Author: Yemi Adewunmi

The Art of Persuasion in Public Policy
When it comes to public policy work, the ability to effectively persuade is as crucial as the substance of the policies themselves. Political persuasion is not merely about presenting facts. It’s about constructing a compelling narrative that resonates with both stakeholders and legislators. Imagine a legislative team advocating for a critical environmental bill. They’ve been met with initial resistance. But, with strategic deployment of compelling narratives, both data-driven and emotional, they’ve gradually secured support. Well-executed persuasion in policy advocacy has transformative power. Strategic persuasion and communication can turn potential opposition into support.

In this blog, we explore the art of political persuasion. We’ll delve into techniques and approaches to develop your persuasion strategy, as well as discuss how Plural is a helpful tool for policy teams looking to enhance their policy persuasion. Let’s dive in.

Understanding Political Persuasion

Policy persuasion is a technique that has been refined over centuries. As a practice, it integrates both psychological and rhetorical methods. From the ancient principles of Aristotle — ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) — to modern behavioral science, these strategies guide advocates in effectively engaging their audience. Modern political figures and advocates use these techniques to build trust, stir emotions, and present logical arguments that resonate with their audience’s values and beliefs. Understanding the cognitive biases that shape decision-making can greatly enhance an advocate’s ability to sway public opinion and influence legislative outcomes.

Developing a Political Persuasion Strategy: Techniques and Approaches

Developing a political persuasion strategy is essential for any campaign or advocacy effort. Effective strategies are key for any team aiming to influence public opinion and achieve legislative success. Crafting such a strategy involves:
- Understanding your audience
- Delivering tailored messages
- Utilizing various communication platforms effectively
Learn how to craft an effective political persuasion strategy below.

Understanding Your Audience

The first step in building your strategy is thoroughly understanding your target audience. This involves identifying their values, beliefs, concerns, and the channels they use to receive information. Data-driven approaches can provide deep insights into demographic and psychographic profiles. These insights help teams segment their audience and tailor messages that resonate on a personal level. Engaging with the community through surveys, social media, and meetings can also provide valuable feedback and strengthen the connection that the constituency feels with the policy or candidate.

Crafting Tailored Messages

Once you understand your audience, the next step is to craft compelling messages that speak to their values and needs. Effective political persuasion is rooted in relevance and emotional engagement. Messages should be clear, concise, and focused on how the policy, candidate, or initiative directly benefits the audience or aligns with their aspirations. Real-life examples and testimonials can enhance the impact of your message, making abstract policies concrete and relatable.

Multi-Channel Communication

In today’s digital age, leveraging many communication channels is crucial. Each platform serves a different purpose and reaches different segments of your audience:

Social Media

Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are excellent for rapid, broad dissemination of messages. Teams should also rely on these platforms to engage with younger demographics.

Email Campaigns

Personalized emails remain a powerful tool for detailed communication. When effective, emails can explain complex issues and motivate recipients through calls to action.

Direct Mail

Despite the rise of digital tools, direct mail continues to be effective. This is particularly true with older demographics who may prefer tangible, hand-held materials.

Text Messaging

For immediate and personal communication, text messaging can be highly effective. This is especially true for time-sensitive calls to action and reminders.

Consistent Engagement and Feedback

Persuasion is an ongoing process that requires continuous engagement. Maintaining an open line of communication with your audience helps to build trust. Their feedback can aid in adjusting strategies. Regular updates, responding to concerns, and demonstrating transparency are all crucial for sustaining engagement and reinforcing your message over time.

Analyzing Outcomes and Adapting Strategies

Finally, an effective political persuasion strategy must be dynamic. Your strategy should adapt based on real-time results and feedback. Analyzing the outcomes of different tactics and messages allows for continual refinement. Analytics tools are invaluable for understanding what works and what doesn’t. Overall, making use of data and feedback enables smarter decisions for future campaigns.

By following these steps and continuously refining your approach, you can develop a political persuasion strategy that not only reaches but resonates with your audience. Your effective strategy will increase the likelihood of achieving your advocacy or campaign goals.

The Role of Political Persuasion in Upcoming Elections

As elections approach, the power of persuasion becomes increasingly critical. This period of heightened public engagement offers policy teams a vital opportunity to influence behavior and drive legislative agendas. Effective persuasion can:
- Lead to increased voter turnout
- Sway public discourse
- Facilitate the adoption of significant policies
Advocates who master the art of persuasion can shape outcomes that reflect their visions for societal progress, leveraging public sentiment to support broad, impactful legislative changes.

Plural: A Tool for Enhancing Political Persuasion

Tools like Plural are central to the effectiveness of modern persuasion strategies. Plural enhances policy advocacy efforts by providing timely, relevant information and collaborative features. Learn more below.
- Workspaces are collaborative environments that enable teams to strategize and execute their advocacy efforts seamlessly. They help ensure that all team members are aligned and can contribute effectively.
- AI-powered Bill Summaries allow advocates to quickly understand the nuances of complex legislation. These insights make it easier to communicate key points clearly and persuasively to stakeholders and decision-makers.
- By staying informed of the latest legislative developments with real-time alerts, advocates can react promptly and adapt their strategies in real-time. Receiving information quickly helps teams maintain a proactive stance in fast-moving policy environments.
The Power of Real-time Alerts in Action

Imagine a policy group that is tracking a major healthcare reform bill. As the bill progresses, a critical amendment is proposed that could drastically alter its implications. Plural’s real-time alerts notify the team immediately. They can then analyze the changes with AI-powered summaries and adjust their approach. Overall, Plural ensures that the team not only stays informed but also remains influential in the legislative process. Plural helps them effectively advocate for or against amendments based on well-informed strategies.

Why Plural is Essential for Policy Professionals

In today’s complex political landscape, the need for robust, efficient tools is more pronounced than ever. Plural enhances the persuasive capabilities of policy teams by providing them with advanced technological solutions that ensure they are always ahead of the curve. With better organization, clearer communication, and timely action, policy professionals can lead rather than react. With Plural in their arsenal, teams are better equipped to make a significant impact on policy outcomes.

Developing Effective Political Persuasion and Empowering Advocates for Tomorrow

Political persuasion will only continue to play a critical role in shaping the future of public policy. With the policy landscape continuously evolving, the tools we use must not only keep pace but also enhance our advocacy efforts. Plural provides unmatched support for policy teams seeking to amplify their influence and impact.

Book a demo today to take the first step towards a more empowered and effective strategy.

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More Resources for Public Policy Teams
VIDEO | Plural’s Advanced Search Functionality
With over 190,000 bills introduced across the United States each legislative session, finding the specific legislation you need can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. But for policy professionals, finding a legislative research tool that quickly locates relevant bills and helps analyze them is key to making informed decisions.

That’s where Plural comes in. Plural’s legislative research tool streamlines your search with advanced query capabilities. Let’s explore how to harness the power of effective search techniques to navigate this vast legislative landscape.

Get Started With Plural’s Premium Legislative Research Tool

Top public policy teams trust Plural to:
- Access superior public policy data
- Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
- Streamline their day with seamless organization features
- Harness the power of time-saving AI tools to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
- Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place
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Collaborating With In-House Counsel on Policy Work
Plural is the policy collaboration tool that eases the process of working with in-house counsel on policy work. Learn more today.

On average, 109,000 bills are proposed in legislatures across the United States each year. Navigating this intricate and ever-evolving landscape demands keen insight and strategic collaboration. This is especially true when it comes to the partnership between policy teams and in-house counsel. For policy professionals, collaborating with legal experts is crucial. This collaboration unlocks the potential to effectively navigate complex legal landscapes. It also ensures that policy initiatives are impactful and adhere to legal and regulatory standards. Learn more below.

The Critical Role of In-House Counsel in Policy Work

In-house counsel is a pivotal force within any organization. This is particularly true in heavily regulated sectors. These legal experts do more than ensure compliance. They provide strategic insights that significantly influence policy outcomes. Not only do they aid in the task of translating complex legislation into actionable strategies, but they also mitigate risks by forecasting potential legal challenges.

The policy development process is complex. Not only are bills themselves dense and difficult to understand, but their legal implications can be the same. Involving in-house counsel empowers policy teams to leverage legal expertise. Early integration ensures that potential legal vulnerabilities are promptly addressed. From the outset, policy advocacy strategies are aligned with regulatory requirements. This proactive positioning leads to robust, sustainable policy outcomes as legal considerations are woven seamlessly throughout the strategic development and implementation process.

Common Roadblocks to Effective Collaboration

The need for collaboration between legal counsel and policy teams is clear. However, several challenges can hinder effective interactions. A primary challenge is communication. Legal jargon and principles are dense and complex, leading to misinterpretations and inefficiencies amongst policy teams. On the other hand, in-house counsel doesn’t always grasp the full scope of a policy’s implications beyond the legal perspective, focusing too narrowly on compliance.

Furthermore, organizational silos can severely disrupt effective collaboration. Legal and policy departments often operate independently with insufficient inter-departmental communication. These silos delay information sharing and complicate decision-making processes. They often result in missed opportunities for strategic alignment and compliance, underscoring the need for integrated strategies.

Overcoming Barriers: Insights from Research on Collaboration

Research into organizational behavior underscores the value of regular, structured interactions across different teams. Departments that maintain frequent, structured communications better synchronize their strategies and anticipate challenges. One method to achieve this synchronization is making use of tools to promote effective interactions. Doing so can significantly diminish the time spent resolving misunderstandings. The right tool can also enhance the execution of complex policy work.

Adopting modern technological platforms is key. Policy teams and in-house counsel alike need a tool that supports collaborative features, document management, and real-time communication — one that can effectively bridge the gap between policy and legal teams. This technology ensures that every stakeholder has immediate access to the most current updates, documents, and discussions. For policy and legal teams, Plural promotes a unified approach to policy development and execution. Learn more below.

Plural: Enhancing Collaboration Between Teams

Plural is an effective technological solution designed to bridge the gap between policy and legal teams. It offers real-time legislative tracking, collaborative Workspaces, bill annotation tools, and more. These features are all invaluable for teams looking to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to policy and legal work. With Plural, teams ensure that all members, regardless of department, can collaborate effectively. Each member will have instant access to crucial information, and everyone can take part in discussions with informed perspectives.

In particular, Plural’s Workspaces allows teams to:
- Upload and organize documents
- Track legislative changes
- Annotate bills and share notes
What’s more, each update and activity is instantly accessible to all collaborators. Plural not only boosts transparency but also increases the efficiency of both policy and legal work. The end result is a cohesive, aligned strategy that reduces risks and enhances the impact of policy initiatives.

Plural: The Path Forward in Policy Collaboration

Effective collaboration between policy teams and in-house counsel leads to successful policy advocacy. As organizations navigate complex regulatory environments, they need premium collaboration tools and strategies. Leveraging platforms like Plural and cultivating an organizational culture that prioritizes open, regular communication can transform obstacles into opportunities. With Plural, top organizations ensure that their policy advocacy not only complies with legal standards but also achieves its intended impact.

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More Resources for Public Policy Teams
Georgia’s Health and Social Services Laws in 2023-2024: An AI-Generated Report
What were Georgia’s health and social services laws from the 2023-2024 session? Read Plural’s AI-generated end-of-session report today.

At Plural, our mission is to enhance access to and understanding of the public policy developments that impact our daily lives. We strive to improve transparency by simplifying access to public information. To achieve this, we’ve harnessed technology to simplify processing and engaging with this information.

Harnessing the power of AI to innovate has been a key part of our strategy since our founding. While our approach to applying AI to public policy data has always been multifaceted, we’ve recently focused on generating comprehensive insights by utilizing our diverse datasets. Our latest innovation exemplifies this evolution in our AI strategy: Plural’s end-of-session report generator.

Originally piloted in Minnesota and now expanding across jurisdictions, this tool allows users to produce analyses of legislative actions on a range of topics throughout a single legislative session. All of our AI-driven insights are firmly grounded in primary public policy data — such as bill texts and voting records — rather than external sources like media reports. This commitment to core data ensures accuracy and minimizes bias. We continue to encourage users to view AI-generated tools as partners in research and writing and to carefully review and refine analyses to suit their specific needs.

Below, you can explore one of these reports, which evaluates legislative developments in healthcare and social services during Georgia’s 2023-2024 session.

Georgia 2023-24 Legislative Session: End of Session Report – Health and Social Services

This report summarizes key changes proposed by bills related to Health and Social Services during the latest Georgia legislative session.

Access to Care & Service Delivery:

Expanding Telehealth: HB 441 authorizes and regulates teledentistry, requiring health insurers to cover these services comparably to in-person care.

Rural Healthcare Workforce: HB 872 expands the service cancelable loan program to include dental students, aiming to attract dentists to underserved rural areas.

Supporting Nursing Workforce: SB 246 establishes a student loan repayment program for nursing faculty to address workforce shortages. SB 449 streamlines the certified nurse aide process and creates a provisional program for military medical personnel.

Strengthening Long-Term Care: HB 309 enhances financial stability requirements for personal care homes and assisted living communities to ensure continuity of care for residents. HB 1335 revises staffing requirements for these facilities, aiming to improve resident safety and well-being.

Improving Ambulance Services: HB 453 eliminates the annual license fee for ambulance services, potentially impacting funding and oversight mechanisms.

Public Health & Disease Management:

Addressing the Opioid Crisis: HB 395 authorizes schools to stock and administer opioid antagonists, expanding access to these life-saving drugs. HB 1028 authorizes standing orders for opioid antagonists and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention.

Combating Sexually Transmitted Infections: SB 46 mandates HIV and syphilis testing for pregnant women at various stages of pregnancy, aiming to improve early detection and treatment.

Supporting Individuals with Diabetes: HB 1183 requires schools to provide information on Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to parents and guardians of students in grades 6-12.

Enhancing Cancer Care: SB 223 authorizes reimbursement for patient-incurred expenses related to cancer clinical trials, aiming to improve access to these trials. SB 315 regulates cost-sharing for diagnostic and supplemental breast screening examinations, ensuring they are comparable to mammograms.

Mental Health & Substance Use:

Expanding Access to Mental Health Services: HB 414 creates a grant program within the Department of Veterans Service to support behavioral health services for service members, veterans, and their families. SB 480 establishes a student loan repayment program for mental health and substance use professionals serving in underserved areas.

Protecting Healthcare Professionals: HB 455 establishes professional programs to address career fatigue and wellness among healthcare professionals, providing confidentiality and liability protections.

Addressing Alzheimer’s and Dementia: SB 571 adjusts the update cycle for the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias State Plan to every four years and revises the advisory council’s membership and responsibilities.

Children & Families:

Supporting Foster Care: SB 216 authorizes longer respite care periods for foster parents, providing them with greater flexibility and support. SB 401 aims to improve data collection and reporting on foster care cases in juvenile courts.

Protecting Children with Epilepsy: SB 45 establishes “A.J.’s Law,” requiring schools to implement seizure action plans and train personnel to support students with epilepsy.

Addressing Child Support: SB 454 updates child support guidelines, focusing on low-income adjustments and parenting time considerations.

Other Notable Changes:

Prohibiting COVID-19 Vaccination Proof Requirements: SB 1 permanently prohibits state and local governments from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for government services, with limited exceptions.

Limiting Liability for Mental Health Providers: HB 1409 limits liability for mental health care providers in certain circumstances, aiming to address workforce challenges.

Enhancing Hospital Safety: HB 383 enacts the “Safer Hospitals Act,” allowing hospitals to employ peace officers and enhancing penalties for assaults on healthcare workers.

Increasing Transparency in Healthcare: SB 197 enacts the “Health Care Practitioners Truth and Transparency Act,” requiring clear identification of healthcare practitioners’ qualifications and prohibiting misleading advertising. SB 505 enhances financial transparency requirements for hospitals.

Looking Ahead:

This legislative session saw significant activity in the Health and Social Services arena. The long-term impact of these proposed changes will depend on implementation and future legislative action. Key areas to watch include:

Workforce Development: Will loan repayment programs and other initiatives effectively address shortages in healthcare professions?

Access to Mental Health & Substance Use Treatment: Will new funding and programs translate into improved access to care?

Impact of New Regulations: How will changes to licensing, reporting, and other requirements affect healthcare providers and patients?

This report provides a high-level overview of key changes proposed during the legislative session. Further analysis and monitoring will be necessary to fully understand the implications for Georgia’s health and social services landscape.

Get Started With Plural

Top public policy teams in Georgia and across the United States trust Plural with their legislative tracking needs. With Plural, you’ll:
- Access superior public policy data
- Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
- Streamline your day with seamless organization features
- Harness the power of time-saving AI tools to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
- Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place
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More Resources for Georgia
Streamlining Your Public Policy Workflow with Plural: A Guide for Busy Teams

Busy, dispersed public policy teams streamline their public policy workflow with Plural. Learn more about Plural’s solutions today.

Staying organized and maintaining efficient communication across a dispersed team can be daunting. Imagine a team spread across different locations. Some are analyzing legislation from home, others are strategizing and attending meetings in the bustling halls of the capitol. Despite their varying environments, they all share a common goal: to stay on top of high-priority bills.

This is where Plural shines. As an all-in-one tool designed for public policy professionals, Plural not only simplifies the legislative tracking process but also ensures that everyone is aligned and informed. Learn more about Plural’s solutions for dispersed teams.

Plural’s Legislative Tracking Solutions for Dispersed Public Policy Teams

Here’s how dispersed teams can leverage Plural to maximize their effectiveness and streamline their public policy workflow.

1. Searching for Legislation

The journey in Plural begins with efficiently searching through vast amounts of legislative information. With advanced search features, teams can quickly identify relevant legislation. Plural’s search functionality (and the entire tool) is intuitive and straightforward. Users can filter by session, jurisdiction, bill topic, and more. This functionality is critical when teams need to act quickly on legislative opportunities or threats. Plural is an indispensable tool for policy analysts and legislative aides alike, ensuring they’re always a step ahead.

2. Tracking Legislative Developments

Once the key pieces of legislation are identified, tracking their progress is crucial. Plural’s tracking tool enables users to receive real-time updates on bill movements, amendments, hearings, and more. This ensures that no critical information is missed and that the team can respond proactively to any changes. Customizable notifications cut through the noise to keep team members up-to-date on relevant developments. This proactive approach helps teams prepare their responses or adjust their strategies in real-time. Plural’s tracking tools and real-time notifications are invaluable during high-stakes legislative sessions.

3. Organizing with Tags and Workspaces

The next step is effectively organizing legislative information. This is where Plural’s robust Workspaces feature comes into play. Teams can create unlimited, customized Workspaces catering to specific projects or focus areas. Within these Workspaces, users can tag and categorize bills, making it easy to retrieve and discuss them during meetings or strategy sessions.

Plural’s organization tools extend to managing documentation and notes related to each bill. Notes and uploaded files are all stored securely and accessible by any team member, regardless of their location. Such organized systems reduce the time spent searching for information and allow teams to spend more time on planning and decision-making.

4. Collaborating and Communicating

Effective communication is vital for any team, especially those that are not physically co-located. Plural facilitates seamless communication and collaboration through integrated messaging systems and shared notes. Team members can exchange ideas, provide updates, and solicit feedback instantaneously. With Plural, they ensure that everyone is informed and engaged in real-time decision-making. Plural fosters a collaborative environment where all voices are heard, regardless of their physical location.

5. Utilizing AI-Driven Insights

Plural also incorporates AI-driven tools to enhance legislative insights. Plural users harness the power of AI to generate bill summaries and identify similar bills, among other tasks. These insights significantly speed up the legislative research process. AI capabilities help teams quickly understand complex legislative texts and find related documents. With Plural’s AI-powered tools, teams enhance their ability to strategize and act effectively. Plural’s high-tech support is crucial in enabling teams to navigate the dense and complicated public policy landscape.

Plural: The Best Legislative Tracking Tool for Dispersed Teams

Plural integrates searching, tracking, organizing, and communicating into a seamless public policy workflow. In doing so, Plural ensures that public policy teams are not only informed but also prepared to act swiftly and effectively. What’s more, the platform’s intuitive design and comprehensive features allow teams to spend less time managing information and more time making impactful decisions.

Plural is more than just a tool; it’s a partner in public policy management. It enables teams to amplify their impact by ensuring that every member, no matter their location, is working from the same well-organized playbook. As public policy evolves rapidly, Plural can make the difference between reacting to changes and shaping them.

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More Resources for Public Policy Teams
The AI Impact: Risks, Benefits, and Regulations
WHEN: September 17, 2024 from 1:00-6:00pm

WHERE: University of Minnesota’s Cowles Auditorium

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The technological landscape is rapidly evolving, with AI poised to play a pivotal role in various sectors. Often communities are slow to adopt new technology trends, leading to disproportionately poor outcomes, particularly within marginalized communities. Join us as we aim to own the narrative by bringing together leaders and members from the Twin Cities community to discuss how AI will impact our lives, how we should think about regulating and legislating it, and how local companies are leveraging AI in their products and services.
12:30-1:00pm — Check-in at Cowles Auditorium

1:00-1:10pm — Opening Remarks by Damola Ogundipe, CEO of Plural Policy
1:10-2:10pm — “How AI Will Shape Our Future, and How We Can Participate”

Featuring speakers from the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2043 SBC, UMN’s AI-CLIMATE Institute, Housing First Minnesota, and more.
2:20-3:30pm — “Regulating AI”

Featuring state policymakers as well as speakers from RXN Group, Park Street PR, the ACLU of Minnesota, Fredrikson & Byron, and more.
3:40-4:30pm — “AI in Action and in Our Community”

Featuring speakers from Bread & Butter Ventures, Plural Policy, and more.
4:30-4:45pm — Closing Keynote by Dr. Genevieve Melton-Meaux, MD, PhD, Chief Informatics and AI Officer for M Health Fairview

4:45-6:00pm — Beer & Wine Reception by Fredrikson & Byron
Reserve your spot now using the code “PLURALFREE” to attend for free.

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How is Infrastructure Policy Impacting the 2024 Election?
Infrastructure holds the country together. Will infrastructure policy divide it?

Americans tend to agree on the importance of roads, bridges, ports, and pipes. Agreement on how to fund and get these projects going is less common. With November 5th nearing, many are wondering how infrastructure policy might impact the election. In this blog, we examine types of infrastructure, recent infrastructure policies, and each candidate’s record.

What is Infrastructure Policy?

Infrastructure policy is how governments manage society’s foundational structures – things like roads, bridges, water and electric utilities, telephone lines, and internet cables.

In the United States, most funding for infrastructure projects comes from public investments by state and local governments. However, the proportion of federal spending began to increase in 2020. The federal government plays a role in infrastructure through Congress, which has the power to regulate interstate commerce and support it with legislation. Most of its funding goes to highway transportation, though spending on rail, mass transit, and water has increased in recent years.

Reliable and resilient infrastructure is important for economic growth. Both businesses and households typically need access to electricity, water, and waste management. They rely on the movement of goods and people across roads, railroads, waterways, and air, along with the flow of information across telephone and internet cables. Infrastructure projects create jobs for workers who build and maintain them. They also raise demand for the materials needed to construct them. Thoughtful infrastructure policy can have a big impact on a local, statewide, and national scale.

Key Topics in Infrastructure Policy

Infrastructure policy can touch a variety of fields and industries.

Transportation

When people think of infrastructure, they often think of highways, bridges, and tunnels – the structures that enable transportation. Funding is needed not only to construct or replace this infrastructure but also to maintain it.

Power and Energy

Transmission lines bring electricity from power generation plants to communities across the country. The United States power grid is made up of several different regional grids with limited interconnection. In some areas, power plants struggle to keep up with the demand for electricity when it surges. In others, severe weather can damage equipment and interfere with power transmission on a large scale. Heat waves and fires have caused rolling blackouts in California in 2020, while an ice storm in Texas took out power for millions of people in 2021.

Improvements to the grid can help it withstand extreme weather and adapt to surges in demand. This is especially important as electric vehicles grow in popularity. Maintenance is also critical to help keep energy infrastructure from falling into disrepair. In the meantime, encouraging energy efficiency can help bring demand down and reduce impacts on the environment.

Due to growing concerns about fossil fuels’ impact on climate change, many advocate for cleaner alternatives such as solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear power.

Telecommunications

Telecommunications infrastructure allows us to talk, work, learn, shop, and receive services across long distances. A hot topic in telecommunications infrastructure is high-speed broadband Internet access. Low-income and rural communities tend to have lower access to broadband Internet than others. This “digital divide” can lead to unequal access to schooling, job opportunities, healthcare, and more. Encouraging the expansion of infrastructure to less populated areas, along with making Internet access more affordable, helps to close this divide.

Water and Waste Management

Infrastructure like underground pipes and water treatment systems ensure that communities have access to clean water. Landfills, recycling centers, and wastewater treatment plants help with the sanitary management of waste.

Water infrastructure is a more popular topic of public discussion than waste management. Government-funded projects can include updating water treatment facilities, replacing toxic lead pipes with modern ones, and improving water storage and drought resilience.

President Biden’s Infrastructure Accomplishments

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law. The $1.2 trillion legislation included $550 billion in new spending.

Much of the funding went to transportation, including $100 billion for roads, bridges, and other major projects. The IIJA also made investments in freight and passenger rail, which Biden enthusiastically champions. The broad legislation also invested in:
- Public transit
- Airports
- Port infrastructure
- Electric vehicles
- Low-emission buses and ferries
- Cycling and pedestrian infrastructure
- Broadband internet infrastructure
- Power infrastructure
- Clean drinking water
- Resilience and water storage
- Pollution removal from water and soil
Through August 2024, about $480 billion in federal funding has been announced for more than 60,000 projects. Since the law’s passage in 2022, states with lower-rated infrastructure have received more funding than those with highly-rated infrastructure.

Biden also signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which passed along party lines. It authorized loans to upgrade or repurpose energy infrastructure, funding for clean energy projects, tax credits for buying electric vehicles, tax credits for producing clean energy products and components, and more.

Harris vs. Trump on Infrastructure Policy

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have stressed the importance of infrastructure. They’ve both proposed plans for increased infrastructure spending. But their approaches differ.

While in office, Trump, a Republican, signed the bipartisan America’s Water Infrastructure Act into law in 2018. It authorized funding for a variety of water infrastructure improvements on navigable waterways, dams, reservoirs, public drinking water systems, and more. It contained the most substantial changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act since 1996.

Trump also proposed a plan with $1.5 trillion in new spending on infrastructure. Just $200 billion of that would have been new federal spending. The rest would’ve come from private investment and state and local governments. While there was some bipartisan support for the plan, Congress could not agree on how it would be funded. Talks ended after Trump asked Congress to support his trade deal before working on the infrastructure bill.

Trump has said he wants to ramp up domestic fossil fuel production and delivery to make the United States more energy-independent. This includes the construction of more pipelines and the removal of some regulations Trump sees as overly restrictive. He has also called for quicker approval and construction of nuclear power plants.

Harris, a Democrat, likely has similar infrastructure priorities to President Biden. As Vice President, she has promoted the administration’s progress in implementing the IIJA. She supports efforts to incentivize clean energy projects and advocates for electric vehicles. During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris opposed hydraulic fracturing (also called “fracking”) for oil and gas but recently said she would not ban fracking as president.

Infrastructure Policy and the 2024 Election

Infrastructure spending is popular among Americans. There is broad support for improvements to roads, bridges, ports, and water pipes. Democrats were far more likely than Republicans to support funding in the IJJA for broadband Internet, public transit, electric vehicle charging stations, and rail service.

How will infrastructure policy impact the 2024 elections? The topic will be most important to voters who are impacted by infrastructure needs the most — including millions of Americans who have experienced blackouts, water quality problems, failing transportation infrastructure, and limited Internet access. About 30% of Americans say infrastructure is a “very big problem” in the country today. Their votes may depend on who they believe will solve it.

Get Started With Plural

Top public policy teams trust Plural with their legislative tracking needs. With Plural, you’ll:
- Access superior public policy data
- Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
- Streamline your day with seamless organization features
- Harness the power of time-saving AI tools to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
- Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place
get started

More Public Policy Resources
Plural for Pharmaceutical Companies: Navigating Public Policy with Precision

The pharmaceutical industry is complex and highly regulated. Within this environment, staying informed about public policy developments is not just advantageous — it’s essential. Professionals within the pharmaceutical industry need to stay up-to-date on regulatory changes, healthcare reforms, patent laws, compliance requirements, and more. Each can dramatically affect how pharmaceutical companies operate and compete. It’s clear that pharmaceutical companies need a tool that can guide them through this maze. Plural is an indispensable tool for these companies, helping them monitor relevant legislative and regulatory changes. With Plural, it’s easier than ever to create adaptive strategies, maintain compliance, and innovate effectively. Learn more below.

Key Public Policy Topics for Pharmaceutical Companies

Policy professionals working for pharmaceutical companies need to be aware of a myriad of public policy issues. Whether discrete or intersecting, each can have a dramatic impact on how the company operates. Let’s dig deeper.

Drug Approval Processes

Changes in drug approval processes can have significant implications for pharmaceutical companies. These shifts can alter how companies plan and conduct their research, development, and marketing. Keeping abreast of these changes is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge and reducing the time to market for new therapies.

Pricing and Reimbursement Policies

Legislation affecting drug pricing and reimbursement policies also impacts pharmaceutical companies. These bills can have significant implications for companies’ revenue streams. Monitoring these policies helps companies adjust their pricing strategies. What’s more, successful engagement with policymakers can lead to favorable terms.

Intellectual Property and Patents

For pharmaceutical companies, intellectual property (IP) is a core asset. Changes in patent law and IP protection rules can affect patent lifecycles and exclusivity periods. It’s critical for these companies to track such developments closely to protect their innovations.

Healthcare Reforms

Healthcare reforms can reshape the market in significant ways. Changes can affect everything from drug demand to how treatments are prescribed and administered. Because of this, pharmaceutical companies must stay informed about healthcare policies. Doing so helps them strategically navigate changes in the healthcare landscape.

Compliance and Safety Regulations

Finally, regulatory compliance is a perpetual concern in the pharmaceutical industry. From clinical trial guidelines to safety reporting requirements, companies must ensure they are fully compliant with all relevant regulations to avoid penalties and protect patient safety.

How Plural Meets the Challenge

With this knowledge of the policy topics affecting pharmaceutical companies, let’s explore how Plural meets the challenge.

Advanced Legislative Tracking

Plural makes it simple to track legislation and regulations effectively across multiple jurisdictions. With Plural’s advanced search capabilities and customizable alerts, pharmaceutical companies ensure they’re the first to know about changes that could impact their business.

Stakeholder Mapping Tools

Engaging with legislators and their staff is critical for influencing public policy. Plural’s legislator and staff data helps pharmaceutical companies identify key stakeholders and manage their interactions to advocate for favorable legislative outcomes.

Comprehensive Data Access & Insights

Plural’s best-in-class policy data provides a comprehensive view of the policy environment. This enables pharmaceutical companies to monitor trends and prepare for changes in any market where they operate. What’s more, AI-powered tools enhance insights into bills and streamline legislative research.

Analysis and Reporting Capabilities

Understanding the potential impact of policy changes is crucial. Plural provides powerful analytics tools that allow companies to analyze legislative trends, prepare reports, and develop strategic responses to the shifting regulatory landscape.

Customizable Workspaces

Plural is designed to meet the needs of diverse teams within pharmaceutical companies, from legal and compliance to research and development. Customizable Workspaces allow each team to access and share relevant information efficiently. This feature facilitates better collaboration and information dissemination across the organization.

Plural: The Top Pharmaceutical Public Policy Tool

Effectively monitoring and responding to public policy is crucial for success. Plural equips pharmaceutical companies with the tools they need to stay informed, engage with stakeholders, and navigate the complex regulatory environment confidently. With Plural, pharmaceutical companies can not only react to changes but also proactively influence the policy landscape to support their business goals.

Are you ready to enhance your policy tracking and advocacy efforts? Sign up for a demo with Plural today and discover how our platform can transform your approach to public policy management.

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Convincing Your Team to Modernize: The Shift from Spreadsheets to Plural

Plural’s modern legislative tracking tool offers significant benefits over spreadsheets and legacy tools.

The legislative environment is fast-paced. Having the right tools can be the difference between staying ahead of the curve or falling behind. For policy professionals, the shift from traditional methods like spreadsheets to more advanced legislative tracking tools like Plural isn’t just a minor upgrade — it’s a transformative leap. This blog post delves into why making this switch is crucial for your team’s productivity. Read now to see how Plural can enhance your legislative tracking efforts.

The Limitations of Traditional Tools

For years, spreadsheets have been the go-to solution for tracking legislative changes. They are familiar and versatile but come with limitations that can impede efficiency. Tracking bills with spreadsheets often involves manual updates, sifting through multiple screens to analyze bills, and a constant battle to maintain accuracy and timeliness. The same is true with legacy legislative tracking tools.

Why Plural?

Plural offers a robust suite of features designed to overcome these limitations. Here’s how Plural stands out:

Real-Time Updates and Data Accuracy

Plural’s best-in-class data scraping cadence ensures that you have the most current information at your fingertips. What’s more, real-time updates mean that your team is always aware of the latest developments without the lag that comes with manual entry.

AI-Generated Bill Summaries

Plural’s AI Bill Summarizer provides concise, accurate summaries of bills. With summaries, it’s easier than ever to digest complex information quickly. This feature saves significant time, reducing the hours spent analyzing dense legislative texts.

Streamlined Collaboration with Workspaces

Plural’s Workspaces facilitate seamless collaboration among team members. Whether you’re in the office or working remotely, everyone can access the same information, share insights, and update each other on developments instantaneously.

Addressing Common Concerns

Despite the clear advantages, transitioning to a new system like Plural can be met with resistance. Here are some common concerns and how Plural addresses them:

Organizational Inertia

Change can be daunting, especially when it involves moving away from long-established practices. However, the switch to Plural is designed to be smooth. Plural is built by policy experts, so the tool itself is designed with the needs and workflows of policy professionals in mind. What’s more, our responsive customer service team is there whenever you need them to assist with onboarding and any issues that arise during the transition.

Cost Concerns

Investing in new technology often comes at a significant cost. However, the efficiency gains from using Plural — such as the hours saved in bill tracking and analysis — translate into cost savings in the long run. Plural users save up to 25 hours per week on tasks related to bill searching and analysis. Learn more about Plural’s pricing here.

Fears About AI

We’ve been working with AI significantly longer than other legislative tracking tools, and the benefits are clear. Plural’s AI model is more advanced and highly trained. But fears remain among many policy teams. While AI is a powerful tool, it also brings concerns about complexity and accuracy. Plural’s AI features are user-friendly and designed with your needs in mind, ensuring that the technology enhances your work rather than complicates it.

Plural’s Modern Legislative Tracking Tool

Making the shift to Plural is not just about adopting new software — it’s about embracing a tool that can transform the way your team operates. With Plural, you’ll ensure that no legislative development is overlooked and that your advocacy efforts are as impactful as possible. By choosing Plural, you are not just keeping up with technology—you are staying ahead of the competition. Book a demo to learn more about Plural’s modern legislative tracking tool today.

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How Is the Economy Impacting the Election?
By most measures, the United States economy is booming. But most Americans aren’t convinced — they rate the economy as poor and inflation as one of their top political concerns. To work out how the economy is impacting the 2024 election, it’s helpful to look at the state of the economy, how Americans are experiencing it, and what each candidate says about economic issues. Read on to learn more.

The Current State of the Economy

The country entered a recession when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. The unemployment rate shot up as millions of workers were laid off and businesses shut their doors – temporarily or permanently. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted as production and spending slowed. Financial markets plummeted. The economic recession lasted for less than one quarter, but its effects have been felt far beyond that.

When the economy began to recover, the inflation rate began to grow rapidly. The cost of goods climbed higher and peaked in June 2022. Inflation has now dropped close to pre-pandemic levels, but prices are much higher than they were.

By many measures, the economy is going strong after quickly bouncing back from the pandemic. Average wages lagged at first but then rose rapidly, narrowly outpacing inflation. The labor market has rebounded with an unemployment rate near historic lows. Consumer spending continues to drive strong economic growth, though it has slowed from the immediate post-pandemic rebound.

Poverty rates went down in 2020 and 2021, likely thanks to government assistance during the pandemic. Under both Presidents Trump and Biden, Congress approved stimulus packages that gave financial aid to most Americans, extended unemployment benefits, and offered emergency business loans.

The Biden-Harris administration also approved an increase to the maximum child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child. It expired at the end of 2021 despite the administration’s efforts to extend it.

Then, 2022 brought the largest one-year increase in poverty ever recorded for the United States. The national rate is now 12.4%, close to what it was in 2019. This could be explained by the loss of government assistance and the rising costs of food and housing. A national housing shortage began decades ago and worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interest rates have soared higher since 2022, driving up mortgage rates for new homeowners. In 2020, the Federal Reserve announced interest rate cuts to help households and businesses spend during the pandemic. “The Fed” steadily raised the federal funds rate once the economy started to recover. The federal funds rate has stayed elevated through mid-2024 to help bring down inflation. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said a rate cut is coming soon.

Biden’s Record on the Economy

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, worked with Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. The IRA created or extended a variety of green energy tax credits for purchases like electric cars, home solar panels, low-energy appliances, energy-efficient home upgrades, and more. It also included tax incentives for companies with clean energy projects.

Another provision of the IRA lowered Medicare drug prices, capping the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 per month and the total out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000 per year, beginning in 2024. It also allowed Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies on prices.

Biden has also undertaken several student loan forgiveness efforts, canceling close to $170 billion of debt for nearly 4.8 million people. One of Biden’s plans was stopped by the Supreme Court, which said he did not have the legal authority to implement the program. This year, the Biden-Harris administration proposed another plan for student loan forgiveness through a different process.

Biden has also waged a campaign against “junk fees” – hidden or unexpected fees that businesses charge their customers. The Biden-Harris administration called for cutting credit card late fees to $8, but the proposal has been held up by court challenges. In April 2024, the Department of Transportation announced a new rule requiring airlines to tell consumers about certain fees upfront.

Donald Trump and the Economy

Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, has proposed:
- Enacting a 10% to 20% tariff on imported goods, along with a 60% tariff specifically on imports from China. Economists say this is likely to raise consumer prices, but Trump argues it will boost American jobs and wages. Currently, these tariffs are about 19% for China and 3% for the rest of the world.
- Ending Biden’s student loan forgiveness programs and increasing funding for career and technical education.
- Increasing production of fossil fuels and nuclear energy in an effort to lower energy costs. He also promises to end many of Biden’s environmental regulations and incentives, including tax credits for electric car purchases.
Tax Policy

In 2017, Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which made substantial changes to the federal tax code, including:
- Lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%
- Lowering individual income tax rates through 2025
- Raising the maximum child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 through 2025
He has said he wants to extend the temporary provisions in the TCJA and lower the corporate tax rate again to 20% or even 15%. Trump’s running mate for vice president, J.D. Vance, recently proposed raising the maximum child tax credit from $2,000 to $5,000.

Trump, like Harris, has also proposed getting rid of taxes on tip income.

How Will Kamala Harris Address the Economy?

Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, laid out several economic proposals in a recent campaign stop this August. She has called for:
- Banning price gouging for food and groceries. State-level price gouging bans typically focus on crisis situations like natural disasters. It is unclear how a broad federal ban would work.
- Canceling medical debt for millions of Americans.
- Extending the caps of $35 per month for insulin and $2,000 per year on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs to all Americans, not just seniors with Medicare.
- Giving $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers.
- Offering tax incentives for builders who construct starter homes.
Tax Policy

Harris has said she would fund some of these proposals by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and increasing taxes on the rich. This aligns with Biden’s proposed tax plan, which she supports. Biden and Harris have promised not to raise taxes for those making under $400,000, which signals that they want to renew some of the individual tax cuts in the TCJA.

Harris has proposed permanently raising the child tax credit to $3,600. She has also proposed a $6,000 tax credit to families with newborn children in the first year of a baby’s life.

Harris, like Trump, has also proposed getting rid of taxes on tip income.

Conversely, How Do Election Outcomes Impact Markets?

The stock market usually shows slightly worse performance in the 12 months leading up to a presidential election, but it tends to recover within 12 months afterward.

Financial markets tend to be more volatile in the two months before election day and return to normal within two months after. This pattern occurs regardless of which party’s candidate wins the presidency.

Certain sectors may be affected by the candidates’ policy positions. For instance, energy companies might be impacted by climate regulations. However, policy doesn’t always have a predictable effect on stocks. During the Trump presidency, clean energy outperformed traditional energy stocks, and the reverse has been true while Biden is president.

How Will Economic Issues Impact the Election?

When economic conditions are good, this tends to favor the incumbent party in an election. The challenging party gets an advantage during a recession when the economy is shrinking.

How is the economy impacting the election in 2024, then? Many U.S. economic indicators are positive. Yet most Americans’ view of the economy is not. Only 23% of American adults say the economy is in excellent or good shape, and 62% say inflation is a very big problem for the United States.

Why is this? Wages have largely risen with inflation, but this rise did not necessarily happen equally. Neither did inflation itself. Food and groceries have seen some of the biggest price increases. Along with food prices, high housing costs are a pain point for many Americans.

Americans’ views of the economy may negatively affect Harris, then, even though the country is seeing economic growth and a strong labor market. What will matter most is whether voters believe the economy is helping them financially.

Get Started With Plural

Top public policy teams trust Plural with their legislative tracking needs. With Plural, you’ll:
- Access superior public policy data
- Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
- Streamline your day with seamless organization features
- Harness the power of time-saving AI tools to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
- Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place
Interested in getting started? Create a free account or book a demo today!

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How Is Drug Policy Impacting the 2024 Elections?
As the 2024 elections grow closer, many Americans have drugs on the brain.

Some call for help with the growing wave of opioid addictions and overdoses in their communities. Others want to legalize marijuana, either for recreational use or as a medical treatment for chemotherapy side effects, anxiety, and other medical conditions. Still others have trouble affording their expensive prescription drugs.

Each of these drug policy issues could be a driving force at the polls in this year’s elections. Read on to learn about the history of drug policy in the United States, today’s biggest drug policy issues, and what the presidential candidates have to say on the matter.

Historical Context of Drug Policies

Throughout most of the history of the United States, drug policy has grown increasingly restrictive. However, state laws and public opinion are beginning to relax when it comes to some substances.

Major federal drug legislation did not begin in the United States until the 20th century. Individual states had begun to pass loose regulations in the latter half of the 19th century, mostly concerning drug labeling and requiring a doctor’s prescription for some medications.

Then the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act of 1909 banned the non-medical use, possession, and importation of opium. In 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act restricted the production, importation, and sale of opiates and cocaine.

The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the sale of alcohol in 1919. Alcohol prohibition was short-lived, and the 21st Amendment repealed it in 1933.

The War on Drugs

Rising drug use in the 1960s led to President Richard Nixon signing the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. This law regulates drugs under a “schedule” system, with Schedule I having the highest risk of abuse and no recognized medical use. Schedule V is considered to have the lowest abuse potential. Nixon then declared a “War on Drugs” in 1971 and created the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973.

The War on Drugs expanded in the 1980s with the Reagan administration’s “Just Say No” campaign, which stressed the dangers of drug use. Mandatory sentencing laws made criminal penalties more severe and often disproportionately affected black Americans. The 21st century saw the start of sentencing reforms that relaxed some penalties and corrected inequalities.

Public opinion on drug issues has changed along with these laws. It seems to be shifting again in recent years – at least for some substances. Amidst a growing opioid crisis, a majority of Americans say drug addiction is a “very big problem.” However, attitudes toward marijuana are growing more relaxed.

Eighty-eight percent of U.S. adults say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use. A majority say it should be legal for recreational purposes, while about one-third support legalization for medical use only. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to favor legalizing recreational marijuana. However, majorities within both parties say medical marijuana should be legal.

Key Drug Policy Issues

Four of the biggest drug policy issues today are the legalization of marijuana, high prescription drug prices, the opioid epidemic, and drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border. Learn more below.

Marijuana Legalization

Marijuana – also called cannabis – remains illegal at the federal level, even as more and more states legalize it. A 2009 memo by the Obama Administration encouraged federal prosecutors not to prosecute people for cannabis distribution in states that have legalized it. The Trump administration rescinded that memorandum in 2018. Despite this, federal cannabis laws are still largely not enforced in legal states.

In 2022, President Joe Biden pardoned thousands of federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana. Many Americans remain in prison for marijuana possession.

This spring, Biden endorsed a recommendation by the U.S. Justice Department to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana. If finalized, this would move the substance from Schedule I to Schedule III. Rescheduling would allow for easier research and possible drug development. It would not legalize marijuana federally, but it could make legalization easier.

As of August 2024, 24 states have legalized cannabis for medical and adult recreational use. Another 14 now allow it for medical purposes. A handful of others have decriminalized it, which typically means that possession of a small amount does not carry a criminal penalty.

Two of the latest states to legalize recreational cannabis are Maryland and Ohio, where voters approved ballot measures last year. Lawmakers in two others, Delaware and Minnesota, passed bills in 2023 legalizing it. Kentucky enacted a law last year creating a medical cannabis program that will go into effect in 2025.

Prescription Drug Costs

Sixty-four percent of Americans say healthcare affordability is a “very big problem.” One key part of that problem is prescription drug prices. For example, the average price of insulin nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013. Prices again doubled between 2012 and 2016. Insulin and its analogs are necessary life-saving drugs for many people with diabetes.

This year, some drugmakers drastically decreased their list prices for insulin. This is largely driven by a provision of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act that removed penalties for increasing drug prices faster than the rate of inflation. Still, the decrease may not be reflected in the out-of-pocket costs that patients pay, due to differences in insurance coverage.

The Opioid Crisis

The United States has faced an opioid crisis since the late 1990s, when doctors began prescribing these pain-relieving drugs more often. Overdoses related to commonly prescribed opioids steadily increased as patients became addicted. The federal government cracked down on the overprescription of these drugs starting in 2010. Some addicts turned to illegal narcotic drugs, and a wave of heroin overdose deaths followed.

Since 2013, deaths from fully synthetic opioids like fentanyl have skyrocketed. Some who overdose may not even be aware they have taken fentanyl. Illegal drug manufacturers and dealers are increasingly lacing other substances with fentanyl to make small amounts of drugs more potent. The upward trend in opioid overdose deaths began to level off around 2017 before surging again in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While growth has slowed, more than 81,000 deaths were recorded in 2022.

Opioids are highly addictive. Withdrawal symptoms for those who are addicted can be severe. This has led to an increased need for substance abuse treatment specifically for opioid users. Several states have responded to this need by increasing the budget allocation for drug treatment centers. Another popular state-level response to the opioid crisis is the creation of prescription monitoring programs that track the prescription of certain drugs. These programs are intended to prevent overprescription and drug abuse.

Drugs and the Southern Border

A related concern to the opioid crisis is drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border. Most drugs that come into the United States at the southern border are smuggled at legal ports of entry. Marijuana seizures are common at illegal border crossings. Still, more dangerous drugs like cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl are commonly seized at ports of entry. People who are authorized to cross the border hide them in their vehicles or on their bodies. As the Southern Border has come into focus in the context of the 2024 presidential election, we expect discussions surrounding this issue to play out on the national stage.

Candidates’ Stances on Drug Policy

How will drug policy impact the 2024 elections? To help answer that question, we’ll look at each major candidate’s approach to drug policy.

Marijuana Legalization

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President, has spoken in favor of medical marijuana. He has also said that marijuana laws should be handled at the state level. However, he made no moves as president toward formally allowing either medical use or state-level legalization.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for President, has changed her stance on marijuana over time. As a prosecutor in California, she was strict on cannabis offenses and opposed legalizing recreational use. Throughout her 2020 campaign for the presidency and still today, Harris has received harsh criticism for her actions as a prosecutor, viewed by many liberal Democrats as too harsh on non-dangerous offenses. Later, as a Senator, Harris introduced legislation to federally decriminalize and tax marijuana. As Vice President, she has called for reclassification of the drug, which is now underway. She has also spoken in favor of federal marijuana legalization.

Prescription Drug Costs

In 2020, the Trump administration created a voluntary, temporary program for some Medicare drug plans. Participating plans covered at least one insulin product of each dosage and type at a cost of $35 per month or less.

Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris administration expanded this $35 out-of-pocket cap to apply to all Medicare drug plans and the insulin products they cover. It also capped Medicare patients’ costs for all drugs at $2,000 per year starting in 2024. Harris says she wants to extend these two caps to all Americans.

Using another provision of the IRA, the Biden-Harris administration has negotiated lower prices for ten of Medicare’s costliest drugs. The administration announced the new list prices this August, but they will not take effect until 2026.

The Opioid Crisis

As President, Trump signed the bipartisan SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. The Act was a package of legislation aimed at addressing the opioid crisis. It contained measures to remove barriers to medication-assisted treatment, especially for Medicaid recipients, and to make the overdose reversal drug naloxone more widely available. During his current campaign, Trump has taken a tough-on-crime stance. He has said that he wants drug dealers and smugglers to face the death penalty.

The Biden-Harris administration has improved access to drugs used for opioid addiction treatment and permanently required state Medicaid plans to cover medication-assisted treatment. Biden and Harris have advocated for harm reduction, and the administration has expanded grants to states and tribal communities to pay for naloxone.

Drugs and the Southern Border

Trump often blames illegal immigration for the country’s fentanyl problem. It’s worth noting that narcotic drugs are most often smuggled through legal crossings. He advocates for stronger border enforcement.

If elected, Harris says she will be tough on drug traffickers at the border and points to her experience prosecuting them as California’s attorney general.

Get Started With Plural

Top public policy teams trust Plural with their legislative tracking needs. With Plural, you’ll:
- Access superior public policy data
- Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
- Streamline your day with seamless organization features
- Harness the power of time-saving AI tools to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
- Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place
Interested in getting started? Create a free account or book a demo today!

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VIDEO | Stay Organized and Up-to-Date With Plural’s Voice Memos
Plural’s public policy organization tools make it easy to stay on the same page. Learn more about voice memos today.

Public policy moves fast. Every day brings new developments, new challenges, and new opportunities. Whether you’re in the office, on the road, or in a meeting, staying connected and organized is crucial. Your team needs an all-in-one tool that can keep up with you, one that lets you communicate seamlessly and manage every aspect of your work in one place.

Plural users record and save voice memos for a number of different purposes. But it’s not just about recording your thoughts and updates. Plural ensures your voice memos are organized right where they belong, so you can always find that critical piece of information when you need it. No more digging through emails or notes — your thoughts and insights are stored alongside your other key documents, all in one place.

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Plural’s Public Policy Organization Tools

Top public policy teams trust Plural for their policy tracking, collaboration, and organization needs. With Plural, you’ll:
- Access superior public policy data
- Be the first to know about new bills and changes in bill status
- Streamline your day with seamless organization features
- Harness the power of time-saving AI tools to gain insights into individual bills and the entire legislative landscape
- Keep everyone on the same page with internal collaboration and external reporting all in one place
Create a free account or book a demo today.

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