Friday, September 9, 2022 / Washington Weekly Washington Weekly - August 24, 2022 Upcoming Washington Event: ASA Government Affairs is excited to announce that we are in the planning stages for an upcoming Legislative Fly-In to take place in March 2023. More details to come! This Week: The Senate is in session and the House is out. Congress: Student Loans: While Congress is taking its August recess, the Biden Administration is trying to build on its recent victory with the Inflation Reduction Act. The White House is in the final stages of announcing $10,000 in college loan forgiveness for those making less than $125,000 a year. This could also be in conjunction with an extension to the student loan payment pause, enacted in March 2020, that expires on August 31. According to the Federal Reserve, there is $1.75 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. The price tag - should the forgiveness stay at $10,000 per borrower - $300 billion in the first year. (Penn-Wharton Budget Model) Politics: August 23 Primaries: On Tuesday night, Florida and New York held their respective primaries. The Takeaways, Florida Edition: At the top of the ticket, Sen. Marco Rubio (R) will take on Rep. Val Demings in November, as expected. Gov. Ron DeSantis will face former Republican Governor and current Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist. The DeSantis-Crist race sets up an interesting dynamic with Rep. Crist trying to win his old office back, after having failed to win statewide after leaving the Republican Party. He defeated the State Agricultural Commissioner, Nikki Fried, long seen as a rising star in Florida Democratic circles. Fried focused on abortion, while Crist argued that he could win crossovers in a general election. Democratic primary voters agreed with Charlie Crist. Former Congressman Alan Grayson (D) failed in his comeback bid for the seat Rep. Demings (FL-10) is vacating. That contest was won by 25-year-old Maxwell Frost, a community organizer. After Gov. DeSantis’s new congressional district map was approved, Florida is now expected to send a delegation to Washington that will include 20 Republicans and 8 Democrats, compared to the 16 Republicans and 11 Democrats it has now. The addition of a seat due to population growth, as well as some skillful map making, will likely play a large role in the House GOP winning a majority in the next Congress. The Takeaways, New York Edition: An interesting night in the Empire State – here it goes: The Special Elections: Two Congressional districts, NY-19 and NY-23, held special elections for vacant seats. In NY-19, former Rep. and now Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado had picked up this Hudson Valley seat for Democrats in 2018. In a race seen as a bellwether, Ulster County Executive Tim Ryan (D), defeated Duchess County Executive Mark Molinaro to finish the remainder of Degado’s term. In NY-23, Steuben County GOP Chair Joe Sempolinski defeated Democrat Max Della Pia to finish former Rep. Tom Reed’s (R) term. There is a lot of ‘tea leaf’ reading going on as to what the results in these two districts mean. Democrats see it as encouraging, since they outperformed expectations. Republicans have had decent success in special elections this year (including flipping a seat in Texas), before and after Dobbs, so it remains to be seen how things will shake out in November. Bottom line - both parties have their work cut out for them. Nadler v. Maloney (NY-12): The battle royale between two Manhattan incumbents resulted in Rep. Jerry Nadler defeating his colleague, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, by a 2-to1 margin. NY-10: Incumbent Mondaire Jones lost the Democratic primary (coming in third) to former Trump impeachment lawyer Dan Goldman. This was an unusual race that saw Congressman Jones move into the district after he lost his suburban area seat in redistricting. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Goldman, presumably in a bid to ensure his defeat. It didn’t work. NY-17: DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney saw off a challenge from the left and defeated the AOC-backed state senator Alessandra Biaggi. Rep. Maloney recently switched to the district (currently represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones) after the new district map was put in place. While Biaggi received a substantial amount of national media attention, Maloney appears to have won 67%-33%. Generic Congressional Ballot (RCP Average): Republicans +0.2 President Biden Job Approval (RCP Average): 41% Approve – 56% Disapprove Retirement Tracker: Senate: (1 D, 5 R); House: (33 D, 22 R). Special Elections: Republican-held: Indiana’s 2nd: 11/08/2022 The House now has composition of 220 Democrats to 211 Republicans (with 4 vacancies). The Senate is comprised of 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans – with Democrats controlling the chamber as the Vice President also serves as the President of the Senate. State Legislation Tracking Please visit our web-based state legislative tracker here. Print