This week Matthew Yglesias, writing in Vox.com, laid out the current crisis for progressives at the state level in compelling terms. It is refreshing to see the mainstream media – so frequently focused solely on what occurs inside the Beltway – paying attention to state-level politics. And as Yglesias rightly notes, progressives need to wake up to the idea that we need to get our act together in the states or we will be facing another decade of Republican control of the House of Representatives and a continued onslaught of policies that are designed to support big business and roll back environmental protections, consumer protections, civil rights, voting rights, worker protections and equality for women.
I should know. I’ve been working in state and local politics for over fifteen years—as staff in the Nebraska Unicameral, then as a community organizer and as President Obama’s liaison to states. I’ve seen first-hand the power of conservative investments in the states. For the last few decades, they have been quietly and methodically pouring resources into building a political infrastructure focused on training state-level candidates and activists, creating grassroots (which are more often astroturf) organizations, promoting conservative ideas, and, most importantly, winning state legislative elections.
That investment has paid off. Conservatives now hold more legislative seats than they have since the 1920’s and can move policy across multiple states in the blink of an eye. As Yglesias points out, progressives have been slow to acknowledge what was happening in states and to make similar investments. Now, we’re faced with a reality where the highly conservative state legislatures are drawing Congressional districts and consolidating power for years to come.
One of the things Yglesias fails to note, however, is that in spite of the failings of the Democratic Party in this regard, there are a handful of us focused precisely on building up a progressive state infrastructure that could have long-lasting impacts for progressives at both the state and federal level.
The organization I run, the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), is designed to fill an important – and heretofore largely missing – role for progressives: that of organizing, supporting and training legislators who are interested in advancing a forward-looking agenda in the states that will benefit working and middle class families.
We certainly can’t do it alone, but here are a few key things progressives can do to start regaining the balance we need in the states.
1. Invest in supporting state legislators. In the last year, I’ve had one-on-one conversations with hundreds of state legislators to find out what they needed to succeed and I keep hearing the same story over and over. These state leaders feel like once their election is over and they’re in office, they are left to fend for themselves. They often have no staff, there’s little training and few connections to national resources. One legislator in Virginia told me she felt like she was “on an island.”
We must do better. On the conservative side there are institutions including ALEC, the State Policy Network and many other powerful organizations who make up a network with a budget we estimate to be more than $250 million dollars per year to support the advance of right-wing policy, coordinate messaging, organize, train and influence legislators.
On the progressive side, we don’t come close to that. But SiX is aiming to compete against this conservative infrastructure in a way that hasn’t been done before. We’ve already begun training legislators, hosting caucus strategy sessions, providing research and communications support and giving legislators a space to network and share ideas. We’re still in our first year, but are already growing quickly, and working with more progressive legislators than any past organization.
2. Invest in good, progressive state policy. Winning progressive policy change at the state level is the right thing to do because it will improve the lives of working families, but it’s also good politics. We know that a majority of voters out there support what progressives stand for because we regularly win the popular vote at both the national and state levels.
We also know this from specific state examples. Let’s look at Oregon, still considered a “battleground state” in national elections. Last year Democrats in the state legislature there campaigned on a “Fair Shot” agenda aimed squarely at helping working families - and won. Once elected, they went about delivering on their campaign promises, passing reforms including free community college, paid sick days, automatic voter registration and much more, all of which have had overwhelming, often bipartisan, support. As candidates they laid out a clear policy agenda; once elected, they delivered on it; and now they can go back to voters demonstrating how they made a real impact in their lives.
3. Provide real investment in winning state elections. According to the Chicago Tribune, the DLCC spent $5.9 million in direct campaign spending in the states, while Republicans spent $19.4 million that year. In 2012, Democrats allocated $11 million, where Republicans spent $29 million. We cannot continue to see spending imbalances like these if progressive have hopes of retaking state houses or having more influence on the 2020 redistricting process.
There are good historical reasons that the Left has focused its resources at the federal level. From the era of “states rights” onward, and particularly since the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1968, states have often been hostile ground for progressive ideas. And vindication of key civil and Constitutional rights has often come via the federal courts or the Department of Justice. But that needs to change if progressives want to continue to see their ideas in action in years to come.
While SiX won’t be involved in election work, we will be doing something just as important: giving state legislators, and the progressive movement as a whole, something to run on.
As SiX, we are putting our focus in 2016 on helping legislators achieve policy wins on core economic issues that will improve the lives of working families: affordable college, paid sick days, better wages, and equal pay for equal work. We’ll be working with state and national partners to support legislators in getting those policies across the finish line because those policies will help struggling families. But we also believe that winning reforms like these will strengthen the hand of progressives running next year, allowing them to show that politics in the states doesn’t have to be like Washington, and that leaders can get things done that improve the lives of our communities.
As Yglesias suggests, it really is time for progressives to wake up. But we don’t need more hand-wringing about how conservatives have out-maneuvered us again. We already know what to do. It may not be sexy. It will require real investment and it will be a ton of work. But if we want a long-term future that doesn’t hinge on eking out Presidential elections every four years, it’s time to get serious about the states. At SiX, we’ve already begun to roll up our sleeves and dig in.