Debbie Cox Bultan: 5 Takeaways from the November Election

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NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan discusses how Democrats outperformed expectations and defied historical trends at every level of government in the 2022 Midterm Elections.

NewDEAL Applauds Success of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on Anniversary

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             

November 15, 2022
Contact: Jonathon Dworkin (NewDEAL), 202-660-1340 x5, jonathon@newdealleaders.org

NewDEAL Applauds Success of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on Anniversary

President Biden signed the law one year ago today

Washington D.C. (November 15, 2022) – NewDEAL released the following statement from CEO Debbie Cox Bultan marking the one year anniversary of the signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, recognizing its impact on state and local government priorities:

“Today, the NewDEAL celebrates one year since President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. We commend the Administration and Congressional leaders for working across the aisle to deliver these historic investments and for partnering so effectively with state and local officials to implement the funding responsibly and effectively, with a focus on creating equitable economic growth and opportunity.

“The law marked a huge victory for state and local leaders, providing targeted support for initiatives that NewDEAL Leaders have long prioritized to ensure their communities can thrive in the modern economy and are more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Over the past year, we have seen significant progress across the country on efforts like: connecting more families to high-speed internet through initiatives around infrastructure and affordability, making investments in cleaner transportation like green buses and electric vehicle infrastructure; and removing and replacing lead pipes to ensure access to clean water. Critically, related investments in workforce development also create good-paying jobs.

“The $185 billion in funding for over 6,900 different projects so far is improving the quality of life in every part of the country. As we reach the one-year milestone, NewDEAL Leaders recommit to a strong federal-state-local partnership that will maximize the impact of the infrastructure law.

Talladega Mayor Selected to Join NewDEAL

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New Class of Nation’s Top State and Local Leaders are Recognized

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             

October 12, 2022                          

Contact: Jonathon Dworkin, 202-660-1340 x5

New Class of Nation’s Top State and Local Leaders are Recognized

Diverse set of pro-growth progressive officials join organization of innovative, rising Democrats on frontlines of dealing with America’s biggest challenges

Washington, D.C. – NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders) has selected a new class of 16 forward-thinking elected officials to join its selective national network of elected officials and receive support in their efforts to develop good policy and govern effectively. These leaders join the group at a time when the importance of state and local leadership has been made clearer than ever, with reports about November’s election underscoring their roles in protecting our democracy from increasing threats, implementing federal legislation on infrastructure and climate change, and responding to court decisions that leave abortion and other issues up to states. (See a full list of the new class below.)

Members of the 209-person network cover 49 states and are working to enact pro-growth progressive solutions in a diverse array of communities. They have been chosen from among more than 1,800 nominations over the organization ’s twelve years, and NewDEAL alumni have included Pete Buttigieg, Stacey Abrams, and Jason Kander, along with many members of Congress. The organization’s honorary co-chairs are U.S. Senator Chris Coons (DE), U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), and former Mayor Steve Benjamin (Columbia, SC).

At a moment when unprecedented federal resources are flowing to states, counties, and cities from the American Rescue Plan, bipartisan infrastructure law, and Inflation Reduction Act, NewDEALers are also supporting each other in thinking big and sharing model policies and programs, including through in-person and virtual convenings.

“We are in a moment of both huge challenges and incredible opportunities for state and local officials, who continue to play vital roles in fighting the impacts of climate change, racial injustice, the changing nature of work, and threats to the core values of our nation,” said NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan. “Amid these headwinds, the public servants who are providing innovative, forward-thinking leadership give us so much reason for hope and they need our support to develop, implement, and share their ideas. Members of the new class of NewDEALers who we welcome today exemplify a thoughtful, results-oriented approach to governing and we look forward to highlighting and spreading their work across the country.”

Members of the diverse new class of leaders hail from 13 states and were chosen for their unwavering commitment to the equitable expansion of opportunity. Their work aims to move their communities forward in the changing economy and rejects the idea that policymakers can or should want to turn the clock back to a prior era. These elected officials are fighting for solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing their communities and our nation, combating child poverty in North Carolina, using a holistic approach to reduce violent crime in Milwaukee, and preparing for a green energy future in Michigan.

These leaders’ work will help build on policy recommendations that NewDEAL Leaders have developed, including aiding in the implementation of recommendations made by its sister organization, the NewDEAL Forum, through the Renewing America Task Force, Education Policy Group, Broadband Policy Group, and Climate Solutions Working Group.

The new class of NewDEAL Leaders includes:

Alabama: Talladega Mayor Timothy Ragland

California: Senator Josh Becker

California: La Mesa Councilmember Colin Parent

California: Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen

Connecticut: Representative Kate Farrar

Indiana: Representative Blake Johnson

Iowa: Cedar Rapids Councilmember Ashley Vanorny

Maryland: Representative Jazz Lewis

Michigan: Representative Ranjeev Puri

North Carolina: Representative Brandon Lofton

New Hampshire: Representative Matt Wilhelm

New York: New York City Councilmember Nantasha Williams

Oregon: Representative Janelle Bynum

Texas: Travis County Judge Andy Brown

Texas: San Antonio District Judge Monique Diaz

Wisconsin: Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson

About NewDEAL

The NewDEAL brings together leaders focused on expanding opportunity, helping them develop and spread innovative ideas to spur economic growth that is equitable and sustainable. Most importantly, the organization facilitates the exchange of ideas among its members and connects them with other pro-growth progressive political, policy, and private sector leaders.

Learn more about the NewDEAL and its members by visiting http://www.newdealleaders.org/leader.

NewDEALers featured in TIME cover story on Defenders of Democracy

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Debbie Cox Bultan in the East Bay Times: Will Oakland Promise be the next Bay Area export?

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The City of Oakland has launched an ambitious set of programs known as Oakland Promise that dramatically reimagine how to deliver high-quality education and support to students from cradle to career while opening doors of economic opportunity along the way.

These initiatives are expected to serve 30,000 young people through 2035 by establishing college savings accounts for infants and providing scholarships to Oakland public school students from low-income families. Related programs seek to close the digital divide and hire more Oakland residents as teachers.

At a moment when unprecedented federal resources are flowing to communities to invest in education, broadband and infrastructure, there is a unique opportunity for communities across the country to benefit from successful models. So this leads to two fundamental questions: Is Oakland Promise working, and is it practical to export it across the nation?

On the first question, the results so far are promising. According to the city:

• #OaklandUndivided has delivered 35,000 computers, provided 15,000 hotspots and responded to 18,000 tech-support requests, increasing home access to a computer, internet and tech support for students from low-income backgrounds from 12% pre-pandemic to 98% at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

• Teachers Rooted in Oakland has supported 30 teachers with housing and guaranteed income who in turn support over 13,500 students.

• Oakland Promise has put more students on track to succeed in college, with more than $17 million in scholarships and persistence supports invested so far, and 1,300 students paired with mentors. Encouragingly, 88% of participants have persisted to a second year of college.

Longer term, researchers at the nonpartisan and independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago are studying Oakland Promise’s cradle-to-career approach and Brilliant Baby program, which provides college savings accounts and family financial coaching. The results will be critical to evaluating the lasting impact and success of Oakland Promise.

On the second question — can the program be exported — the answer is undoubtedly yes. Communities will need to evaluate what works and adapt the programs to meet their needs. State and local leaders recognize that communities can benefit from Oakland’s framework of addressing key obstacles that children face from birth through high school in a comprehensive way.

The hardest question is about resources. Oakland has done an amazing job of scaling its innovative educational initiatives from an initial $160,000 investment in a director of education to a $3 million pilot (funded with $1 million of city funds and $2 million from philanthropic sources) to a $125 million public-private partnership (which has the potential to unlock $3 billion in public resources).

Notably, this includes a significant investment from the city’s property owners through Measure AA, a local initiative championed by Mayor Libby Schaaf and approved by 62% of Oakland voters in 2018 that set a special $198 annual inflation-adjusted parcel tax on single-family homes.

Cities and states will have to study how Oakland’s approach can be made workable in their communities based on the public and private resources available

Yet, the boldness of Oakland Promise — a fundamental rethinking of how educational services are provided so that students from the earliest age have a growth and college mindset — is inspiring. It is energizing to see how challenges that have seemed insurmountable for decades can be overcome.

That is the true opportunity before us — using Oakland’s innovative model to change not just one community but dozens of cities and states across the nation.

Debbie Cox Bultan is CEO of NewDEAL and the affiliated NewDEAL Forum, which identifies innovative, state and local pro-growth progressive policies and which brought a delegation of officials from eight states to the Bay Area in August on a fact-finding mission about Oakland Promise. Anthony Daniels, a member of that delegation, is the youngest and first African American minority leader of the Alabama House of Representatives.

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