February 21st, 2019
Bryarly Richards
The 116th Congress has a long list of legislative priorities for their first session, and voters have pretty strong opinions on many of those issues.
Morning Consult + POLITICO’s National Tracking Poll provides insight into what voters want this new Congress to prioritize. While these are hot-topics now, as always there are unexpected events that push other legislative priorities to the top of the list.
Download the full list here, and read more about what voters think the 116th Congress should prioritize.
Drug pricing and stabilizing the ACA will continue to be topics of conversation for this new Congress. Healthcare was one of the issues that voters emphasized the most, with 79% of respondents saying that this was an important priority for them.
Border security and immigration will continue to be major issues, even though DHS funding is set through September 2019, especially with lawsuits over President Trump's emergency declaration. Voters make it clear that immigration is important to them, regardless of which side of the issue they're on.
There are a number of proposals for infrastructure legislation that could be pushed through to the floor by Democrats or by President Trump. Infrastructure was another high priority issue for voters, with only 3% of voters saying that they didn't think Congress should focus on passing an infrastructure spending bill.
Democrats will be holding the first climate change hearings in years, and while the House will consider something this session, it will likely only be a messaging bill. As far as voters are concerned, this issue is a bit more contentious than others with 13% of voters saying that no action should be taken to address climate change.
While nothing may be passed this year around consumer protection and data privacy, it will likely be a topic of discussion. Voters seem less concerned with legislation surrounding data privacy and regulation of tech companies - only 17% identified that this was a top priority for them, and 27% indicated that they did not see this as a very important priority.
In the next month or so, Democrats are poised to bring gun reform legislation to the House floor. Gun control legislation is a hot-button issue for many voters, which is supported by survey results. While 33% of voters say they want Congress to prioritize passing additional restrictions on gun ownership, 26% of voters say that Congress should not pass any additional restrictions.
As a policy pro, you know the importance of tracking what proposals exist for these issues before they potentially move into committee and eventually onto the floor. POLITICO Pro's Legislative Compass is an intuitive and customizable tool that helps you quickly understand what proposals exist for each of these issues, and provides analysis and insight that brings legislation to life.
If you're interested in learning more about how Pro helps you track legislation, request a demonstration of Legislative Compass here.
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