# Understanding the "Third Reconstruction" Resolution

This resolution is essentially Congress saying it recognizes that roughly 140 million Americans—nearly 40 percent of the country—are living in poverty, earning low wages, or are just one emergency away from financial disaster. The resolution calls this unacceptable and proposes a sweeping set of policy changes to address it over the next two years.

Think of this as a statement of values and priorities rather than a law that immediately changes things. It's Congress saying "we believe these problems exist and here's what we think should be done about them." The actual implementation would require separate legislation, so this is more of a roadmap or declaration of intent than something that directly affects your life tomorrow. However, if Congress were to act on these proposals, the changes would be significant.

The resolution proposes major economic changes aimed at people struggling financially. It calls for raising the minimum wage to what it considers a "living wage" (the resolution notes that workers need about $25 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment), guaranteeing jobs through federal investment in infrastructure and green energy projects, expanding welfare programs and providing cash assistance to low-income families, and forgiving various types of debt including student loans, medical bills, and past-due rent and mortgages. It also proposes universal healthcare, free childcare and education through college, and guaranteed affordable housing. On the voting front, it calls for strengthening voting rights protections, making election day a national holiday, allowing mail-in voting everywhere, and automatic voter registration. The resolution also addresses immigration reform by calling for reduced border militarization, ending family separations and detention, and extending welfare benefits to immigrants regardless of legal status.

The resolution takes strong positions on several other areas as well. It calls for cutting military spending significantly and redirecting that money toward social programs, ending mass incarceration and reforming policing, protecting Native American rights and lands, and transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy. On taxes, it proposes raising taxes on corporations, wealthy individuals, and Wall Street through various mechanisms like repealing recent tax cuts, instituting wealth taxes, and taxing investment income the same as wages. The resolution also calls for creating commissions to study and propose reparations for African Americans and other historically dispossessed groups.

Third Reconstruction: Fully addressing poverty and low wages from the bottom up.

Lee, Barbara

 <p>This resolution expresses the sense of Congress that legislation and policies that address poverty, low wages, and related issues should be prioritized.</p> <p>Among other priorities, the resolution commits to</p> <ul> <li>updating the poverty measure;</li> <li>raising the minimum wage;</li> <li>expanding unemployment insurance;</li> <li>ensuring that all workers receive paid family and medical leave;</li> <li>implementing a federal jobs guarantee; </li> <li>guaranteeing safe and quality housing, a right to water, high-quality public education, and quality health care for all; </li> <li>enacting relief from household and personal debt that cannot be paid; </li> <li>ensuring that state, local, and tribal governments are adequately funded; </li> <li>expanding and protecting the right to vote;</li> <li>eliminating persistent racial inequities;</li> <li> protecting the constitutional rights of assembly and free speech;</li> <li>enacting comprehensive and just immigration reform;</li> <li>ensuring all the rights of Native and Indigenous peoples and tribal nations;</li> <li>transforming the economy into a green renewable energy economy;</li> <li>demilitarizing U.S. foreign policy, borders, and policing;</li> <li>enacting fair taxes on corporations and the wealthy; </li> <li>using deficit spending to meet pressing needs; and</li> <li>encouraging states and cities to enact policies that follow the direction provided by this resolution.</li> </ul>