As a part of MAP’s National Week of Post Partisan Action (NWPA), MAP and BridgeUSA co-hosted the Generation Roundtable Forum on Thursday, March 18th. The event featured emeritus co-chairs of the Congressional Future Caucus, Representative Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and former representative Carlos Curbelo (R-FL). Other participants included:
Layla Zaidane, Executive Director and COO of MAP
Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA
Maria Yuan, Founder of Issue Voter
Anthony Marcum, Resident Fellow of Governance with R-Street
Zaidane and Meel moderated a discussion between Rep. Murphy and Curbelo centered on transcending political polarization through three generational issues: democracy reform, energy and the environment, and economic mobility. Rep. Murphy and Curbelo, who cosponsored 99 bills together during their shared time in the 115th Congress, provided an excellent model to the young leaders in attendance by demonstrating a shared capacity to focus and collaborate on solving issues through policy instead of engaging in political brinkmanship.
Curbelo shared the cooperative advantage that young legislators have to depolarize politiccal rhetoric, saying: “While I was in Congress I found it much easier to work with people from my generation and people younger than me than I did with others.” Curbelo said that he believed more young people making it to Congress would help narrow the partisan divide. In turn, Rep. Murphy highlighted that the bipartisan congressional response to the COVID-19 pandemic gives her reason for optimism. Both agreed that young lawmakers more than others continually buck the trend of polarization, reflecting a deeper commitment to the service component of being a legislator than their peers.
Regarding economic opportunity, Rep. Murphy highlighted the BATTLE for Servicemembers Act — which she and Curbelo cosponsored — and touched on the economic struggles of young people during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the American Rescue Plan provided relief for many Americans. Both speakers agreed that sustaining economic opportunity for young people requires a commitment to providing resources to underserved communities.
On the need for democracy modernization, both Rep. Murphy and Curbelo agreed that young voters need to continue engaging in the political process for the betterment of all. Rep. Murphy said, “The more young people engage with their government, whether it is through advocacy or running or public office, or making sure they vote in every election, the better the outcomes for this country.”
Turning to the issue of climate change and the environment, Curbelo shared the story of creating the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in 2016 alongside his colleague Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and how it demonstrated an area of bipartisan collaboration on a typically partisan issue. Rep. Murphy highlighted the success of Millennial legislators in moving the conversation around energy and climate away from the polarized wings and reframing the issues as a collective challenge.
As Rep. Murphy and Curbelo finished their remarks, there was a brief Q&A session before the event shifted towards its next stage: a discussion of what young people can do to continue bridging the partisan divide. Meel then introduced Anthony Marcum and Maria Yuan of the Generation Roundtable steering committee. The Generation Roundtable was formed in order to bring some of the nation's top young leaders working on the issues of democracy, climate, and economic opportunity together to collaborate on solutions.
They introduced six bipartisan starting points to advance with members of Congress in order to create a more responsive government:
Strengthening civic education
Eliminating barriers to voting
Reducing political polarization by considering innovative voting processes
Exploring potential limits on campaign spending
Identifying reforms and strategies to depolarize the federal judiciary
Considering the ways to recreate balance in our separation of powers system
Meel concluded by emphasizing that young voters need to apply grassroots pressure to improve our democracy, and that MAP plays an instrumental role in providing an alternative to partisanship through its Future Caucus engagement.