Make It In America
Press Release:
Eight years ago, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and House Democrats created the Make It In America plan to encourage private sector job creation here in the Untied States. In 2015, Whip Hoyer and House Democrats hosted a series of hearings entitled “Make It In America: What’s Next?” to explore how the economy has – and hasn’t – changed since the plan was first launched, and Members asked critical questions about what tools American families and businesses need to succeed in today’s economy.
Over the past year, Whip Hoyer and House Democrats have traveled the country on a Make It In America Listening Tour to hear from Americans on the front lines of our economic challenges about how they are faring in today’s economy. On July 23, Whip Hoyer unveiled a new Make It In America plan for 2018 based on the input heard on that listening tour, which aims to help every American get ahead.
2010: Make It In America Launched With a Vision for a Stronger Recovery
Launched on July 22, 2010, Whip Hoyer created the Make It In America jobs plan to strengthen a declining domestic manufacturing sector in the midst of the deepest recession in a generation. At the time it started:
- The unemployment rate was 9.4%, more than double when the recession began in 2007. [BLS]
- Of those unemployed at the time, nearly half – 45% – had gone without work for more than six months. [BLS]
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,322 – still down more than a quarter from its pre-recession high. [Yahoo Finance, 7/22/10]
- The traditional route into the middle class – the manufacturing sector – had shed 1.8 million jobs over the prior twelve months [BLS]
The Make It In America plan was focused – as it still is – on the goal of creating the best conditions for American businesses to create good, secure jobs right here at home. Each Congress, the Make It In America plan has been updated with new legislation and ideas aimed at strengthening our economy and enabling Americans to pursue good careers that support families in the middle class.
Since 2010, nineteen Make It In America bills have been signed into law, including legislation to cut taxes and provide loans for small businesses, speed up the patent process, train skilled workers, and close tax loopholes that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas.
2015: “Make It In America: What’s Next?”
By 2015, the economy had changed dramatically, offering new opportunities while presenting fresh challenges. Exploring these changes, Whip Hoyer and House Democrats held a series of hearings to discuss bright spots in the economy and how to build on those successes, while tackling new challenges that had arisen.
Called “Make It In America: What’s Next,” during the series of hearings seventy-seven House Democrats heard testimony from innovators, entrepreneurs, economists, Congressional colleagues, and others about how the Make It In America plan should be updated to reflect a changing economic landscape. Through those hearings, important signs of recovery as well as new challenges were identified. Three core areas stood out as where Congressional action could have the greatest impact on helping people Make It In America: education, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure.
Make It In America: Listening Tour
Building off the hearings, Whip Hoyer and House Democrats began a Listening Tour across the country to hear directly from Americans to hear about the economic challenges they face and the economic opportunities they see in their communities. Members visited Las Vegas to discuss infrastructure; Kansas City to discuss entrepreneurship; Peoria to discuss education; Pittsburgh to discuss entrepreneurship; Toledo to discuss education; Indianapolis to discuss infrastructure; Madison to discuss entrepreneurship; Eau Claire to discuss education; and Chicago to hear from labor. From those conversations held on the road, a new Make It In America plan was developed.
Make It In America: 2018 and Beyond
On the Make It In America Listening Tour, Members heard specific suggestions in the core areas of Education, Entrepreneurship, and Infrastructure; these suggestions helped define goals and the policy recommendations for each area:
Education:
Goals:
- Promote pathways to career opportunities
- Make training and education accessible and affordable
Policy Recommendations:
- Promote stackable credentials for students preparing for the workforce, as well as those already in the workforce taking on new career challenges
- Allow Pell grants to cover training programs
Entrepreneurship:
Goals:
- Encourage new entrepreneurs by ensuring access to workplace benefits like health care and retirement security
- Provide more and stronger tools to grow ideas into successful businesses
Policy Recommendations:
- Provide a framework that promotes portability of benefits, such as health insurance and retirement
- Increase the availability of capital to smaller firms
- Promote regional industry clusters
Infrastructure:
Goals:
- Unleash our economy and job creation by repairing and rebuilding our aging infrastructure
- Build the innovative infrastructure of the future
Policy Recommendations:
- Enact multi-year, fully funded authorization bills that tackle the backlog for both transportation networks and water infrastructure
- Build a reliable, efficient, and resilient electrical grid that includes clean energy resources
- Promote a modern energy infrastructure that reduces waste and incentivizes storage and alternative forms of energy for vehicles
- Expand affordable high-speed internet access, including through the accelerated deployment of 5G wireless infrastructure
To learn about the new Make It In America plan, visit: DemocraticWhip.gov/ MakeItInAmerica
Click here to read the PDF.
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