Tracking politicians' promises

The Promise:

"Biden will enact legislation to prohibit all online sales of firearms, ammunition, kits, and gun parts."

Update: Joe Biden’s administration did little to restrict online gun sales

The Promise:

"Biden will more than triple the number of community health workers – often workers of color serving the communities where they live – who are part of a national effort to both prevent and treat chronic conditions in underserved, economically-disadvantaged urban and rural communities."

Update: Biden directed funding to recruit community health workers, but didn’t add 150,000

The Promise:

"Joe Biden will work with Congress to pass legislation that creates a roadmap to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people who have been living in and strengthening our country for years."

Update: Biden broke his promise to provide citizenship to millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally

The Promise:

"Reduce our unacceptably high maternal mortality rate, which disproportionately impacts Native mothers. From 2007 to 2016 Native women were 2.3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. California came up with a strategy that halved the state’s maternal death rate. As president, Biden will reduce our unacceptably high maternal mortality rate, starting by taking the California strategy nationwide."

Update: Maternal mortality rate remains high, but Joe Biden took steps to improve outcomes

The Promise:

"Setting a goal that disadvantaged communities receive 40% of overall benefits of spending in the areas of clean energy and energy efficiency deployment; clean transit and transportation; affordable and sustainable housing; training and workforce development; remediation and reduction of legacy pollution; and development of critical clean water infrastructure."

Update: Independent assessments show mixed results from environmental justice push

The Promise:

"Expand broadband, or wireless broadband via 5G, to every American – recognizing that millions of households without access to broadband are locked out of an economy that is increasingly reliant on virtual collaboration."

Update: Biden invested to increase broadband access, but it will take time for Americans to see benefits

The Promise:

"Joe Biden will direct the CDC to provide specific evidence-based guidance for how to turn the dial up or down relative to the level of risk and degree of viral spread in a community, including when to open or close certain businesses, bars, restaurants, and other spaces; when to open or close schools, and what steps they need to take to make classrooms and facilities safe; appropriate restrictions on size of gatherings; when to issue stay-at-home restrictions."

Update: Biden used evidence for COVID-19 guidance, but experts say other factors likely influenced decisions

The Promise:

"Rebuild critical stockpiles, ensure adequate surge manufacturing capacity in times of crisis, and regularly review supply chain vulnerabilities."

Update: Biden administration replenished medical reserves, funded domestic production

The Promise:

"Forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities and private HBCUs and MSIs for debt-holders earning up to $125,000."

Update: Joe Biden forgave student loan debt, but not as much as promised

The Promise:

"I’m going to lower prescription drugs by 60%, and that’s the truth."

Update: Joe Biden reduced prescription drug prices, but not by 60% across the board

The Promise:

"Decriminalize the use of cannabis."

Update: Biden pushes marijuana rescheduling forward, but Trump administration likely to finish process

The Promise:

"I want to promise you one thing, the president has control of $600 billion, handing out contracts for construction. For everything from building aircraft carriers, to public housing. Well here’s the promise I’m making to you, not one single contract will be let to a contractor who doesn’t have products that are all made in America."

Update: Biden strengthened Buy American rules, but contractors still manufacture outside U.S.

The Promise:

"As President, Biden will strengthen our democracy by guaranteeing that every American’s vote is protected. He will start by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act to update section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and develop a new process for pre-clearing election changes."

Update: President Joe Biden broke promise to update the Voting Rights Act

The Promise:

"To bolster retirement security for older African Americans who have spent a lifetime working, the Biden Social Security reform plan will raise benefits for vulnerable beneficiaries—including widows and widowers, low-wage workers, and long duration beneficiaries who may have exhausted all other assets. In addition, Biden proposes to boost average benefits across the board while putting Social Security on a long-term path to solvency by raising payroll taxes for workers with more than $400,000 in earnings."

Update: No expansion of Social Security benefits enacted

The Promise:

"Biden will create a new public credit reporting and scoring division within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide consumers with a government option that seeks to minimize racial disparities, for example by ensuring the algorithms used for credit scoring don’t have a discriminatory impact, and by accepting non-traditional sources of data like rental history and utility bills to establish credit. "

Update: Biden fails to launch a new public credit reporting agency