Guest blogger: Congresspedia intern Tim Malacarne

The Democratic Party [3]’s return to majority status in both the House [4] and Senate [5] for the 110th Congress [6] means that, for the first time since 1994, Democrats have the unfettered ability to set the congressional agenda. During the run up to the election, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid [7] (Nev.) and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi [8] (Calif.) tempted voters with an ambitious package of prospective legislation. Now that they are soon to assume control, let’s take a look at what is most likely to fill their plate at the beginning of the 110th Congress:

• Ethics reform [9] – after campaigning heavily on the issue, Democrats plan to pass legislation outlining stricter controls on members of Congress' interaction with lobbyists, a ban on travel, meals or gifts paid for by lobbyists, and the end to the practice of anonymous earmarking.
• Minimum wage increase [10] – Democratic leaders plan to introduce legislation to increase the minimum wage from $5.15/hour to $7.25/hour.
• Stem cell research - congressional Democrats will push to both increase federal funding for stem cell research and remove some restrictions on how that money can be used.
• Funding for college tuition – Democrats hope to increase federal funding for college tuition by cutting interest rates on student loans and increasing federal Pell Grants.
• 9/11 Commission [11] recommendations – During the campaign, Democrats pledged to implement all remaining recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. They have since backed off the immediate reorganization of congressional committees overseeing intelligence, but are expected to act on the remaining recommendations early in the 110th Congress [6].
• Pay-as-you-go – Democratic leaders pledged to authorize no new deficit spending: spending increases would be covered by spending cuts in other departments or increases in revenue.
• Federal budget – the 109th Congress failed to pass nine necessary spending bills for 2007, instead opting to punt the bills to the following legislative session.

For a more in depth look at these issues and to keep track of all the latest news on the congressional docket, be sure to check out Congresspedia [12]’s pages on the 110th Congress and the Democratic Party agenda [13].

[For a historical perspective on how promises made are not always promises kept, check out Congresspedia's page [14] on the members of Congress who made - and broke - pledges to abide by term limits as part of the 1994 Contract with America. -Ed.]