{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-davids-calls-out-out-touch-washington-kansas-city-star-op-ed", "ICYMI: Davids Calls Out Out-of-Touch Washington in Kansas City Star Op-Ed on Affordability", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "KS", "Sharice Davids", "D000629", "davids.house.gov", "davids", "https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "In case you missed it, Representative Sharice Davids published an op-ed in the Kansas City Star calling out wealthy, out-of-touch politicians in Washington who don\u2019t feel rising costs the way Kansas families do \u2014 and laying out the concrete actions she\u2019s taking to actually fix affordability.\n\nDavids draws on her own upbringing, describing how she watched her single mother stretch every dollar to cover basic needs, and underscores that tens of thousands of Kansas families are still living that reality today. Meanwhile, she notes, billionaires continue to grow wealthier while working families struggle just to fill up their gas tanks.\n\nThe op-ed outlines Davids\u2019 record of action to lower costs, including pushing to roll back tariffs that raise grocery prices, working across party lines to support Kansas farmers, backing legislation to prevent price gouging, extending affordable health care, banning insider stock trading by members of Congress, and investing in child care, apprenticeships, and homebuyer programs.\n\nRead the full essay in the Kansas City Star here or below:\n\nThis month, President Donald Trump called affordability a \u201choax,\u201d a \u201ccon job\u201d and a \u201cscam.\u201d Meanwhile, Kansas families are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing costs, especially during the holidays.\n\nIn Washington, too many decision-makers simply don\u2019t feel these price increases themselves. When you\u2019re wealthy and insulated, affordability becomes just another message in a polished campaign ad \u2014 not a reality you have to live with.\n\nAnd we see it from both parties. Just this week, after promising signals \u2014 even from the president \u2014 about extending Affordable Care Act health care tax breaks, both parties fell back into partisan bills that were never going anywhere. Meanwhile, families face premiums that could double on Jan. 1. I\u2019m supporting bipartisan legislation to actually get this done, but that\u2019s not what we\u2019re seeing from politicians who have never had to worry about a health insurance bill.\n\nToo many in Washington are out of touch. They don\u2019t get what it feels like to choose between groceries and a medical bill. But Kansas families do. And they are the ones paying the price.\n\nI grew up watching my single mom count every dollar at the grocery store and put items back on the shelf when our budget went over. She negotiated with utility companies for a few extra days to pay the bill. Each morning, she hoped the car would start because we couldn\u2019t afford a repair.\n\nThat\u2019s real life. Tens of thousands of hardworking Kansas families live like this today \u2014 even if many lawmakers in Washington have never had to.\n\nAnd while families like mine were scraping to cover basic needs, billionaires were adding zeros to their bank accounts \u2014 a gap that has only grown as Kansans struggle just to fill up their gas tank today.\n\nThe numbers tell the same story. In 2024, a Kansan needed $85,000 to live comfortably. Today, just one year later, that number has risen by more than $3,000. Kansas had the sixth-highest rent increase in 2023, and home electricity costs have risen by 30% since 2021.\n\nAt the same time, billionaires continue to enjoy unfair tax breaks and hardworking families are pushed to the edge. People delay medical care, work multiple jobs, skip child care and see the dream of owning a home slip further away. These aren\u2019t abstract statistics \u2014 they are everyday realities that too many in Washington simply don\u2019t experience.\n\nFixing affordability is hard, but it\u2019s possible when we listen and stay grounded in what families actually face.\n\nTake grocery prices: I\u2019ve urged the administration to roll back reckless tariffs that make food more expensive, worked across party lines to help Kansas farmers grow and deliver food more affordably, and supported the Price Gouging Prevention Act to stop corporations from exploiting families.\n\nThese aren\u2019t slogans. They\u2019re action. And families need action now.\n\nThat looks like making sure large corporations earning record profits finally pay their fair share in taxes.\n\nIt looks like strengthening apprenticeships to get people into well-paying jobs now.\n\nIt looks like banning inside stock trading by members of Congress.\n\nIt looks like supporting farmers and agricultural programs to reduce food waste and lower prices.\n\nIt looks like investing in early childhood education and day care programs so parents can work.\n\nIt looks like helping first-time homebuyers and ensuring seniors keep more of their investment when downsizing.\n\nTalking about affordability has its place \u2014 it shows we hear the challenges families are facing. But too many in Washington can only talk about it. They\u2019ve never felt it. And therefore, they don\u2019t take it seriously.\n\nWords alone aren\u2019t enough. We need leaders who understand what rising costs actually mean for real people \u2014 and who are willing to do the work.\n\nFamilies don\u2019t need empty promises. They need action. They need it now. And I will fight every day to make sure Washington finally delivers.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-davids-calls-out-out-touch-washington-kansas-city-star-op-ed"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7740601431578398, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}