The left in the United States has tended to view federal legislation as the best source of progressive change and the federal courts as the best place to protect our rights. This tendency is probably mainly due to the role of the federal government in the fight for civil rights.
Now, however, the entire federal government is in the hands of oligarchs who are intent on shrinking the government down to the size where, in the words of Grover Norquist, they can “drown it in the bathtub.” But there are still 22 states with Democratic governors and, in 14 of them, Democrats also have control of both houses of the legislature.
It is now urgent that Democrats use the power that they retain to show how government can be a force for progressive policies that are widely popular – not only among Democrats. In the process, they can begin to restore some faith in democracy generally.
There are a few constitutional restrictions on state governments, but often the problem is fear that progressive legislation, whether it be raising the minimum wage or taxing the wealthy, will cause people to leave the state. The international corporate elite pushed globalization because it let them play even national governments against each other in order to lower their effective tax rates and keep downward pressure on working class wages.
With the economic elite effectively beyond the control of states and nation states, the only avenue left open for progressives was moral legislation by the federal government and international organizations imposing obligations with respect to the environment and the rights of immigrants and racial and sexual minorities.
As more and more people realize that they have been played, they become easy prey for right wing demagogues who tell them that the problem is immigrants and bureaucrats in Washington. So we on the left get demonized as elitists while the real elitists laugh all the way to the bank. For a deeper understanding of how this has played out over the last 50 years, I recommend the latest book by the German sociologist Wolfgang Streeck.
It is time for Democratic governors and legislators to band together to form a multistate legislative alliance built upon a common progressive agenda that addresses political and economic problems that are acknowledged by majorities in both major parties. Some of the ideas might be susceptible to legal attack on constitutional grounds, but we should dare the oligarchs to challenge them, since doing so will help to unmask the real economic elite.
Enact state taxes on the oligarchs – wealth taxes, increased luxury real estate transfer taxes, and property taxes on third, fourth and fifth homes, and progressive income taxes – and use the money to make up what the Republican federal government takes away and to fund some of the initiatives below.
Stop the corruption of the political process by requiring that any contributions to political campaigns or payments to lobbyists by a corporation authorized to do business in the state be authorized by a special board of directors elected by shareholders who are citizens of the United States on a one-shareholder-one-vote basis. This avenue of regulation was expressly left open in the Citizens United decision and could be promoted as a way to stop oligarch control and alien interference in US elections.
Adopt basic rent control provisions that stop landlords from evicting tenants without good cause and jacking up rents by inordinate amounts. When, in 2019, the Democrats in New York finally took effective control of both houses of the state legislature and allowed towns and villages across the state to enact rent control locally, it was a catalyst for progressive change at the local level.
For a longer range solution to the problem of affordable housing, start building quality social housing the way they do in Vienna.
Restore free or greatly reduced tuition for in-state residents at state schools.
Provide free lunches for all children in public school
Provide free daycare
Provide care for the elderly
These are just a handful of ideas, but there are a host of policies that have the support of majorities in both parties.
NOTE: There are 22 states with Democratic governors and 15 with Democratic trifectas(*)
Arizona
California*
Colorado*
Connecticut*
Delaware*
Hawaii*
Illinois*
Kansas
Maine*
Maryland*
Massachusetts*
Michigan
Minnesota
New Jersey*
New Mexico*
New York*
North Carolina
Oregon*
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island*
Washington*
Wisconsin