Excerpted from Cal Matters
By Tom Lackey, Melissa Hurtado, Josh Newman, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Adam Gray, Suzette Valladares, Chad Mayes, and Jordan Cunningham, Special to CalMatters
We are a group of very different elected leaders who share very similar concerns about what afflicts our country and our state. Despite our varied backgrounds – Republicans from Los Angeles and the Central Coast, Democrats from farming communities and Orange County, and a political independent – we have arrived at the same conclusion: Government too often does not work for the people we represent.
That must change, and we intend to help change it.
In Washington, D.C., partisan bickering has sidetracked solutions, and stalemates have caused government shutdowns. The best hope of getting beyond these deep divisions is the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, which has emerged as a forum for compromise. Its 50 members – 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans – are all committed to putting partisanship aside to find workable solutions to the most difficult disagreements. For example, we have the Problem Solvers to thank for breaking the gridlock that secured a COVID-19 relief bill before Christmas.