Brett Guthrie tries to put a positive spin on dismal congressional performance.

The recent passage of the “Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act” was the conclusion of an 11-year effort to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The sad fact is that this bill – or similar legislation – could have helped many displaced workers retool and retrain to re-enter the workforce more quickly during the great recession and through to today if we had a functional U.S. Congress that had done its job sooner.

The current Workforce Investment Act, as passed, had wide bipartisan and labor support, unlike the divisive and narrow interest “SKILLS Act” previously sponsored by Congressman Guthrie in 2011. Guthrie’s bill would have pitted one group of workers against another, would have led to fewer resources for dislocated workers, and would have removed labor from the table as a vital partner and voice for workers. 

Yet, Congressman Guthrie appears to be taking an election year victory lap as if his bill had passed. While I applaud the passage of the WIOA – even if needlessly delayed for years – the fact remains that this Congress continues to fail.

Our nation’s infrastructure continues to crumble, making America’s economy less efficient, less resilient and more dangerous as bridges fall, railways fail and airports and roads become more congested. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our current national infrastructure a grade of D+, and urges a national investment of $3.6 trillion just to maintain and repair our current infrastructure, let alone invest in the future requirements for a growing and dynamic U.S. economy. 

A functional Congress would address this real and growing crises, while stimulating hundreds of thousands to millions of near-term and future jobs. A functional Congress would raise the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour is supported by greater than 600 economists, including four Nobel laureates, as a means to not only lift greater than a million Americans out of poverty, but also to stimulate the economy and create more jobs. 

The simple fact is that folks living paycheck to paycheck, and sinking further into poverty, do not stimulate the economy, and this results in the very slow and inequitable economic growth we have seen over the past several years. 

We must rebuild an economy that works for all of us again, not just a diminishing few at the top – a rising tide that lifts all boats, not just the biggest yachts. A functional Congress would fix the Federal Highway Trust Fund, which will run out of money early next month. The need for a fix has been known for years. Yet the best this failed Congress has to offer is a temporary patch, by borrowing from elsewhere, rather than come up with a sustainable funding solution. If the fund is not made solvent, 700,000 U.S. jobs are at risk.

Brett Guthrie and this Congress continue to fail to find long-term pragmatic solutions, fail to put governing ahead of ideology and fail to put people ahead of partisanship.

— Ron Leach is a Democratic candidate challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie in Kentucky’s 2nd Congressional District.