California Democrats say they want to help lower prices for the holidays. Can they?
Four California Democrats and 18 other House members are calling on their colleagues to get prices down and ease the supply chain crunch before Christmas.
“With just three weeks to Christmas, we have to do more to get the supply chain under control so these outrageous prices come back down to Earth,” Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, said in a news release.
“Every kid deserves to wake up with presents under the tree and every family deserves to fill up their tank without breaking the bank. Fixing our supply chain ASAP is a huge step toward making that happen,” he said.
But experts say such a result is highly unlikely.
“It’s not possible,” said Christopher Tang, faculty director at the UCLA Center for Global Management.
Harder joined Reps. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, Lou Correa, D-Orange County, Scott Peters, D-San Diego, and 18 other House Democrats to send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging “additional action by the House of Representatives to further address the disruptions and higher costs our constituents are experiencing.”
The backup at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle 40% of the nation’s imports, persist. The disruptions have helped create gaps in supplies of a range of consumer products. And the growing economy, and increased demand, helped push the annual increase in consumer prices to a 31-year high last month.
There is very little Congress can do before Christmas to ease the situation, experts said.
“The intentions are good but there’s no plan. These are empty words,” said Tang, an expert on supply chain management.
“I fail to see how Congress or the President could do much to unclog supply chains and lower prices before people finish their Christmas shopping, with one exception – oil,” said Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
Whether executive action has helped lower oil prices is difficult to ascertain. Biden ordered the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve November 23 “to lower prices for Americans.”
In California, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline Monday was $4.68.9 cents a gallon, according to AAA. That is down down from last week’s $4.71.1, though it’s higher up from the month-ago average of $4.62.3.
Congress and the supply chain
Garamendi is sponsoring the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which he says will help lower costs, address backlog issues and resolve other related matters. The White House endorsed the bill last month, and the House is expected to pass it Tuesday.
Harder has taken several steps to ease the supply crisis and price increases. “Rep. Harder knows families are paying way too much right now. That’s why he’s laser-focused on passing legislation, pushing the White House and working with federal agencies to do everything in their power to get costs under control ASAP,” said spokesman Andrew Mamo.
Harder signed a letter last month with 79 other members of Congress urging Washington to allow 18 to 20 year olds to operate commercial trucks across interstate lines.
He’s also leading the congressional effort to pass the Supply Chain Task Force Act, which would create an interagency taskforce to immediately work on addressing the backlog at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and along the Southern California coast.
Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said at her news conference last week that “As we enter the holiday season, we have to address...(the) question of supply chain, inflation, all the rest.”
She cited several initiatives, though none is likely to bring much relief during the holiday season. The massive infrastructure bill signed into law last month includes $17 billion to help ports and waterways run smoothly. The Build Back Better bill, passed by the House and now awaiting Senate action, would provide funds to help manufacturing supply chains..
The speaker also pointed to the House moving forward with the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The bill would create a way of dealing with supply chain crises, as well as authorize billions for advanced technology research.
Price relief for the holidays?
While Biden’s actions recently to unclog the ports has had some impact, Congress can’t act so quickly..
The lawmakers’ letter cites several bills to ease the economic problems that members have introduced. It asks that the “House swiftly considers the numerous bills written by our House colleagues that will support domestic manufacturing, agricultural exports, and provide additional solutions to our supply chain crisis.”
But Congress is aiming to end its 2021 legislative business by the end of next week, and still has to figure out how to pass a defense policy bill as well as increase the nation’s debt limit--or risk a catastrophic government default.
Trying to ease inflation, though, is a complex task. Prices reflect not only a business’ effort to retrieve its costs and make a profit, but supply and demand. And with container ships backed up, supply remains difficult to predict.
For all these reasons, Tang said, “there are no short-term fixes.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California Democrats say they want to help lower prices for the holidays. Can they?."
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