The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is applauding Pres. Joe Biden for the historic wins laid out during his second State of the Union Address, but some progressive groups say the President didn’t do enough to address public safety, voting rights, and the housing crisis.

During his opening remarks, Biden said, “The story of America is a story of progress and resilience” as he touted his record of creating more jobs in two years than any other president in a four-year term, and boasted that under his administration the unemployment rate dropped to the lowest it’s been in 50 years.

CPC Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said in a statement, “Under his leadership and with Democrats in Congress, the President rightly celebrated a significant record of achievement tonight. [...] I am proud that the Progressive Caucus worked closely with the President to play a defining role in all these achievements.”

Jayapal also praised Biden for his “bold call for increased tax fairness with new taxes on billionaires and stock buybacks.”

Biden took several jabs at his colleagues across the aisle and received some heckles when he said that billionaires should not be paying less in taxes than firefighters and called out Republicans for wanting Medicare and Social Security to “sunset.”

Biden also talked about the need to “finish the job on police reform” as he acknowledged the parents of Tyre Nichols sitting in the audience. Nichols died last month after he was brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers.

During his address, Biden said, “With the support of families of victims, civil rights groups, and law enforcement, I signed an executive order for all federal officers banning chokeholds, restricting no-knock warrants, and other key elements of the George Floyd Act.”

But Michele Kilpatrick, Co-Director of Advocacy and Mobilization for the Center for Popular Democracy, says that instead of more police reform, she’d rather see investment in initiatives that will address the root causes of violence.

“[A] lot of those reforms were in place in Memphis and had been in place in other jurisdictions where there have still been killings, there's still harassment, there's still a lot of people being locked up and not being kept safe,” said Kilpatrick, “ And so, we would like to see a lot more focus on programs that are really focused on public safety, like real public safety, and less dependence on incarceration and policing.”

And Seft Hunter, Director of Black-led Organizing for Community Change said in a statement, “We need systemic reform that changes the very nature of how our communities are policed – not more spending on training and equipment. Body cameras can help us hold police accountable, but they are not a strong enough deterrent to violence.”

Biden barely mentioned voting rights in a single sentence, which Hunter said needs to be made a priority. In his statement, Hunter said, “Since the 2020 election, we have seen bills introduced in almost every state that would make it more difficult for Black people to vote. Congress must act to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the President must champion strengthening our democracy, which has never been at greater risk.”

According to Vishal Shankar and Toni Aguilar Rosenthal, both researchers at Revolving Door Project (RDP), the best parts of Biden’s speech echo some of the things RDP has been urging his administration to prioritize for the last year, like cracking down on predatory corporations.

“This year’s SOTU saw Biden more willing to name and shame these villains, from Big Pharma to Big Oil. He also showed how the executive branch can make government work for the people,” said Shankar and Aguilar in a statement, “The CFPB’s crackdown on excessive credit card late fees and FTC’s crackdown on noncompete agreements are two excellent examples – it’s no wonder that corporate lobbyists are desperately trying to stop them, and in the case of the CFPB, get right-wing judges to strike down the entire agency.”

Shankar and Aguilar say Biden’s speech failed to mention his plan to address the housing crisis, which TYT reported on last week. They also note that there was no call to action by Biden to fill a number of vacant Senate-confirmed positions.

“Biden’s picks for crucial positions, like FCC nominee Gigi Sohn, HUD nominee Dave Uejio, and EEOC nominee Kalpana Kotagal, remain unconfirmed as a result of right-wing smear campaigns and GOP-led confirmation blockades. Biden should have called on Dems to wield their newly increased Senate majority to finally confirm these nominees,” said Shankar and Aguilar in their statement.

TYT Washington Correspondent Candice Cole was previously a correspondent and senior White House producer for the Black News Channel and has worked at a number of local news outlets. You can find her on Twitter @CandiceColeNews.