NEW YORK (TIP): Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to travel to Washington next week to roll out a series of national liberal goals, while continuing to hold off on an endorsement of his former boss Hillary Clinton until, he says, she clarifies her agenda.
De Blasio, as first reported on Wednesday by Politico, will announce a 13-point agenda outside the U.S. Capitol that will focus on increasing the minimum wage, making government-funded pre-kindergarten available to parents nationwide and requiring private employers provide paid time off for working parents. News of the appearance coincides with a long, accessy feature in Rolling Stone on the potential impact of the de Blasio agenda beyond New York.
In New York, de Blasio is pushing for a minimum wage hike to $15 an hour by 2019, which Governor Andrew Cuomo opposes in favor of a plan that businesses have embraced to increase it to $11.50 an hour.
De Blasio also will call for an increase in the tax on carried interest, according to Politico.
The agenda, which the mayor plans to unveil at 3 p.m. next Tuesday, has the backing of Democratic lawmakers from around the country, including Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Howard Dean, a staunch liberal who ran an unsuccessful bid for president, has also signed on, as have several celebrities who have long supported de Blasio, including Susan Sarandon and Steve Buscemi.
The goals were fashioned during a meeting at Gracie Mansion earlier this month, when dozens of liberals from around the country met to brainstorm ideas on closing the wealth gap. They are being coined “The Progressive Agenda,” which de Blasio said he is modeling, in organizational structure, after Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America.”
De Blasio’s effort comes in the heels of a recent tour to three Midwest states-Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin-to deliver stump speeches on the dangers of income inequality as the 2016 presidential race heats up. During those trips, he said he would consider supporting an increased tax on the wealthiest Americans to pay for services for lower earners.
He has yet to embrace the candidacy of Clinton, who is presumed to clinch the Democratic nomination and whose 2000 Senate campaign he managed.
During a segment on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, the mayor indicated he is open to supporting her if she continues to tout goals in line with his own.
“I’m optimistic about where she is going,” he told host Joe Scarborough.
When asked to specify, he said, “I have seen some clear signals, some clear ideas come out of her conversations in Iowa.”
He praised her recent speech on criminal justice reform as “very powerful” and applauded her stance on immigration.
“I think she is beginning to fashion a progressive agenda,” he added. “I think a lot of us, understandably, want to hear the core ideas around fighting income inequality because that’s what people struggle with. … I’m seeing some powerful signs, but I think it’s important to hear how she will address income inequality.”
In his ongoing national push, de Blasio also plans to travel to California, but his aides said details of that trip are not yet available.
These travels have been paid for by a combination of his political action committee, Campaign for One New York, and the organizations hosting him, while his full-time security detail is covered by taxpayers.
It was not immediately clear on Wednesday, May 6 how the D.C. and California trips will be funded.