Pool Reports of October 19, 2021

In-town pool report #1 -- Members attending today's meetings

Good morning, passing this along from the White House:

Today, the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the Treasury will hold meetings with two groups of Members of Congress to discuss his legislative agenda.

Members attending the 2:00 PM meeting:

• Rep. Katherine Clark (MA)
• Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI)
• Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA)
• Rep. Jared Huffman (CA)
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA)
• Rep. Ro Khanna (CA)
• Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)
• Rep. Mark Pocan (WA)
• Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY)

Members attending the 4:30 PM meeting:

• Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (NV)
• Sen. Jon Tester (MT)
• Sen. Mark Warner (VA)
• Rep. Ami Bera (CA)
• Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA)
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ)
• Rep. Tom O’Halleran (AZ)
• Sen. Mike Thompson (CA)

Jazmine

In-town pool report #1 b -- correx from WH on congressman's title

Good morning again, here's the latest statement from the WH with a correction to Mike Thompson's title in red:

Today, the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the Treasury will hold meetings with two groups of Members of Congress to discuss his legislative agenda.

Members attending the 2:00 PM meeting:

• Rep. Katherine Clark (MA)
• Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI)
• Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA)
• Rep. Jared Huffman (CA)
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA)
• Rep. Ro Khanna (CA)
• Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)
• Rep. Mark Pocan (WA)
• Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY)

Members attending the 4:30 PM meeting:

• Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (NV)
• Sen. Jon Tester (MT)
• Sen. Mark Warner (VA)
• Rep. Ami Bera (CA)
• Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA)
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ)
• Rep. Tom O’Halleran (AZ)
• Rep. Mike Thompson (CA)

In-town pool report #1 c -- correx from WH on Pocan

Hi yet again, another correx from the WH to the list of members: Mark Pocan is from Wisconsin, not Washington (a fact the Post's Seung Min Kim also quickly flagged, so thank you)!

Your pooler is now on the way to get covid tested and caffeinated.

Call time is at 12:30 p.m.

Jazmine

In-town pool report #2 — statement from WH on voting legislation

Passing along a statement from the WH on talks over the Freedom to Vote Act:

"Yesterday, ahead of Wednesday's vote to advance the Freedom to Vote Act, the President spoke by phone with Senators Warnock and Padilla about the must-pass priority of legislation to protect Americans' constitutional rights from the systematic assault that Republicans have been mounting in state legislatures across the country, based on the Big Lie. The Vice President also spoke with Senators King, Klobuchar, and Ossoff. The administration is continuing to press for voting rights legislation to safeguard our democracy from these historic threats to constitutional freedoms and the integrity of elections through legislation, executive actions, outreach, the bully pulpit, and all other means available."

In-town pool report #3 -- checking in

Good afternoon from the WH, where it is a clear and sunny 66 degrees.

President has meetings with legislators at 2 pm and 4:30 pm today to continue negotiating his social spending plan. Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin are reportedly still on the grounds after arriving for a meeting this morning with the president. (Awaiting confirmation on that from WH.)

Below is today's daily guidance.

EDT

9:30 AM THE PRESIDENT receives the President’s Daily Brief
Closed Press

12:30 PM In-Town Pool Call Time

2:00 PM THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENT, and the Secretary of the Treasury meet with House progressives to discuss his legislative agenda
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:30 PM THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENT, and the Secretary of the Treasury meet with a bicameral group of moderates to discuss his legislative agenda
Oval Office
Closed Press

Briefing Schedule

1:00 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki

In-town pool report #4 — two minute warning for WH briefing

We’ve got a two minute warning on the briefing!

In-town pool report #5 — WH briefing now starting

Tune in to watch.

In-town pool report #6 — WH briefing has ended

WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki left the podium just after 1:50 pm.

Haven't received any additional details from WH on the president's meetings with Sinema and Manchin this morning, but during the briefing, Psaki confirmed that he met with both senators this morning.

In-town pool report # 7 — members of congress headed to stakeout

Two minute warning: Members of Congress are headed to the Stakeout location. The first meeting with POTUS, VP, Treasury Secretary has ended, per WH.

In-town pool report #8 — progressives gaggle

Speaking for the progressive caucus, Representative Pramila Jayapal said members were feeling positive about their negotiations with the president, which she described as thoughtful and conversational listening sessions.

"We are feeling good."

She said progressives winnowed down their demands to five priorities and believed most would get into the bill.

"I think the president has been working incredibly hard to get everybody to a place where we can move this forward and finish this process so that we can start on whatever is the next important thing that we need to do so."

Jayapal said the president has been consistent about his bottom line numbers: $1.9-2.2 trillion

"It's not the number that we want. We have consistently tried to make it as high as possible."

"President has agreed with our strategy."

She said one of the most challenging places for their caucus is emissions reductions.

She had only positive things to say about the president: "He is the closer, he is the convincer," she said. Then, at the suggestion of Representative Jimmy Gomez, she added, "the mediator in chief."

"He really is doing a phenomenal job," she said.

"The president has been nothing but respectful of all that we're trying to accomplish all that he's trying to accomplish in his Build Back Better agenda, and these conversations have been really great. They're really conversational…"

Asked about whether they could meet the accelerated Schumer deadline, she said: "We are all working as hard as we can. I mean all of us are having a million conversations every day to try to get there."

Manchin and Sinema were not the focus of the conversations, Jayapal said.

In-town pool report #9 -- details from WH on progressives meeting

Passing this along from the WH:

The meeting began at 2:17 PM and ended at 4:11 PM.

Speaking to press at the stakeout location following their meeting with the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of the Treasury:

• Rep. Jared Huffman
• Rep. Debbie Dingell
• Rep. Jimmy Gomez
• Rep. Barbara Lee
• Rep. Ro Khanna
• Rep. Ritchie Torres
• Rep. Katherine Clark
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal
• Rep. Mark Pocan

In-town pool report #10 -- on background from WH re: Mayorkas

On background from The White House:

No White House principal has been determined to be a close contact of Secretary Mayorkas, given that the most recent contact was at the outdoor National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, which took place outside of the 48-hour close contact window.

In-town pool report #11 — details on second meeting/no gaggle/lid

Hi all,

The second meeting with members of Congress started at 4:51 pm and ended at 6:13 pm, per WH.

No stakeout.

A travel/photo lid was called at 6:26 pm.

It's been a pleasure!

In-town pool report #12 — background WH policy memo

Hello again, here’s a memo from the WH with policy details ahead of tomorrow’s trip.

Good night!

Jazmine

BACKGROUND MEMORANDUM

TO: Out-of-Town Travel Pool

FROM: White House Press Office

DATE: October 19, 2021

RE: Background on BID and BBB for the President’s Visit to Pennsylvania

Impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (BID) on Pennsylvania

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal will make a generational investment in Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and resilience:

Roads and Bridges:

• In Pennsylvania, there are 3,353 bridges and over 7,540 miles of highway in poor condition.

• Based on formula funding alone, Pennsylvania will receive $11.3 billion for federal-aid highways and $1.6 billion for bridges.

Public Transportation:

• Pennsylvanians who take public transportationspend an extra 68% of their time commuting.

• Based on formula funding alone, Pennsylvania will receive $2.8 billion to improve public transportation options.

High-Speed Internet:

• 14% of Pennsylvania households do not have an internet subscription, and 3.1% of Pennsylvanians live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure.

• Pennsylvania will receive a minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to the at least 394,000 Pennsylvanians who currently lack it.

Resilience:

• From 2010 to 2020, Pennsylvania experienced37 extreme weather events, costing the state up to $10 billion in damages.

• The bill includes a $50 billion national investment in resilience to bolster our country’s infrastructure for the impacts of climate change and other threats, including funds to protect against floods, droughts, wildfires, and cyberattacks.

Impact of the Build Back Better Plan (BBB) on Pennsylvania

The Build Back Better Plan will make life better for millions of working families in Pennsylvania:

Tax Cuts for Families with Children:

• There are 339,000 or 13% of children under the age of 18 in Pennsylvania who are considered poor.

• The plan’s Child Tax Credit extension willbenefit more than 2.3 million children in Pennsylvania, lifting 137,000 children out of poverty and reducing child poverty in the state by 43%.

Tax Cut for Childless Workers:

• Before the Rescue Plan, low-income childless workers were taxed into poverty.

• Theplan’s expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers will benefit663,000 workers in Pennsylvania.

Child Care:

• The average annual cost of child care for a toddler in Pennsylvania is $11,400, meaning a two-parent household needs to spend 22% of their income to afford center-based care for two young children every year.

• The plan ensures that no middle-class family pays more than 7% of their income for high-quality child care up to age 5, allowing most Pennsylvania families to cut their spending on child care by half and to access higher quality care where workers are better compensated.

Universal Pre-K:

• Only 31% of 3- and 4-year-olds in Pennsylvania are enrolled in publicly-funded pre-school.

• The plan makes universal, high-quality pre-school a reality.

Higher Education:

• The average cost of a 2-year degree in Pennsylvania is almost $5,600 per year.

• The plan provides at least two years of free community college to all students and expands the maximum Pell Grant, supporting the nearly 200,000 students in Pennsylvania who rely on Pell Grants.[1]

Housing:

• 720,000 renters in Pennsylvania are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

• The plan will lower housing costs and increase the supply of affordable housing, including constructing and rehabilitating sustainable rental housing units and homes that working Pennsylvania families can afford.

Child Nutrition:

• A nutritious diet is critical to a child’s health and ability to succeed in school, but 16% of children in Pennsylvania live in food insecure households.

• The plan will ensure that the nutritional needs of Pennsylvania’s children are met by providing over 947,000 children with assistance to purchase food during the summer.