Rapidly climbing inflation in the U.S. is accelerating calls from governors and state leaders to provide immediate tax relief to cash-strapped residents facing higher prices on everyday products such as gas, milk, and electricity.
The governors of Maine and Kentucky this week joined a sweeping number of states — including Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Alabama, Washington, and Missouri — who are considering offering quick but temporary relief to taxpayers crushed by a relentless surge in inflation in recent months.
The consumer price index — which measures what Americans pay for goods and services — reached another 40-year high last month, soaring to 7.5% due to strong consumer demand and pandemic-related supply disruptions.
The number of House Democrats not seeking reelection this year has hit a 30-year high — a bleak benchmark reflecting frustrations with the gridlock on Capitol Hill, the toxicity of relations between the parties and the challenges facing Democrats as they fight to keep their slim majority in the lower chamber.
Rep. Kathleen Rice’s (D-N.Y.) announcement this week that she won’t run again made her the 30th House Democrat to call it quits. That’s the most for the party since 1992, when 41 House Democrats decided to retire even as voters were sending their presidential nominee, Bill Clinton, to the White House.
It marks just the third time since 1978 that either party has seen at least 30 retirements in a single cycle, according to figures tallied by the non-partisan Brookings Institution. The last instance was just four years ago, in the 2018 midterms, when 34 House Republicans made for the exits. It was a grim sign of things to come: The GOP went on to lose 41 seats — and the House majority — in a Democratic wave widely viewed as a referendum on then-President Trump.
thehill.com/homenews/house/594797-democrats-hit-30-year-high-for-house-retirements?rl=1