WASHINGTON, D.C. - According to the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, over the past 30 years, the richest 1% of Americans saw their wealth grow by nearly 300%, while the poorest 50% saw no growth.

The massive disparity in wealth in this country is perpetually the subject of intense debate. It’s even prompted at least one presidential candidate to call for a universal basic income.

Entrepreneur Andrew Yang proposes giving every American a thousand dollars a month.

“This is how we will get our country working for us again, the American people,” he said.

On Capitol Hill House Democrats have some different ideas. They voted to raise the federal minimum wage in July and are pushing to make it easier for unions to organize. House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth called a hearing Thursday to put pressure on Republicans to adopt measures he believes will better the lives of struggling Americans.

“My Republican friends like to talk about, with some justification, the expanding social safety net programs that we have. Well the more you bring people out of poverty into sustainable income, reduce inequality, the fewer people have to rely on those programs,” said Yarmuth

“There’s a large and growing body of research that shows that we cannot create strong or broadly shared economic gains through a policy agenda that presumes that growth follows from allowing those at the top to reap the bulk of the gains,” Heather Boushey, President of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, testified.

Republicans push back entirely on how Democrats frame this argument.

They say fewer Americans are living in poverty and describe President Trump’s policies like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as part of the larger pro-growth vision the country needs.

The poverty rate fell last year to its lowest level in eighteen years.

“We should be focusing this committee’s time on policies that create jobs, increase wages and expand opportunities for all Americans,” said Rep. Bill Johnson, a Republican from Ohio, Vice Ranking Member of the Budget Committee.

“If we want to get serious about ending inequality, we need to make sure that we don’t keep and push people to stay reliant on federal government programs. We need to give them an incentive to work themselves off of the system,” said Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri.

With 17.2 percent of Kentuckians living in poverty, it is the 5^th poorest state in the country. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 1.2 million people in Kentucky are covered by Medicaid.