll keep investing in American workers, American jobs, and American families, bringing factories home to win the race for the future. Democrats know the story of the middle class isn’t separate from the state of the economy – it’s at its heart. And we’ll never quit fighting to make sure that everyone is in on the deal.

INVESTING IN AMERICA
Infrastructure
We can’t have the best economy in the world if we don’t have the best infrastructure. And for generations, American infrastructure was the envy of the world. But over the years, we stopped investing in it, and we fell to thirteenth in infrastructure rankings. The Trump Administration declared it “Infrastructure Week” every week for four years, and never built a thing. But under President Biden, we’re finally rebuilding our roads, bridges, ports, airports, water systems, electric grids, broadband, and more, paving the way for a great American “Infrastructure Decade” that will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying union jobs.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is breaking ground on over 57,000 projects across 4,500 communities nationwide. We’re rebuilding major roadways, from the Blatnik Bridge, a vital link between Wisconsin and Minnesota that carries more $4 billion in goods a year through the largest Great Lakes port; to a key stretch of the I-10 outside Phoenix that sees 126,000 vehicles a day. We’re making the biggest investment in public transit in history, and at last building America’s first true high-speed rail lines. We’re replacing every toxic lead pipe in the country within a decade, so every child can turn on the faucet at home or at school and drink clean water without risking cancer or brain damage. We’ve added over 80,000 megawatts of new clean power capacity, the equivalent of building 40 Hoover Dams, to help shrink energy costs and meet ambitious climate goals. And we’re bringing affordable, reliable, high-speed internet to every American household. High-speed internet is as vital to our economy today as electricity first was a century ago; Americans need it to do their jobs, to do their homework, to access health care, and to stay connected. But a full 45 million of us still live in areas where there is no high-speed internet. Democrats are closing that divide. These projects don’t just build infrastructure, they create hundreds of thousands of good jobs for American workers.

Manufacturing
Democrats are also taking historic steps to bring home critical supply chains, and to reaffirm our nation’s leadership in cutting-edge industries that America in fact often pioneered. After the pandemic exposed our reliance on foreign-made semiconductors, we passed the CHIPS and Science Act, to restore America’s role producing the tiny computer chips needed to make everything from cell phones to dishwashers to cars. And as the climate crisis makes the shift to clean energy more urgent, we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, making the world’s biggest investment ever in building renewable energy, electric vehicles, and other green technologies here at home.

The President’s Investing in America agenda has incentivized a historic $877 billion in private funding across the United States to date. Companies are investing hundreds of billions more than under Trump to build new factories. In fact, under President Biden, more than a dozen states have seen the largest private sector investments in their history. We’ve designated more than 30 tech hubs in communities from Reno, Nevada; to Charlotte, North Carolina; to North Central Pennsylvania. And we’ve made sure that lower-income counties see a larger share of investment. Today, instead of exporting American jobs for cheaper labor, we’re creating American jobs and exporting products, leaving no one behind.

Under President Biden, we’ve also boosted funding for the kind of research and development that can seed economy-transforming breakthroughs, like the internet. In recent years, America became one of the world’s only major countries to pull back on R&D investments; Democrats are changing that. President Biden for example launched the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in 2022, to find game-changing medical cures and treatments and transform important areas of medicine. Under his leadership, we’ll continue supporting NASA and America’s presence on the International Space Station, and working to send Americans back to the moon and to Mars. Democrats will keep America at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation, responsibly leading the way in the defining fields of the future, like AI, biotech, quantum computing, advanced materials, and more.

GOOD JOBS
These generational investments are transforming our economy, creating new businesses, new jobs, and new cycles of hope – in red states and blue states; in rural, urban, and Tribal Nation communities too long left behind. In all, President Biden’s agenda has already created nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs, and 880,000 more jobs in construction, building the roads, factories, and dreams of our future. More Americans are employed in these fields and clean energy today than ever were under Trump. President Biden’s agenda requires that any federally-financed infrastructure job must include wage and labor protections. And we’re making sure that these projects use American-made goods, by strengthening “Buy American” procurement rules to their toughest level in seven decades. That means every federally funded infrastructure project is being built with American-made steel, lumber, drywall, concrete, and other products, by American workers. And the Administration has taken historic steps to ensure that these workers are paid prevailing wages, with the free and fair choice to join a union; and to incentivize project labor agreements.

President Biden believes that you shouldn’t have to go to a four-year college to live a good, middle-class life. Democrats are working to make sure that every American can access these quality new jobs, where many people can earn over $100,000 a year. The American Rescue Plan supported more than 4,300 state- and local-government workforce development programs; while our Investing in American agenda is expanding job-training partnerships between high schools, community colleges, unions, and employers. We have a million trainees enrolled in registered apprenticeships today. Apprenticeships have long provided a reliable path to the middle class, empowering workers to earn while they learn, not only in traditional trades, but also in new cutting-edge industries. Extreme Republicans have proposed gutting funding for registered apprenticeships in this year’s budget. We’ll keep making historic investments in them to keep expanding opportunity, including by partnering directly with unions.

Democrats know that Wall Street didn’t build America. The middle class built America – and unions built the middle class. President Biden and Vice President Harris are proud to lead the most pro-union Administration in history. President Biden named staunch labor allies and former union leaders to positions across the government, and empowered them to fight for good jobs and workers’ rights. Biden is the first President to walk a picket line, joining UAW workers on strike in Detroit before they won historic wage increases last year. He knows that when unions win, all workers benefit; and as we rebuild our economy for the future, every worker needs a voice and a fair shot.

Democrats will keep fighting to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, to give everyone the right to organize for better pay, benefits, and working conditions, and to hold abusive bosses accountable for violating workers’ rights. We oppose state right-to-work laws, which drive down wages and leave workers unsafe; and we support penalizing employers who engage in union busting. We’ll work to pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, guaranteeing public sector bargaining rights; and to codify a right to organize for domestic workers, farm workers, and other unprotected laborers. Democrats will continue to create strong labor standards for jobs created with taxpayer dollars through legislation and with strong Buy American rules. Consistent with the law, we will ensure that federal grants and other assistance to employers are contingent on recipients committing to not interfering with workers’ efforts to form a union. By leveraging the benefits of federal grants for infrastructure, manufacturing and services, we will seek to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream.

We’ll strengthen enforcement and penalties for safety, wage, and other labor and employment violations. And, Democrats will continue to aggressively hold companies accountable for violating child labor law. We’ve increased funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers on the job; and we’ll continue to support workplace whistleblowers.

At the same time, we’re pushing to guarantee workers the pay, benefits, and protections they deserve as well. We passed the Butch Lewis Act, keeping over 2 million people’s hard-earned pensions solvent. We also raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to $17.20 an hour, and will keep pushing Congress to increase it to at least $15 for all Americans. We’re making millions more hourly workers eligible for overtime pay; and we’ve cracked down on wage theft and exploitation, recovering over $750 million for low-wage workers wrongly denied pay. We’re making it harder for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying them full pay and benefits. We’re banning most non-compete agreements, freeing workers to move between jobs and negotiate. And we’ve restricted mandatory arbitration, so fewer employers can silence wronged employees in a workplace dispute.

We also recognize that the U.S. Postal Service is the world’s most efficient, and Democrats are wholly committed to supporting a public U.S.P.S. We will fight all efforts to privatize it and will work to ensure that it’s financially sustainable. We will protect its universal service obligation and on-time delivery. And we will support a Board of Governors and a Postal Regulatory Commission that champion a strong public Postal Service.

Trump has a very different record. As President, he not only failed to bring manufacturing jobs home, he pushed to cut funding for R&D and job training. He gave tax breaks to big corporations, with no condition that they invest in workers or innovation in return. He stacked his Labor Department and National Labor Relations Board with corporate lawyers who made it harder to organize, not easier. His Administration ripped protections from federal workers, slashed workplace safety inspections, and blocked increases in overtime pay. Now, Trump and his allies are vowing to repeal key pieces of the Biden agenda – stalling historic progress; undermining American manufacturing; and costing hundreds of thousands of Americans the good paychecks and future prospects that they deserve.

Democrats won’t let that happen. We fought hard to pass the most significant investments in America in generations. Now, we’ll continue the important work of implementing them, to be sure that the benefits are shared in every corner of America and create good-paying jobs that folks can raise a family on, with the chance to join a union, and that rely on materials made here at home. We cannot go backwards. We have to own these industries and jobs of the future.

SMALL BUSINESSES
Small businesses are the engine of America’s economy and the glue of our communities. They employ nearly half of all private sector workers, and drive half of all economic activity. They embody the vision and grit that literally built this country.

When President Biden took office, our economy was reeling and millions of small businesses were hanging by a thread. Business owners faced the prospect of losing not just their livelihoods, but their dreams, their life’s savings, and their hopes of leaving something behind for their kids. So Democrats moved fast. Within weeks, we reformed the Paycheck Protection Program, getting game-changing help to thousands of America’s smallest businesses, which had been shut out by Trump. Then, we passed the American Rescue Plan and helped 6 million small businesses pay their bills and workers and stay afloat. And thanks to that legislation, we provided additional support to 100,000 restaurants and 220,000 child care centers serving millions of kids, which working parents rely on. Not a single Republican voted for it.

Since then, Democrats have passed other historic laws, to build infrastructure, semiconductors, clean energy, and the small-business supply chains that support those cutting-edge industries, here at home. The Administration is expanding access to capital, business opportunities, and training to help those small businesses; while working for a fairer tax code, to level the playing field for small entrepreneurs who have to compete against corporate giants. The Administration has invested a record $12 billion in Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), to support small businesses and growth across low-income communities. The Small Business Administration is nearly halfway to its goal of providing $250 billion in financing to 500,000 small businesses by 2030. For example, to get mom-and-pop businesses the small loans, under $150,000, that are often hard to secure, the SBA has brought in additional non-traditional lenders that specialize in working with underserved small businesses. It’s now on track to double these loans by year’s end, compared to 2020. The Administration is also directing billions of dollars to community lenders and state-level small-business programs. Along with initiatives like Vice President Harris’s Economic Opportunity Coalition, it is mobilizing hundreds of billions more in private investment. At the same time, the federal government this year set a record for small business contract spending, awarding them 28 percent of total procurement dollars, directly supporting a million jobs. It is on track to meet its goal of increasing federal contracts awarded to small disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent.

As a result, America is today in the midst of a historic small-business boom. A record 18 million new business applications have been filed since Joe Biden became president – the three strongest years of new business growth in history, and over 90 percent faster than pre-pandemic averages. Since the pandemic, the share of Black households owning a business has more than doubled, Latino business ownership is up 40 percent, and women own a record share of businesses. As President Biden often says, each new business formed is an act of hope.

Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Minority Business Development Agency is now a permanent part of the Commerce Department, where it’s training underserved entrepreneurs. The SBA’s innovative Community Navigators program meanwhile helped 350,000 small businesses tap into resources that have helped them grow. In a second Biden term, we’ll make that Navigator program permanent, and include new lenders, new markets, and fairer taxes.

Trump still puts Wall Street before Main Street. As president, he slashed the tax rate for giant corporations, but left small businesses behind. His disastrous response to COVID funneled assistance to well-connected friends and companies, but left too many of our smallest businesses without essential help. More than 300,000 closed. He’s now running on a plan to double-down on his tax scam to benefit big corporations and billionaires. His Congressional allies keep trying to slash SBA funding, and to repeal our investments in infrastructure and manufacturing – the same ones that are lowering costs for small businesses, boosting their revenue, and helping millions to thrive. Democrats won’t let that happen.

AGRICULTURE
American farmers are the backbone of our country. They feed America, and help feed the world. But over the years, trickle-down economics has hit rural America hard. Farming costs have gone up and incomes have gone down. Big Agriculture moved in, telling too many small farms that the surest path to success was to get big or get out. As a result, we lost over 400,000 farms in America in the last 40 years, and rural communities have paid a steep price. Too many young people have had to leave their hometowns to find good-paying work and a shot at their dreams.

The President believes that no one should have to leave the community where they grew up just to find opportunity. His Investing in America agenda is investing in all of America, including farms and rural areas. It’s creating new sources of income for farmers and increasing competition among suppliers, to both lower the cost of farm inputs and to get small and mid-size farmers a larger share of profits. The Inflation Reduction Act is helping farmers and ranchers adopt climate-smart practices, which make the land more resilient and increase profitability, while connecting them to new markets and premiums for sustainably produced commodities. The Administration recognizes the critical role that our land stewards play in our food systems, economy, and environment, and is working hard to drive both public and private funds to reward these champions for nature for their hard work. The Administration has also supported independent meat and poultry processing, reducing producers’ reliance on big companies to buy their product; and it’s working to make livestock and poultry markets fairer and more transparent. Today, family farms have more income from more varied sources, so their children have more opportunity to stay family farmers.

At the same time, the Administration is helping family farmers service distressed loans in order to keep their lands and ultimately pass them down to their kids. It has worked with many farmers to boost the production of expensive fertilizer, increasing supply and easing costs for everyone else. The U.S.D.A. also expanded farm insurance to allow for more double cropping, a practice that increases farm earnings, expands the food supply, and helps lower average food prices for American families. Going forward, Democrats will also work to get farmers the right to repair their own equipment, without having to pay big equipment makers for diagnostic tools and repairs. And we will look to further limit foreign ownership of U.S. farmland to protect our food supply and national security.

Throughout, Democrats have stood by farm workers. We are working to improve workers’ safety at meat processing facilities, and we will continue to enforce and advance labor and environmental rules, for example promoting organizing rights and requiring overtime pay, and boosting protections against harmful pesticides and extreme heat.

FIGHTING POVERTY
As Democrats, we believe in an America where people look out for one another and leave no one behind. But we know we still have a long way to go to make America’s promise real for everyone. Some 40 million Americans still live in poverty. The pandemic made things worse, hitting the poor hardest, and pushing millions more families to the brink. The American Rescue Plan drove poverty to record lows in 2021. It expanded the Child Tax Credit and made it available to all low-income children for the first time, helping to slash child poverty by nearly half. It tripled the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for millions of low-income workers, so their taxes wouldn’t push them deeper into poverty. It kept 8 million families in their homes, child care centers open, and small businesses on their feet. It increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, helping tens of millions of Americans keep food on the table. Not a single Republican voted for the bill.

And the Administration has done more. It reversed a Trump-era policy that would have risked putting half-a-million children in poverty. It modernized SNAP benefits for the first time since 1975, permanently increasing them and lifting more than 2 million people, including over a million children, out of poverty as well. President Biden signed into law a permanent special summer nutrition program that will help 21 million kids. And he successfully blocked Congressional Republican proposals that would’ve increased poverty by slashing health care, housing, food assistance, and more.

Now, it’s time to finish the job. Democrats know that most folks fundamentally want the same things – not a hand out, but a fair shot. That’s why we’ll keep pushing to restore the expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, which proved so effective at reducing poverty before Republicans let them expire. We’ll work to finally raise the federal minimum wage to at least $15-an-hour. We’ll fight for paid leave, better health care, and more investment in public schools and affordable housing. We’ll reduce the need for foster care, by supporting families and engaging kin. We’ll further expand public transit, connecting communities that have been cut off for too long. We’ll keep working to get more low-income families access to affordable banking as well, and to boost the supply of capital and loans by investing more in CDFIs. We’ll also push to make the New Markets Tax Credit permanent, drawing new investment to low-income communities nationwide. And we’ll continue to reject Republican proposals to increase poverty by making devastating cuts to programs that vulnerable Americans count on.

In the wealthiest nation on earth, we all benefit when we help one another. Democrats will keep working to build an economy that rewards work, not wealth; where we care for the most vulnerable, and unleash the potential that all our children have to grow and thrive. We remain committed to fighting poverty and enabling all Americans to live up to their God-given potential.

ENDING SPECIAL INTEREST GIVEAWAYS
To invest in the American people and reduce the deficit, Democrats are also ending giveaways to big corporations and special interests that have benefitted at the expense of American taxpayers for too long.

We’re seizing a tremendous opportunity for savings on prescription drugs and insurance. The Administration has already cracked down on one of Big Pharma’s biggest scams, by finally giving Medicare, the single biggest buyer of drugs in America, the ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, as the VA and private insurers have done for years. The Administration is also requiring drugmakers to reimburse Medicare if they hike prices faster than inflation. That kind of markup pads Big Pharma profits, wasting taxpayer dollars. Democrats will expand the number of drugs subject to price caps and negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act, saving taxpayers nearly $160 billion over the next 10 years, as Medicare will no longer have to pay Big Pharma exorbitant prices.

At the same time, we’ll keep pushing to crack down on outsize insurance company profits, for example by requiring health insurers to reimburse Medicaid if they bill more than they actually spend on patient care. We also believe in saving taxpayers money by investing more in preventative health care, vaccines, and other treatment for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries, avoiding unnecessary medical costs by keeping folks healthy – investing in America, and in the American people.