Conversation with Congressman Panetta – Passing laws with Democrats at the wheel

SALINAS, Calif. (KION)

Democrats have been at a disadvantage since Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) took office in 2016. Republicans controlled the White House and the Senate, meaning Democrat-passed bills in the House often didn't advance to become law, and Republican-passed bills in the Senate didn't either.

Before November's election, Panetta told KION "I am laying a foundation with my legislation that when the time is right we will be able to pass these pieces of legislation."

Today, Panetta says "Going forward, I think just because we have the White House, the Senate and the House, doesn't mean that things are going to come easily. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done now, as stated so clearly by President Biden in today's speech," adding "He understands that there is a lot of restoration that needs to be done (and) a lot of reconciliation that needs to be done."

If a bill passes through the House, the Senate is still a 50-50 split.

"We can get things done, which I want to help work on with my role in the Ways and Means committee and in the Democratic-led House of Representatives - when it comes to fixing COVID, when it comes to getting our economy back on track. Just today, President Biden released comprehensive immigration reform."

When asked if there is more pressure now, knowing bills that are passed have a better chance at becoming law, Panetta said:

"We live for these moments in which we have the opportunity to get things done, and pass legislation that can affect people's lives, like the Farm Workforce Modernization Act - that gets encompassed in the comprehensive immigration bill that Biden put forward to protect the farmworkers that are willing to come here, contribute so much, not just to our economy, but our culture. When it comes to climate, actually making sure we can basically cut our carbon output, we can do with that a number of incentives when looking at the tax code... And then with infrastructure, as we saw during the pandemic, many families experience the lack of broadband in places like the Central Coast. We need to make sure we have proper investment to make sure there is not only broadband everywhere, but that people have clean drinking water."