x
Breaking News
More () »

Texas This Week: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders discusses 'reconciliation' plan

U.S. Senate Democrats want to pass a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill that they say invests in the American people. Sen. Bernie Sanders is spearheading that effort.

AUSTIN, Texas — In this edition of Texas This Week, there are just two weeks left in the first special session of the 87th Texas Legislature, and things remain at a standstill with the majority of House Democrats in Washington, D.C. Plus, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) talks with Ashley Goudeau about the "reconciliation" plan.

Three things to know in Texas politics

Texas House Democrats mark halfway point of special session

The House Democratic Caucus acknowledged the halfway mark of the special session during a news conference where members doubled down on their intent to stay in Washington, D.C., until the end of the special to stop the GOP-backed election reform bill from becoming law. Their time in D.C. has come with challenges. At least six lawmakers tested positive for COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated. This forced much of their lobbying efforts for the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act to happen virtually. Also, the White House maintains there are no plans, as of now, for the president to meet with the Texas lawmakers. 

RELATED: Special Session halfway over, House Democrats still in Washington, D.C.

House Democrat returns to Austin from Washington, D.C.

State Rep. Philip Cortez (D-San Antonio) returned to Texas this week. Cortez was in Washington, D.C., with his colleagues but said he returned to Austin to open the lines of communication with Republicans on House Bill 3, the election reform bill. The author of the bill, Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction) said he and Cortez have already had candid conversations, but in a statement said, "we will continue to have serious, thoughtful conversations about House Bill 3. Phil Cortez and I will likely never see eye-to-eye on this election legislation, but he will have a seat at the table."

RELATED: Some Texas Democrats back in Austin to work on new voting legislation reform, Rep. Cortez says

Dueling opinions in the Texas Senate 

Dueling news conferences showed growing tensions in the Texas Senate. The Senate Democratic Caucus held a news conference to defend the House Democrats in D.C. and highlight the issues they have with Senate Bill 1, the election reform bill the upper chamber passed earlier this month. The longest-serving member in the Senate, John Whitmire (D-Houston), called out Gov. Greg Abbott for not meeting with any Democratic senator to talk about election reform. Minutes later, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick held his own news conference. Patrick said the Democrats are mischaracterizing the bill, and the Republicans in the Senate are willing to hear their concerns – though he added, discussing drive-thru and 24-hour voting were "non-starters."

RELATED: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responds after Texas Democrats outline issues with election reform bill

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on the "reconciliation" plan

While the Texas Democrats are asking the U.S. Senate to take action on voting rights, the senators are battling along party lines about an infrastructure bill. You've likely heard about the bipartisan bill to improve roads and transportation across America, but Senate Democrats want to pass a $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill that they say invests in the American people. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is spearheading that effort. He talked with KVUE's Ashley Goudeau about what he wants to accomplish and how the country would pay for it.

Ashley Goudeau: I know the Senate is working to get several bills passed before the August break, but I have to first ask you about the big news in Texas, which is the State House Democrats breaking quorum to try to stop an election reform bill – traveling to D.C. to ask the Senate to pass two voting rights bills. Do you think the For the People Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Act will pass?

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders: "I think they have to pass. In a democratic society Ashley, we can disagree on issues, disagree on health care, taxation, climate, but we cannot disagree on whether or not ordinary Americans have the right to vote and participate in the political process. And I have been really, extremely disturbed by states all over this country, Georgia, Texas and elsewhere, trying to deny people, often African Americans, Latinos, young people, poor people, people with disabilities, the right to vote. Our job is to have as large a voter turnout as possible, not to deny people the right to vote, so this is an issue I feel very strongly about."

Goudeau: So then tell us, what's the holdup with the Senate on passing these bills?

U.S. Sen. Sanders: "Well, the answer is the Republicans. And, you know, you have many Republicans who are still maintaining the myth that the election was stolen, that Donald Trump won the presidency by a landslide. That is a lie. That is just not true. But under that big lie, you have states all over the country saying we have to deny people the right to vote, using that as an excuse so that they are in a better position to win future elections. So it disturbs me very much that we are not having Republican support in saying that in the United States of America, we going to do everything that we can to make sure that all of our people, no matter the color of their skin, no matter how old they are, no matter their disability, if they're an American citizen, they have the right to vote."

Goudeau: It seems as though those voting rights bills, though, may be taking a backseat to the infrastructure bills that are before the Senate right now. I know you guys are focused on those bills. There's really two packages at play right now. You have the bipartisan infrastructure package and then the Democratic package. Talk to us about the differences between those packages and which one you support.

U.S. Sen. Sanders: "Well, I'm chairman of the Budget Committee and I'm dealing with the, with what we call the reconciliation package, which will not have any Republican support. And Ashley, what we are trying to do here is deal with the reality that many of the wealthiest people in this country and many of the largest corporations, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, these guys are not paying, in some cases, anything, not a nickel in federal income tax. And that is totally absurd. So what we are saying is we need to change the tax system so that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes. And with that new revenue, we have got to address many of the long-standing needs of working-class people all across this country. Needs that have been ignored for but decades because it is no great secret, Congress is worried about the wealthy and large corporations. They got all these tax breaks while half of our people are working paycheck to paycheck. Millions are working for starvation wages. So, what we are trying to do here is to significantly transform our child care system, which today is dysfunctional and unaffordable. We're trying to make pre-K, that is for people three or four – kids three or four years old, that's free, part of public education. What we're trying to do is expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing aids and eyeglasses so that older people will be able to chew their food, will be able to hear, will be able to see. We're going to end the absurdity of the United States of America, the richest country on earth, being the only major country not to have paid family and medical leave. There are women out there that have a baby, and they've got to run back to work a week after giving birth because we don't have any paid family and medical leave. And, we saw what a disaster that was during the COVID pandemic. We are going to address the crisis of climate and begin to invest heavily in transforming our energy system. And among other things, we're going to create a civilian climate corps to give young people the opportunity to do meaningful work at decent pay with decent educational benefits to transform our energy system. So, those are just some of the proposals that are in the ... and by the way, I should also say that we're going to do our best to lower the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs. And I think many of the viewers are already receiving the child tax credit, $300 or $350 per child, which we hope to extend over a number of years that will make it easier to raise your kids. It should lower childhood poverty in America by 50%."

Goudeau: The reconciliation bill, where does it stand right now? 

U.S. Sen. Sanders:  "We hope to have it on the – it's a two-part process. Number one, you need a budget resolution to be passed, which deals with the bottom line as to how much money is going to be spent. The second part deals with the more specific details of how it will be spent. We expect to have the first part of the budget resolution on the floor of the United States Senate by early August."

Goudeau:  Any concern about passing a bill without having some level of bipartisan support under a President who has come in and said he will get both sides to work together?

U.S. Sen. Sanders: "Well, that's a fair question. And the answer is there is bipartisan support all across this country, except not in the United States Senate. So the real question I think, that we should be asking is, how does it happen that when millions of Republicans understand the need to expand Medicare, they understand the need to have the rich and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes, they understand the need to have paid family and medical leave, to improve child care, to have universal pre-K – when ordinary Republicans understand that, but somehow their representatives here in Congress do not. There seems to be some kind of disconnect. So, I would argue that this, all of the provisions that I have talked about from childcare to expanding Medicare to having the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes are extremely popular. They're popular with Republicans, more popular with independents, more popular with Democrats. But, there is widespread support for this entire package of proposals, and that's why we've got to get them passed."

KVUE News reached out to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) about the infrastructure package and reconciliation package. He sent us a statement that reads in part:  

"I think it's imperative that we actually pay for the bipartisan infrastructure bill and that's what I will be focusing on once we have a chance to read it and get the Congressional Budget Office to score it. So, while infrastructure is a bipartisan subject, we ought to responsibly pay for that bill, and I don't think we should add to the national debt and throw gasoline on inflation concerns, which are already rearing their ugly head by another reckless spending bill."

The Last Word

In this edition of The Last Word, Ashley weighs in on a top Texas politician who has seemingly found a little joy in a contentious situation.

PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: 

Power outages reported across the Austin area amid heavy rain

Oaks at Slaughter shopping center nearing completion in South Austin

Brawl on Austin-bound flight caught on camera, no arrests made

Before You Leave, Check This Out