NFA-LD 2026–27

Public ownership of essential industries

A working research hub for the current NFA-LD resolution, with a plain-language topic briefing and individually searchable debate cards.

Resolution

The United States federal government should substantially increase its public ownership of one or more of the following industries: electric utilities, health insurance, arms manufacturing, pharmaceuticals.

Search 167 topic cards Download topic briefing

Five complete affirmative directions

Electric utilities

Green TVA public-power buildout

A fifth federal Power Marketing Administration joins TVA, the existing PMAs, and Reclamation to own renewable generation, storage, and a modern HVDC grid.

Health insurance

Medicare for All

Enacts H.R. 3069's universal federal insurance program, two-year transition, comprehensive benefits, and prohibition on duplicative private coverage.

Health insurance

Medicare-X public option

Enacts S. 3369's federally administered Exchange plan beginning in 2028, using Medicare rates, negotiated drug prices, and nationwide reinsurance.

Pharmaceuticals

Public pharmaceutical manufacturing

Uses the Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act model to create an HHS manufacturing office for insulin, shortage drugs, and active ingredients.

Arms manufacturing

Public nonprofit defense primes

Buys out shareholders of the five largest U.S. defense primes with Treasury bonds and recharters them as publicly owned nonprofit corporations.

Negative toolkit

Case negatives, DAs, CPs, and kritiks

Tailored answers to every affirmative plus fiscal, transition, innovation, politics, public-option, partial-ownership, state-capitalism, militarism, and biopolitics ground.

Case outlines and tournament files

Complete plan outlines, reading orders, contextual evidence, and round-ready extension blocks for this year's resolution.

Affirmative

AFF 1 — Green TVA Public PowerDOCX AFF 2 — Medicare for AllDOCX AFF 3 — Medicare-X Public OptionDOCX AFF 4 — Public Pharmaceutical ManufacturingDOCX AFF 5 — Public Arms ManufacturingDOCX

Negative

NEG Core — Case Negatives, DAs, CPs, and KritiksDOCX NEG 1 - Topicality and FrameworkDOCX NEG 2 - Fiscal and Transition DisadvantagesDOCX NEG 3 - Innovation and State Capture DisadvantagesDOCX NEG 4 - Counterplan LibraryDOCX NEG 5 - Kritik LibraryDOCX NEG 6 - Green TVA Case NegativeDOCX NEG 7 - Medicare for All Case NegativeDOCX NEG 8 - Medicare-X Case NegativeDOCX NEG 9 - Public Pharmaceuticals Case NegativeDOCX NEG 10 - Public Arms Case NegativeDOCX NEG 11 - Increase Topicality: Existing Public OwnershipDOCX

Newly added cards

NEG | Electric utilities | Cost based regulationU.S. Government Accountability Office. September 23, 2025. Nuclear Power: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Relies on Information From its Reactor Oversight Process to Ensure Safety. GAO-25-107807, p. 4, “Market Type and Electricity Prices,” including footnotes 9 and 10. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107807.pdf

NEG | Pharmaceuticals | Public investment alternativeArlene Joyner, MS PMP CSSGB, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. September 21, 2026. “Strengthening America’s Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: How IBMSC Is Building a More Resilient Future.” Opening second paragraph; “Domestic Manufacturing and Establishing the Strategic API Reserve,” second paragraph. https://www.aspr.gov/news-updates/blog/2026-09/strengthening-americas-pharmaceutical-supply-chain

AFF | Health insurance | Payment integrityU.S. Government Accountability Office. July 21, 2026. Program Integrity: Actions Needed to Reduce Improper Payment and Fraud Risks in VA Community Care and Medicare Advantage. GAO-26-107946. Highlights, “What GAO Found,” final paragraph; “CMS’s Corrective Actions for the Medicare Advantage Program Are Not Sufficiently Detailed and Do Not Adequately Monitor Progress,” first paragraph and footnotes 44 and 45; Background, “Program Integrity,” fourth paragraph. https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-26-107946/index.html

Federal transformer-stockpile procurement risks aggravating existing supply constraintsU.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), 2023. Electricity Grid: DOE Could Better Support Industry Efforts to Ensure Adequate Transformer Reserves, GAO-23-106180, August 2, 2023, printed pp. 14–15 (PDF pp. 18–19). https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-106180.pdf

NEG | Arms manufacturing | Implementation / oversightU.S. Government Accountability Office. (2026, March 12). Defense Contractor Cybersecurity: DOD Should Address External Factors That Could Impede Program Implementation. GAO-26-107955, Highlights: What GAO Found (PDF page 2). https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-26-107955.pdf

NEG | pharmaceuticals | AMR antibiotic subscription pull-incentive counterplan designBoluarte, T., & Schulze, U. (2022, February 11). “The Case for a Subscription Model to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance.” Boston Consulting Group. https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/model-for-tackling-antimicrobial-resistance