Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Why we should bring our politics to the table

Millennial Action Project President & CEO Layla Zaidane

The Future Summit helps politicians set aside political affiliation while pioneering legislative solutions, writes Zaidane.

Courtesy Millennial Action Project
Zaidane is the president and CEO of Millennial Action Project.

We've heard the saying, "You can't have your cake and eat it, too."

We've been asked — for the sake of preventing conflict — to "not talk politics" in certain settings.

But what if bringing your politics to the table made the conversation productive? What if, in fact, you could have your cake and eat it, too? At the annual Future Summit, young lawmakers are not asked to drop the letter behind their name; instead, they are asked to leverage their legislative experience in order to co-create innovative policy solutions.

Yes, at Future Summit, you can have your politics and eat it, too.

The Millennial Action Project is a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to ushering in more collaborative governance at the state and federal level. We believe in empowering our young leaders with the tools and relationships they need to better serve their constituencies, regardless of who they voted for. One of those tools is the annual Future Summit.

Millennial policymakers attend Future Summit because it provides them a unique space and opportunity to speak candidly about their legislative experience, take winning off the table, and find common ground with those across the aisle. One legislator shared with me how, telling me: "The event offered solutions-focused discussions and strategies to build a path out of this period of partisan division." This is exactly why we find our work vital. Legislators covered the future of work, energy and environment, criminal justice, democracy reform, term limits, legislative session lengths, and more.

I won't pretend this work is easy. That's precisely why it energizes me that legislators who might have begun Future Summit thinking they couldn't find common ground did just that. They embodied our ethos: Listen first, say "we", build trust, empower others, break barriers and find ways to innovate freely.

While this work isn't done overnight, we are planting the seeds to reimagine our democracy. Future Summit enables young lawmakers to make progress toward a new approach to politics that our country greatly needs: post-partisanship. By moving beyond conventional party divides — by refusing to settle for middle-of-the-road solutions that satisfy no party — we create a third, more enterprising option: new, innovative policy solutions. These solutions may not neatly fit anywhere on the two-dimensional spectrum. That's the point. Instead, they exist in a new dimension that can only be achieved only through collaboration, and most of all empathy for differing perspectives.

One legislator shared how she makes a point of connecting with someone seemingly "as far opposite" of her on the political spectrum each legislative session, and coauthors a bill where they can find common ground. This is innovation: setting aside political affiliation for pioneering solutions and finding strength in difference.

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to exchange ideas with fellow legislators from across the country at the 2021 Future Summit, and was particularly impressed with the commitment to bipartisanship exhibited throughout the conference. Several sessions sparked new ideas for me, and I was inspired to grow my presence on social channels during the media lunchtime session. — Democratic state Rep. Aaron Ling Johanson of Hawaii

Future Summit has gone on to birth State Future Caucuses, most recently in Connecticut and Oklahoma, with the help of MAP. In 2018, Utah state Sen. Daniel Thatcher gained momentum at Future Summit to catalyze the implementation of what we now know as the national suicide prevention hotline, 9-8-8. From his efforts cross-pollinating at the state level, this legislation was introduced in Congress as HR 4194, and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Oct. 19, 2020.

This event encapsulates every aspect of MAP's work; it represents more than old school bipartisanship, it's a laboratory curating a new political culture rooted in collaboration. The work done here is just the beginning of real millennial-driven policy change. It lays the groundwork for productive politics and a more representative and inclusive form of governance.

We must stretch the spirit of Future Summit far beyond the two-day event. Legislators can do this by co-creating legislation with colleagues across the aisle. Americans can do this by sharing positive bridge-building stories that often don't make the national headlines.

Future Summit proves that our generation can change the political culture and restore public trust in democracy.

Read More

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

US President Donald Trump reacts next to Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, after speaking at the public memorial service for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21, 2025.

(Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Could Trump’s campaign against the media come back to bite conservatives?

In the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’sapparently temporary— suspension from late-night TV, a (tragically small) number of prominent conservatives and Republicans have taken exception to the Trump administration’s comfort with “jawboning” critics into submission.

Sen. Ted Cruz condemned the administration’s “mafioso behavior.” He warned that “going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again — wins the White House … they will silence us.” Cruz added during his Friday podcast. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A stethoscope lying on top of credit cards.

Enhanced health care tax credits expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts. Learn who benefits, what’s at risk, and how premiums could rise without them.

Getty Images, yavdat

Just the Facts: What Happens If Enhanced Health Care Tax Credits End in 2025

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

There’s been a lot in the news lately about healthcare costs going up on Dec. 31 unless congress acts. What are the details?

The enhanced health care premium tax credits (ePTCs) are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts to extend them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Rep. Angie Craig’s No Social Media at School Act would ban TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat during K-12 school hours. See what’s in the bill.

Getty Images, Daniel de la Hoz

Congress Bill Spotlight: No Social Media at School Act

Gen Z’s worst nightmare: TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat couldn’t be used during school hours.

What the bill does

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN2) introduced the No Social Media at School Act, which would require social media companies to use “geofencing” to block access to their products on K-12 school grounds during school hours.

Keep ReadingShow less
A portrait of John Adams.

John Adams warned that without virtue, republics collapse. Today, billionaire spending and unchecked wealth test whether America can place the common good above private gain.

John Adams Warned Us: A Republic Without Virtue Cannot Survive

John Adams understood a truth that feels even sharper today: a republic cannot endure without virtue. Writing to Mercy Otis Warren in April 1776, he warned that public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without [private virtue], and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.” For Adams, liberty would not be preserved by clever constitutions alone. It depended on citizens who could restrain their selfish impulses for the sake of the common good.

That insight has lost none of its force. Some people do restrain themselves. They accumulate enough to live well and then turn to service, family, or community. Others never stop. Given the chance, they gather wealth and power without limit. Left unchecked, selfishness concentrates material and social resources in the hands of a few, leaving many behind and eroding the sense of shared citizenship on which democracy depends.

Keep ReadingShow less