COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus:
“Concern about the coronavirus continues to grow, yet the Trump administration’s response has been inadequate, misleading, and dangerous. By picking Vice President Mike Pence to lead the administration’s response to the pandemic, Trump has not only chosen someone completely unqualified, but the president has made clear that he’s more concerned about his own politics than the health and safety of the country.
“In my view, the Trump administration must take immediate action. First, they must replace Mike Pence with an expert on pandemics and disaster response. Second, the Trump administration must stop releasing misleading, unscientific, and false information about whether the coronavirus is controlled or when it will be controlled. Third, they must immediately staff their response team with experts and scientists to help us address a pandemic based on facts – Steve Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow are political cronies, not scientists. In addition, Trump must sign the full $8.5 billion in coronavirus response funding proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer.
“We need a president who does not play politics with our health and national security. Besides passing Medicare for All so everyone can see a doctor or get a vaccine for free, my administration will greatly expand funding for the Center for Disease Control and National Institute of Health, work with the international community, including with the World Health Organization, and invest in research and technology to make vaccines available quickly,” Sanders stated.
One of the most severe criticisms of Senator Bernie Sanders’ candidacy is the price tag of his progressive programs including Medicare for All, College for All, universal child care and pre-K, and Green New Deal and how these programs would be paid for. In the Charleston, SC debate (number 10 for anyone who is counting), Senator Amy Klobuchar charged that his plans, collectively, would cost $60 trillion, or three times the entire US economy. Now, just ahead of the South Carolina and Super Tuesday primaries, Sanders has released his plan to pay for his major policy proposals, which he handed to Chris Cuomo during a CNN town hall on February 24:
It will cost $2.2 trillion to make public colleges, universities and trade schools tuition free and to cancel all student debt over the next decade. It is fully paid for by a modest tax on Wall Street speculation that will raise an estimated $2.4 trillion over ten years.
Bernie’s bill to expand Social Security will increase benefits for low-income senior citizens and people with disabilities by more than $1,300 a year. It is fully paid for by making the wealthiest 1.8% of Americans – those with incomes over $250,000 a year – pay the same rate into Social Security as working families.
This bill will also extend the solvency of Social Security into the year 2070 – ensuring that Social Security can pay every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 50 years.
Bernie’s proposal to guarantee housing as a human right and to eliminate
homelessness will cost $2.5 trillion over the next decade.
It is fully paid for by a wealth tax on the top one-tenth of one percent –
those who have a net worth of at least $32 million. (Bernie’s wealth tax
will raise a total of $4.35 trillion.)
Bernie’s proposal to guarantee universal childcare and pre-school to every
family in America who needs it will cost $1.5 trillion.
It is fully paid for by a wealth tax on the top one-tenth of one percent –
those who have a net worth of at least $32 million. (Bernie’s wealth tax
will raise a total of $4.35 trillion.)
Bernie has introduced a proposal to eliminate all of the $81 billion in past
due medical debt held by 79 million Americans. It is fully paid for by
establishing an income inequality tax on large corporations that pay CEOs at
least 50 times more than average workers.
The $16.3 trillion climate change proposal that Bernie has introduced will
fundamentally transform our energy system away from fossil fuel and towards
energy efficiency and renewable energy. It will also create 20 million
good-paying union jobs in the process.
It is fully paid for by:
– Raising $3.085 trillion by making the fossil fuel
industry pay for their pollution, through litigation, fees, and taxes, and
eliminating federal fossil fuel subsidies.
– Generating $6.4 trillion in revenue from the wholesale of
energy produced by the regional Power Marketing Administrations. This
revenue will be collected from 2023-2035, and after 2035 electricity will be
virtually free, aside from operations and maintenance costs.
– Reducing defense spending by $1.215 trillion by
scaling back military operations on protecting the global oil supply.
– Collecting $2.3 trillion in new income tax
revenue from the 20 million new jobs created by the plan.
– Saving $1.31 trillion by reduced the need for federal
and state safety net spending due to the creation of millions of good-paying,
unionized jobs.
– Raising $2 trillion in revenue by making large
corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
Key Points:
By averting climate catastrophe we will save: $2.9 trillion
over 10 years, $21 trillion over 30 years and $70.4 trillion
over 80 years.
If we do not act, the U.S. will lose $34.5 trillion by the end
of the century in economic productivity.
According to a February 15, 2020 study by epidemiologists at Yale University,
the Medicare for All bill that Bernie wrote would save over $450 billion in
health care costs and prevent 68,000 unnecessary deaths – each and every year.
Since 2016, Bernie has proposed a menu of financing options that would more
than pay for the Medicare for All legislation he has introduced according to
the Yale study.
These options include:
Creating a 4 percent income-based premium paid by employees, exempting
the first $29,000 in income for a family of four.
In 2018, the typical working family paid an average of $6,015 in premiums to
private health insurance companies. Under this option, a typical family
of four earning $60,000, would pay a 4 percent income-based premium to fund
Medicare for All on income above $29,000 – just $1,240 a year – saving that
family $4,775 a year. Families of four making less than $29,000 a year
would not pay this premium.
(Revenue raised: About $4 trillion over 10-years.)
Imposing a 7.5 percent income-based premium paid by employers,
exempting the first $1 million in payroll to protect small businesses.
In 2018, employers paid an average of $14,561 in private health insurance
premiums for a worker with a family of four. Under this option, employers
would pay a 7.5 percent payroll tax to help finance Medicare for All – just
$4,500 – a savings of more than $10,000 a year.
(Revenue raised: Over $5.2 trillion over 10-years.)
Eliminating health tax expenditures, which would no longer be needed
under Medicare for All.
(Revenue raised: About $3 trillion over 10-years.)
Raising the top marginal income tax rate to 52% on income over $10
million.
(Revenue raised: About $700 billion over 10-years.)
Replacing the cap on the state and local tax deduction with an overall
dollar cap of $50,000 for a married couple on all itemized deductions.
(Revenue raised: About $400 billion over 10-years.)
Taxing capital gains at the same rates as income from wages and
cracking down on gaming through derivatives, like-kind exchanges, and the zero
tax rate on capital gains passed on through bequests.
(Revenue raised: About $2.5 trillion over 10-years.)
Enacting the For the 99.8% Act, which
returns the estate tax exemption to the 2009 level of $3.5 million, closes
egregious loopholes, and increases rates progressively including by adding a
top tax rate of 77% on estate values in excess of $1 billion.
(Revenue raised: $336 billion over 10-years.)
Enacting corporate tax reform including restoring the top federal
corporate income tax rate to 35 percent.
(Revenue raised: $3 trillion of which $1 trillion would be used to help finance
Medicare for All and $2 trillion would be used for the Green New Deal.)
Using $350 billion of the amount raised from the tax on extreme wealth
to help finance Medicare for All.
The vigorous contest of Democrats
seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy
proposals to address major issue. It is estimated that the United States
requires some $2 trillion in infrastructure investment just to keep bridges
from falling down, make necessary improvements to water systems, electric
systems, not to mention transition to sustainable systems that both mitigate
against climate change and take the necessary steps to get to net-zero carbon
emissions to stop the march to global warming. Mayor Pete Buttigieg released
his “Building for the 21st Century” comprehensive infrastructure
plan. It does not use the word “climate”; it refers to “sustainable” once. This
is from the Buttigieg campaign:
Pete Buttigieg released “Building for the 21st
Century,” a bold, comprehensive infrastructure plan that will create more
economic opportunities for individuals and communities. His plan will create 6
million well-paying jobs, ensure that everyone has access to clean drinking
water and affordable ways to get to work and empower local communities to lead
on infrastructure development so that they can support safe, vibrant, growing
neighborhoods.
“The current administration has been incapable of keeping its
promise to pass major infrastructure legislation, and as a result, critical
projects around the country are stalled and communities are paying the price,” said Buttigieg. “Cities and
towns have been leading the way on new infrastructure partnerships and
approaches, but too often the federal government does not help as it
should—failing to fund and prioritize infrastructure and relying on outdated
standards. Under my administration, local governments will finally have a
partner in Washington. As a former mayor, I know that priority-based budgets
made locally are better than budget-based priorities set in Washington.”
Pete’s administration will invest over $1 trillion to work with
states, cities, and other local governments to build the sustainable
infrastructure of the 21st century. Pete’s plan will:
Create six million well-paying jobs with strong labor protections,
especially in underrepresented communities.
Commit $10 billion to attract and train a skilled infrastructure
workforce, including by supporting pre-apprenticeship programs that
collaborate with Registered Apprenticeships.
Protect millions of families from lead in paint and water through a
$100 billion investment in a Lead-Safe Communities Fund. The Fund will provide
resources for communities to clean up and remove lead in paint, soil, and
water. Pete administration’s will also replace 3 million lead service lines by
2030 and support best-in-class corrosion control practices.
Lower water bills for over 10 million families. Pete will
work with Congress to create a $16 billion Drinking Water Assistance Matching
Fund that coordinates with the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The
Fund will provide a federal funding match for states and local water systems
that assist low-income families with water bill payments, slashing the average
water bill by 50 percent – which is equal to over $600 on average – for 10
million families.
Invest $160 billion to support cities and towns in providing
equitable public transportation, including improved options for
subway, light rail, bus rapid transit, and last mile service. Pete will provide
dedicated funding for communities that have limited access to basic services
like grocery stores to expand their transportation options. He will also
dramatically expand funding for rural public transportation.
Cut the backlog of critical road repairs in half over 10 years. Pete will
make sure that 50% of our roads in poor condition and structurally deficient
bridges get fixed within 10 years. His DOT will require states to develop
achievable plans for maintaining their roads and make progress on these plans
before they use federal funds for new roads or expansions.
Repair school infrastructure. Investing in K-12
education means investing in our schools, so students can learn in a safe and
healthy environment. Pete will invest $80 billion in a new school repair
program, in which states allocate grants and loans to school districts based on
poverty levels. He will provide dedicated funding to help meet U.S. trust and
treaty obligations to repair the Bureau of Indian Education schools.
Mitigate past injustices in transportation planning. Since the
1950s, highway expansion projects have split apart Black and Latino
neighborhoods nationwide and driven up pollution in these communities. Pete’s
DOT will work with local stakeholders and nonprofits to create a list of
communities that require additional investment to mitigate harms from past
highway projects. He will encourage cities to use federal highway funds to
revitalize and reconnect communities through innovative projects, including new
underpass designs, highway caps, and turning underutilized bridges into
complete urban streets.
Pete’s agenda will build a new era of economic success that truly
uplifts America’s working and middle-class families. Read the full agenda HERE.
The vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. Pete Buttigieg, stepping up his progressive bona fides, offered his plan to rebalance the economy in favor of American families, while ensuring the largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share. This is from the Buttigieg campaign:
Los Angeles, CA – Today, Pete Buttigieg announced a series of proposals to rebalance
the economy in favor of American families while ensuring the largest
corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.
Pete is announcing a series of proposals that
will provide tax relief to the 98% of American households that aren’t in the
richest 2%, including expanding the child tax credit to reduce child poverty by
2.5 million, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit by an average of $1,000 per
year for 35 million American families and rolling back the Trump
administration’s cap on the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT), which
disproportionately hurts states like California in their efforts to enact more
progressive tax policies.
At the same time, Pete will hold Wall Street and
corporations accountable for paying their fair share. As president, Pete will
roll back the Trump and Reagan-era tax cuts on millionaires and billionaires,
impose a Financial Transaction Tax and make big banks pay for financial crisis
risk to ensure Wall Street no longer takes advantage of Main Street, and crack
down on multinational corporations shipping profits and jobs
overseas.
“This president has done everything in his
power to line the pockets of corporations and the wealthy, while too many
working and middle class families are having to choose between child care and
saving for college, and while homeownership remains out of reach for millions,”
said Pete Buttigieg. “As president, I will rebalance our economy so it works
for all Americans, hold Wall Street and corporations accountable, and bring
fairness to our tax system so we can lift millions out of poverty and into
greater opportunity.”
Pete’s plans to achieve tax fairness in America
include:
Expanding the Child Tax Credit to reduce child poverty
by 2.5 million
Under the Trump administration, housing and health care costs have
outstripped working-class wages. As President, Pete will rebalance the economy
in favor of working and middle class Americans by making the current Child Tax
Credit fully refundable, so every family earning under $400,000 receives $2,000
per child per year in refundable tax relief. He will also create an additional
$1,000 refundable Young Child Tax Credit for children under 6. These policies
will lift 2.5 million children out of poverty, including 1.5 million Black and
Latino children.
Expanding the Earned
Income Tax Credit.
Pete will expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and grow workers’
incomes by an average of $1,000 per year for 35 million American households.
This tax cut will help put more money in the hands of workers and middle class
families by offsetting income taxes and other taxes that eat into workers’ take
home pay.
Removing Trump’s
punitive cap on the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT) for households earning
less than $400,000.
SALT avoids penalizing states and cities in high-cost areas and
with robust social services, by allowing families to pay state and local taxes
out of pre-federal-income-tax dollars and thereby avoid double taxation. In the
2017 Republican tax bill, while at the same time as providing tax breaks to
corporations and millionaires, Trump placed a politically motivated cap on
SALT. Trump’s economic adviser gloated that it would deliver “death to
Democrats” by hurting families in Democratic-leaning states with high costs of
living and more progressive tax policies and social services. Removing the SALT
cap for families undoes Trump’s politically motivated tax increase and enables
governors and mayors across the country to enact progressive tax
policies.
These efforts bring Pete’s total direct
investments in the working and middle class families to $6 trillion and, in
combination with his other policy proposals, will cut child poverty in half. He
makes an additional $3 trillion of long-term investments in climate resilience,
strengthening our infrastructure, and protecting Social Security for American
workers and families.
At the same time as providing tax relief to
working and middle class Americans, Pete will hold Wall Street, corporations
and the wealthy accountable to pay their fair share by:
Rolling back the Trump and Reagan-era tax cuts for
corporations and the wealthy.
Pete will raise the total effective tax rate on millionaires from
31% to 49%, rolling back the Trump and Reagan-era tax cuts for the wealthiest
Americans and the corporations they own. In rolling back these tax cuts – which
lined the pockets of corporations, millionaires and billionaires – Pete will
achieve historic tax fairness by raising $9 trillion from corporations, Wall
Street, and the top 2% over the next ten years and will raise over $5 trillion
from wealth and wealth income.
Holding Wall Street
accountable through a Financial Transaction Tax and by making banks pay for
financial risk.
It’s time that Wall Street be held accountable for taking
advantage of Main Street. As president, Pete will impose a .1% financial
transaction tax on all stock and other securities trades to curb inequality and
Wall Street gambling that causes “flash crashes”. Pete will also make big banks
pay every year for the extra financial crisis risk they pose: the bigger and
more threatening the bank, the more tax they have to pay. Together, these
policies will raise $900 billion to pay for tax relief for working and middle
class Americans and to invest in priorities like education, infrastructure and
protecting Social Security.
Cracking down on
corporations shipping profits and jobs overseas.
Foreign profits of U.S. multinational corporations are currently
taxed at only 10.5% and on a weak “global basis” instead of a strong
“per-country basis”. As president, Pete will increase the tax on corporate
profits made abroad on a per-country basis at a 28-35% rate to ensure that
multinational companies are held accountable when they ship profits and jobs
overseas. This will raise over $700 billion to pay for tax relief for working
and middle class Americans and to invest in priorities like education, infrastructure
and long-term care for ailing seniors.
The vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. Senator Bernie Sanders is releasing what he says is “the most comprehensive and expansive early childhood policy ever proposed by a candidate running for president,” except that he does not attach a price tag nor say how it will be paid for. Separately, in a “60 Minutes” interview, he said the undetermined amount would be paid for from a wealth tax (Senator Elizabeth Warren has said the same thing, except she attaches dollar figures to her proposal.) This is from the Sanders campaign:
Sen. Bernie Sanders released the most comprehensive and expansive early childhood policy ever proposed by a candidate running for president, including guaranteeing free, high-quality child care for all children from infancy and pre-k starting at age three.
“Childcare must be guaranteed for every child regardless of their parents’ income, just like K-12 education. We know that the first four years of a child’s life are the most important years of human development, so it is unconscionable that in the wealthiest country in the world, we do not properly invest in early childhood education.” Sanders said. “As president, we will guarantee free, universal childcare and pre-kindergarten to every child in America to help level the playing field, create new and good jobs, and enable parents more easily balance the demands of work and home.”
Today in America, our child care and pre-kindergarten system is failing our children, our parents, and our child care and early education workers. Not only is our child care infrastructure and access to high-quality care and early learning lacking throughout the country, child care is unaffordable in every single state in America.
The average family in America today spends nearly $10,000 a year on child care. For low-income families, the burden is even higher: a full 35 percent of these families’ income goes toward child care. According to a survey conducted last year, over half of mothers worked less hours to save on child care costs, and a quarter of moms left the workforce entirely due to care for their children.
Our dysfunctional system also punishes the people who take care of, nurture, and educate our youngest children. Child care workers, on average, make just $11 an hour despite the skyrocketing costs of child care and early education. Even though they take on the most important job in America – caring for our children – child care workers, 96 percent of whom are women and are disproportionately women of color, are paid starvation wages.
In the richest country in the history of the world, we have a moral responsibility as a nation to guarantee high-quality care and education for every single child, regardless of background or family income. We owe it to our children, parents, and child care workers to do much better.
As President, Bernie will:
Guarantee every child in America free full-day, full-week, high-quality child care from infancy through age three, regardless of income.
Provide child care at least 10 hours a day and ensure programs operate at times to serve parents who work non-traditional hours.
Guarantee every child access to a full-day, full-week pre-kindergarten education, regardless of income, starting at age 3.
Ensure students with disabilities receive the support they need and are included with their peers from an early age.
Double funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, which supports home visiting services from nurses, mental health professionals, social workers, and other support professionals for families with young children who live in low-income and at-risk communities.
Pass Bernie’s Universal School Meals Act that he introduced with Rep. Ilhan Omar to provide year-round, free universal school meals — breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks — to every child in child care and pre-k.
Construct, renovate, or rehabilitate the child care facilities and pre-schools we need throughout the country.
Enact Bernie’s Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education to make transformative investments in our public education system to ensure the developmental gains made by implementing universal child care and pre-k are built upon when children start their K-12 education and:
More than double the number of early childhood educators in this country from over 1.3 million to more than 2.6 million.
Guarantee everyone working in the field of early education a living wage, ensure all are compensated commensurate with their experience and training, and ensure all lead teachers are paid no less than similarly qualified kindergarten teachers.
Require anyone providing direct service to young children have at least child a Child Development Associates (CDA) credential, all assistant teachers have at least an Associate’s Degree in early childhood education or child development, and all lead preschool teachers have a Bachelor’s Degree in early childhood education or child development.
Guarantee support for existing and new early care and learning professionals to get the education required to care for and teach young children, within a reasonable phase-in period, and ensure that these professionals reflect the cultural, linguistic, racial and ethnic diversity of the communities they serve.
Ensure that all early childhood educators have access to ongoing high-quality professional development that includes coaching and mentoring.
Provide early childhood workers with strong protections for unionizing, sector-wide collective bargaining, workers’ rights, workplace safety, and fair scheduling, regardless of immigration status, and that they have the information and tools they need to act on these rights and protections through the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act introduced by Rep. Pramilla Jayapal and enacting Bernie’s Workplace Democracy plan.
The vigorous contest of Democrats
seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy
proposals to address major issues. Senator Elizabeth Warren released her
plan to “Restore Integrity and Competence to Government After Donald Trump”
“Donald Trump’s
presidency has been a dark period in American history. That period won’t end
just because Donald Trump has left office. If we want to write a new chapter in
the American story — one in which the government and economy actually work for
the people — we will have to cleanse the corruption from our government and
urgently act to appoint officials who will bring integrity to public service,”
Warren states.
This is from the Warren campaign:
Charlestown, MA – In one year, the next
president will start her first full day of work. Donald Trump will be leaving
behind a disaster: agencies gutted, others run by lobbyists and rife with
corruption and policies that have thrown our country into crisis. The next president
will need to have the energy, expertise, and vision to safeguard our country,
rebuild the government swiftly, and make fundamental changes so that it works
for the American people.
Elizabeth has a plan to restore integrity and competence to government after
Donald Trump. She will:
Address the corruption and incompetence of the Trump Administration by:
Asking for the resignations of all political appointees,
including U.S. Attorneys, with an exception only for those positions necessary
to preserve continuity and protect national security during the transition
period.
Establishing an independent Justice Department Task Force to
investigate violations by Trump administration officials of federal bribery
laws, insider trading laws, and other anti-corruption and public integrity
laws, and give that task force independent authority to pursue any
substantiated criminal and civil violations.
Reviewing the performance of independent agencies and
removing leading officials for cause where there is justification to do
so.
Identifying federal contracting arrangements that arose as a
result of corruption in the Trump administration – and ending them.
Swiftly appoint new personnel:
Elizabeth will announce her choices for the Cabinet by
December 1, 2020, other top nominations by December 15, 2020, and fully staff
all senior and mid-level White House positions by Inauguration Day.
She will not hire any current lobbyists. If someone has
served as a corporate lobbyist in the past, they will have a six year cooling
off period and there will be no waivers or exceptions. Non-corporate lobbyists
will have a two year cooling off period, and any waivers will be made public.
She will also institute a number of rules to make sure that
executive branch officials are working on behalf of the people – not themselves
or their former employers.
She will use a number of existing tools to swiftly fill
government vacancies.
Build a government that reflects the energy and diversity of
America:
The Cabinet and senior leadership team will reflect the full
diversity of America, including having at least 50% of Cabinet positions filled
by women and non binary people.
LGBTQ+ people will be represented across all levels of
government, including in leadership roles.
She will diversify recruitment to direct real resources
toward attracting entry-level applicants for public service from HBCUs, Tribal
Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and other
minority-serving institutions, and reform high-level recruiting processes to
attract diverse experienced hires into senior management positions.
She will create new paid fellowship programs for federal
jobs for people from marginalized communities and low-income applicants,
including formerly incarcerated individuals.
She will open up promotion pathways by requiring every
federal agency to incorporate diversity as part of their core strategic plan
and creating support networks through a government-wide mentorship program that
centers Black and Brown employees.
And she will recommit to President Obama’s efforts to raise
the level of people with disabilities in federal service.
One year from today, the next president will begin her first full day of work.
She will be inheriting a government in crisis: from children in cages at
detention facilities near the border to a reckless foreign policy that
endangers our country and a bigoted ban on travelers from Muslim-majority
countries, our country will be in desperate need of immediate course
correction. Further, Donald Trump will leave behind a government that has been
infected by corruption and incompetence, and his vindictive actions as
president suggest that he is likely to do everything he can to undermine the
next president. We cannot assume that everything will be fine once Donald Trump
leaves office. The next president will need to have the energy, expertise, and
vision to safeguard our country, rebuild the government swiftly, and make
fundamental changes so that it works for the American people.
I know how to get the government working for the people because I’ve done it
before. Back in 2010, President Obama picked me to get the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) up and running. We recruited a mission-driven staff
and set up the organization, and it took swift action to protect Americans from
financial predators and make financial products safer. From defending people
with crushing levels of student debt to fighting for servicemembers and their
families who were targeted by financial vultures, the agency used every tool in
its toolbox to stand up for ordinary Americans. And that agency has now returned
more than $12 billion directly to people who were cheated.
I have also spent the last seven years in the Senate studying the intimate
details of how our government works, finding the levers that can bring about
big structural change, and identifying the key positions that are responsible
for making these changes. And I have learned from a diverse community of
experts who share my vision for progressive, structural change and who know the
executive branch inside and out.
My agenda would make our government and our economy work for everyone. It
starts with anti-corruption reforms, democracy reforms, campaign finance
reforms — reforms that will break the stranglehold that corporate interests
have on Washington and get our government working for the people. We’ll also
make our economy work for everyone — from cancelling student loan debt to
providing universal child care for every kid age 0 to 5 to investing in green
manufacturing. But achieving this agenda while also addressing the crises that
Donald Trump has created will require an energetic president with expertise on
how the executive branch works, a real commitment to making the executive
branch free from corruption, and the courage to use every tool available to
deliver for working families.
Donald Trump has done serious damage to our government. Of over 700 key
government posts requiring Senate confirmation, the Trump administration
has failed to confirm nearly a third.
At both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of
Justice, less than half of all key positions
have been filled. The Trump administration has had 28 acting cabinet secretaries over
three years – more than the total number of acting secretaries
in either Bill Clinton or Barack Obama’s eight years in office. Senior career
civil servants have been leaving the Trump administration at a record
pace. Approximately 1 in 5 members of the
Senior Executive Service left the administration in 2017 – a
far greater share than during previous transitions, draining the agencies of
long-held expertise and institutional knowledge.
Of the positions he has filled, Donald Trump has been stacking the government
with lobbyists, campaign donors, and cronies. Halfway through his first
term, he had already hired 281 lobbyists into
political appointments. Shortly after being elected, thirty-eight percent of those he
picked for high-level government jobs were donors and during
his first two years, 40% of his ambassadors came
from outside the foreign service. The mix of industry insiders and donors has
both created turmoil and opened up an opportunity for big businesses to tilt
the rules in their favor. This government run by and for lobbyists has
dismantled workplace safety and environmental rules, health care protections,
and dozens of other programs and regulations that benefit working people.
Rebuilding our government to work for the people won’t just happen. It’s going
to require painstaking work, extraordinary drive and urgency, and a serious
plan to root out the corruption and incompetence that Trump will leave behind.
That means cleaning out the corruption that has infected the government, and it
means moving immediately to fill key jobs and set up agencies with capable
officials committed to putting the public interest first.
Addressing the Corruption and Incompetence of the Trump Administration
On day one of my presidency, I will take aggressive steps to root out the
corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration and to hold that
administration accountable. I will:
Remove all political appointees. Rooting out the
corruption in our government starts with wiping the slate clean on political
appointments. Donald Trump gave influential, high-ranking positions to his
donors, friends, and political allies. I will ask for the resignations of all
political appointees, including U.S. Attorneys, save only those positions
necessary to preserve continuity and protect national security during the
transition period.
Prevent political appointees from burrowing into career
positions. The law outlinesclear rules that
help prevent political appointees from circumventing standard hiring practices
and “burrowing” into the government by converting from a political appointment
into a career position. I will strengthen enforcement of rules around
conversion from appointed positions to career civil service to root out
officials who attempt to burrow into agencies.
Establish a Justice Department Task Force to investigate
corruption during the Trump administration and to hold government officials
accountable for illegal activity. Donald Trump has run the most
corrupt administration in history. He was impeached for withholding foreign
aid in an effort to try to benefit his re-election campaign. He
has enriched himself and his business through
the power of his office. And there are public reports of potentially illegal
corruption in everycorner of hisadministration. If we
are to move forward to restore public confidence in government and deter future
wrongdoing, we cannot simply sweep this corruption under the rug in a new
administration. That’s why I will direct the Justice Department to establish a
task force to investigate violations by Trump administration officials of
federal bribery laws, insider trading laws, and other anti-corruption and
public integrity laws, and give that task force independent authority to pursue
any substantiated criminal and civil violations. I have also committed to
establishing a task force to investigate accusations of serious violations by
immigration officials during the Trump era.
Review the performance of independent agencies and remove
leading officials for cause where there is justification to do so. For
good reason, the heads of independent agencies can only be removed for cause —
for example, if they neglect their duties or engage in malfeasance while in
office. My administration will review these agencies and determine whether any
of these agency heads warrant removal for cause — and I will not hesitate to
use my for-cause removal authority if the facts justify it.
Identify federal contracting arrangements that arose as a
result of corruption in the Trump administration – and end them. The
corruption in the Trump administration extends beyond those who work for the government
directly to those who have won contracts to execute government services. For
example, Donald Trump repeatedly pushed the
Army Corps of Engineers to award a border wall contract to a particular company;
the company won the contract despite not meeting the standards for a bid. My
administration will review major contracts executed under the Trump
administration to identify conflicts of interest and other forms of corruption
and take action to cancel any contracts procured as a result of corrupting
influences.
Swiftly Appoint New Personnel Who Will Undo the Trump
Administration’s Disastrous Policies, Restore Integrity to Government, and
Fight on Behalf of the American People
It would be foolish to assume that after Trump is gone, the government will
start moving in the right direction all on its own. This will be no ordinary
transition between administrations. One year from now, the next president will
take charge in the middle of multiple crises – from the border, to our foreign
policy, to the undermining of health, safety, and environmental rules, to the
hollowing out and corruption of our public institutions.
My transition will move faster than any transition in modern history to
identify appointees and develop plans for making change starting on day one. Unlike
previous transitions, we will not be able to assume good faith cooperation on
the part of the outgoing administration, and we do not have an outgoing
administration that shares even the most basic values. There will be no time to
lose in putting teams in place to address the crises this administration has
brought on our country – and to take action on the extraordinary challenges
that the American people face.
And that is why I am committing to announcing my choices for the Cabinet by
December 1, 2020, other top nominations by December 15, 2020, and fully staff
all senior and mid-level White House positions by Inauguration Day. Historically,
the Obama administration was the most successful at sending nominations to the
Senate, delivering 35 nominations for confirmation on his first day in office.
As president, I will send the largest package of nominees to the Senate for
confirmation on day one. In addition, I will have the senior and mid-level
ranks of my White House fully staffed on day one, so that we can hit the ground
running.
Trump
Obama
GW
Bush
Clinton
GHW
Bush
Day 1
28
35
13
25
18
Day 100
71
190
85
176
95
Day
200
277
433
414
345
315
Source: Partnership for
Public Service, Center for Presidential Transition
I have often said that personnel is policy. The
choices of who to appoint are policy choices, because individuals make policy
decisions. But personnel is also performance. If our government doesn’t have
good people, it can’t perform for the American people. To meet this ambitious
schedule while also ensuring that our government reflects the interests of all
Americans, I will focus on three key areas: instituting hiring rules and
practices that end the revolving door and prevent corruption; building an
administration that reflects the experiences and diversity of our country; and
using all available tools to swiftly fill vacancies.
Ending the Revolving Door and Preventing Corruption
We must ensure that the next administration isn’t afflicted by the corrupting
influence of money that plagues Washington. I have introduced the biggest
anti-corruption legislation since Watergate and my first priority as president
is to pass my Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, so that we can clean up
every aspect of Washington policymaking.
But there are many actions a president can take all by herself, and my
administration will adopt the strictest anti-corruption hiring rules of any
administration in American history. And that starts by ending
the revolving door between big corporations and their lobbyists and government
jobs.
My administration will not hire any current
lobbyists. If someone has served as a corporate lobbyist in the
past, my administration will require them to have a six year cooling off period
before they are eligible for a government position, and there will be no
waivers or exceptions. Non-corporate lobbyists will have a two year cooling off
period, and any waivers will be made public.
My administration will not hire employees of for-profit
federal contractors, unless I personally review the situation and decide it is
in the national interest. For-profit contractors and licensees do
business with the government – they are often awarded huge contracts and
licenses for important federal projects. Unless I make a specific exception, my
administration will not hire employees of such firms into the agencies or
departments that awarded contracts to their former employers for four years
after their last contract or license was awarded.
My administration will not hire executives of companies
that break federal law or are under investigation unless six years have passed
since the conclusion of the investigation or enforcement action. People
in the private sector can have valuable experience to bring to public service.
But too often, government agencies hire senior executives at companies and
banks that have broken federal law, are subject to enforcement actions, or are
under investigation. Leaders of companies and banks that don’t follow the law
should not be in a position of public trust developing and enforcing the law.
These appointments stop in my administration.
My administration will not hire any person who receives a
“golden parachute” from their employer. “Golden parachutes” – payments,
bonuses, salaries, or other forms of compensation contingent on accepting a
position in the federal government – create the impression that the recipients
will work in their former employers’ best interest – not the public’s. A Warren
administration will not allow such arrangements.
In addition to these hiring restrictions, my administration
will institute rules to make sure that executive branch officials are working
on behalf of the people – not themselves or their former employers:
To prevent conflicts of interest, officials in my
administration will have to divest from any individual stock, bond, or other
investment that federal ethics officials determine may be directly influenced
by the actions of the employee’s agency.
Senior officials in my administration will be required to
divest from all complex investments – including individual stocks and bonds, as
well as commercial real estate and privately-owned or closely-held
businesses.
Senior officials must also commit to divesting any interests
in family trusts if ethics officials determine that an asset belonging to the
trust might pose a conflict of interest.
Further, executive branch officials who have not been Senate
confirmed must recuse themselves from matters affecting their former employer,
direct competitor, client, or organization that an employee belonged to in the
last four years. Senior officials will be prohibited from being employed
by or consulting for the private sector while simultaneously working in the federal
government. And anyone who volunteers for the federal government, including
White House staff and advisors, will have to agree to abide by all federal
ethics rules too.
The revolving door goes both ways, and too often, people in government depart
and take jobs working at the very firms they had been regulating. At best, this
creates the appearance of corruption. At worst, individuals who are thinking
about their next job corrupt the policymaking process to favor potential
employers. We will end this kind of revolving door corruption.
Senior members of my administration will be required to
pledge not to accept a lobbying appointment after finishing their official
duties – for life. This will apply to all members of my Cabinet, heads of
agencies, my Vice President – and me.
All other members of my administration will have to commit
to not lobby their former office or agency for two years after they leave the
administration – and six years if they become corporate lobbyists – or
until the administration ends, whichever is longer.
Senior government officials in my administration will also
have to pledge for a year not to work for or accept payment from any company
that has lobbied their department or office within the past two years.
Senior government officials in my administration will be
asked to commit not to work for any giant bank or company worth more than $150
billion, any federal contractor receiving more than $5 billion in revenue from
federal contracts, or any market-dominant company, as determined by the
Attorney General, for four years after leaving their post. And anyone in my
administration who participated in the process of granting a contract or
license to a for-profit contractor will also be required to agree not to accept
a job with that contractor for at least four years after leaving government
service.
Both President Obama and President Trump issued their ownethics pledges at
the start of their administrations – and despite good intentions, both failedto curb the number
of lobbyists and government officials that spin through the revolving door.
That’s why the steps I have outlined here will eliminate the loopholes in
previous ethics pledges, principally by expanding the definition of ‘lobbyist’
to include anyone who is hired to influence government, not just those who are
required to register as a lobbyist under current law. Additionally, my plan
requires every executive branch employee – not just political appointees – to
abide by these rules as a condition of their government service and extends the
cooling off periods for executive branch staff to prevent them from lobbying
their former agency or office through the end of an administration. And it
removes the president’s ability to waive these requirements for corporate
lobbyists and executives of law-breaking companies.
Building a Government that Reflects the Energy and Diversity of America
It is not enough, of course, to have people in government who don’t have
conflicts of interest. We need people who are passionate about the mission of
their agencies, deeply understand the needs and experiences of all Americans,
and reflect the diversity of the American people.
Under the Trump Administration, we have seen appointees who are actively
hostile to the mission of their agencies. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos
doesn’t believe in public education. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler doesn’t
think climate change is a top priority. As President, I will appoint
people who want to fulfill the purposes of our government, not undermine it —
and that starts with some serious departures from the Trump Administration. For
example, I will appoint:
A Secretary of Education who has been a public
school teacher.
A Secretary of Labor who has been a labor
leader, and appointees to the National Labor Relations Board who have a record
of fighting for workers.
A Secretary of Agriculture who has a
demonstrated commitment to advocating for Black farmers.
A Secretary of Homeland Security who is committed
to undoing the damage caused by the Trump administration and who believes that
immigration makes our country stronger, not weaker.
Department of Justice officials who believe in
voting rights and the rule of law – including for the president.
Antitrust officials who will aggressively
scrutinize mergers, bring challenges to vertical and horizontal mergers, and
are not afraid to take on big tech, big ag, big pharma, and other consolidated
industries.
A Securities and Exchange Commission chair who
will require corporate political spending disclosure, strictly enforce our
securities laws, and use all existing tools to require robust disclosure of
climate-related risks.
A Federal Communications Commission chair who
will restore the 2015 Net Neutrality rules, block monopolistic mergers by media
and telecom corporations, and protect the Lifeline program that helps
low-income Americans afford broadband Internet.
An EPA head who believes in the urgency of
addressing climate change and protecting our environment.
Federal Reserve officials who believe in the
agency’s full employment mandate, recognize that inflation fears have been
overblown for years, and who are willing to let wages grow.
Our government officials can best serve the American public
when they reflect the diversity of the country itself. The federal government
does a dismal job on diversity and inclusion. The share of Latinas in the
federal workforce is about half that of the entire workforce. Even though Black
women are disproportionately represented in the federal workforce, they are
nearly absent from its leadership ranks. White workers make up nearly 80% of
the senior civil service despite making up only 63% of the overall federal
workforce. The Obama administration worked to raise the proportion of people
with disabilities to more than 14% of the federal workforce, but that dropped to 9.2% under Trump.
My administration will be committed to diversity and inclusion, starting on day
one. I will:
Build a Cabinet and senior leadership team that reflects the
full diversity of America, including having at least 50% of Cabinet positions
filled by women and non binary people.
Ensure representation of LGBTQ+ people across all levels of
government, including in leadership roles.
Diversify recruitment to direct real resources toward
attracting entry-level applicants for public service from HBCUs, Tribal
Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and other
minority-serving institutions, and reform high-level recruiting processes to
attract diverse experienced hires into senior management positions.
Create new paid fellowship programs for federal jobs for
people from marginalized communities and low-income applicants, including
formerly incarcerated individuals.
Open up promotion pathways by requiring every federal agency
to incorporate diversity as part of their core strategic plan and creating
support networks through a government-wide mentorship program that centers
Black and Brown employees.
Recommit to President Obama’s efforts to raise the level of
people with disabilities in federal service — and I will include federal
contractors and internship programs too.
Using Existing Tools to Swiftly Fill Government Vacancies
To implement the kind of big, structural changes I have proposed, we will need
to address the substantial vacancies in career civil service positions left
behind by the Trump administration. For example, the State Department lost
a significant percentage of
its employees in the first year of the Trump Administration alone. The federal
government has a number of tools to expedite
hiring processes, and a Warren administration would use them to put
well-qualified public servants to work as quickly as possible. For example:
My Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) will use
its direct hire authority to
identify areas of severe shortage and allow agencies to waive competitive
hiring processes in these areas of critical need.
Finally, I will designate officials at OPM to work with agencies to ensure that they are using their hiring authorities as effectively as possible while also prioritizing diversity in hiring and following all relevant laws, regulations, and administration policies.
The vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. Vice President Joe Biden has released his plan for investing in communities through housing, “a right, not a privilege.” This is from the Biden Campaign:
Joe Biden is running for President to rebuild the middle class and ensure that this time everyone comes along. He believes the middle class isn’t a number, but a value set which includes the ability to own your own home and live in a safe community. Housing should be a right, not a privilege.
Today, however, far too many Americans lack access to affordable and quality housing. Nationwide, we have a shortage of available, affordable housing units for low-income individuals. Tens of millions of Americans spend more than 30% of their income on housing – leaving them with nowhere near enough money left over to meet other needs, from groceries to prescription drugs. And, tens of millions of Americans live in homes that endanger their health and safety.
Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the failures in our housing markets, with homeownership rates for Black and Latino individuals falling far below the rate for white individuals. Because home ownership is how many families save and build wealth, these racial disparities in home ownership contribute to the racial wealth gap. It is far past time to put an end to systemic housing discrimination and other contributors to this disparity.
As President, Joe Biden will invest $640 billion over 10 years so every American has access to housing that is affordable, stable, safe and healthy, accessible, energy efficient and resilient, and located near good schools and with a reasonable commute to their jobs. Biden will do this by:
Ending redlining and other discriminatory and unfair
practices in the housing market.
Providing financial assistance to help hard-working
Americans buy or rent safe, quality housing, including down payment assistance
through a refundable and advanceable tax credit and fully funding federal
rental assistance.
Increasing the supply, lowering the cost, and improving the
quality of housing, including through investments in resilience, energy
efficiency, and accessibility of homes.
Pursuing a comprehensive approach to ending
homelessness.
While the housing challenges Americans face in different rural and urban
communities across the country may vary, every American in every zip code
should have access to housing that is:
affordable – taking up no more than 30% of income so
they have money left over to meet other needs;
stable – providing families with the
consistency they need to maintain jobs, perform well in
school, and develop social networks necessary for well-being;
safe and healthy – protecting families from
environmental and social risks from polluted air to lead contamination to gun
violence;
accessible – meeting the needs of individuals
with disabilities so they can live in their communities;
energy efficient and resilient – reducing our greenhouse
gas emissions and withstanding the impacts of climate change; and
located near good schools and with a reasonable commute
to their jobs.
END REDLINING AND OTHER DISCRIMINATORY AND UNFAIR PRACTICES IN THE
HOUSING MARKET
Protect homeowners and renters from abusive lenders and
landlords through a new Homeowner and Renter Bill of Rights. Modeled
on the California Homeowner Bill of Rights,
Biden will enact legislation to end many shortcomings in the mortgage and
rental markets. This new Bill of Rights will prevent mortgage brokers from
leading borrowers into loans that cost more than appropriate, prevent mortgage
servicers from advancing a foreclosure when the homeowner is in the process of
receiving a loan modification, give homeowners a private right of action to
seek financial redress from mortgage lenders and servicers that violate these
protections, and give borrowers the right to a timely notification on the
status of their loan modifications and to be able to appeal modification
denials. Building on the Obama-Biden Administration’s Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure
Act, the Bill of Rights will also expand protections for renters.
For example, the Bill of Rights will include a law prohibiting
landlords from discriminating against renters receiving federal housing
benefits.
Protect tenants from eviction. Housing evictions
can have devastating consequences for families and often stem from
relatively small shortfalls in
rent. As a former public defender, Biden appreciates the difference legal
representation can make for those facing eviction. As President, he will work
to enact Majority Whip James E. Clyburn and Senator Michael Bennet’s Legal Assistance to Prevent
Evictions Act of 2020, which will help tenants facing eviction
access legal assistance. He also will encourage localities to create eviction
diversion programs, including mediation, payment plans, and financial literacy
education programs.
Eliminate local and state housing regulations that
perpetuate discrimination. Exclusionary zoning has for decades been
strategically used to keep people of color and low-income families out of
certain communities. As President, Biden will enact legislation requiring any
state receiving federal dollars through the Community Development Block Grants
or Surface Transportation Block Grants to develop a strategy for inclusionary
zoning, as proposed in the HOME Act of 2019 by
Majority Whip Clyburn and Senator Cory Booker. Biden will also invest $300
million in Local Housing Policy Grants to
give states and localities the technical assistance and planning support they
need to eliminate exclusionary zoning policies and other local regulations that
contribute to sprawl.
Hold financial institutions accountable for
discriminatory practices in the housing market. The Obama-Biden
Administration held major national financial institutions accountable for
discriminatory lending practices, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in
settlements to help borrowers who had been harmed by their practices. And in
2013, the Obama-Biden Administration codified a
long-standing, court-supported view that lending practices that have a
discriminatory effect can be challenged even if discrimination was not
explicit. But now the Trump Administration is seeking to gut this
disparate impact standard by significantly increasing the burden of proof for
those claiming discrimination. In the Biden Administration, this change will be
reversed to ensure financial institutions are held accountable for serving all
customers.
Strengthen and expand the Community Reinvestment Act to
ensure that our nation’s bank and non-bank financial services institutions are
serving all communities. The Community Reinvestment Act currently
regulates banks, but does little to ensure that “fintechs” and non-bank lenders
are providing responsible access to all members of the community. On top of
that gap, the Trump Administration is proposing to weaken the law by
allowing lenders to receive a passing rating even if the lenders are excluding
many neighborhoods and borrowers. Biden will expand the Community
Reinvestment Act to apply to mortgage and insurance companies, to add a
requirement for financial services institutions to provide a statement
outlining their commitment to the public interest, and, importantly, to close
loopholes that would allow these institutions to avoid lending and investing in
all of the communities they serve.
Roll back Trump Administration policies gutting fair
lending and fair housing protections for homeowners. Biden will
implement the Obama-Biden Administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing Rule requiring communities receiving certain federal
funding to proactively examine housing patterns and identify and address
policies that have a discriminatory effect. The Trump Administration suspended this rule
in 2018. Biden will ensure effective and rigorous enforcement of the Fair
Housing Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. And, he will reinstate the
federal risk-sharing program which
has helped secure financing for thousands of
affordable rental housing units in partnership with housing finance
agencies.
Restore the federal government’s power to enforce
settlements against discriminatory lenders. The Trump Administration
has stripped the Office of Fair Lending
and Equal Opportunity, a division of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, of its power to enforce settlements against lenders found to
have discriminated against borrowers – for example by charging significantly
higher interest rates for people of color than white individuals. Biden will
return power to the division so it can protect consumers from discrimination.
Tackle racial bias that leads to homes in communities of
color being assessed by appraisers below their fair value. Housing in
communities primarily comprised of people of color is valued at tens of thousands of dollars below
majority-white communities even when all other factors are the same,
contributing to the racial wealth gap. To counteract this racial bias, Biden
will establish a national standard for housing appraisals that ensures
appraisers have adequate training and a full appreciation for neighborhoods and
do not hold implicit biases because of a lack of community understanding. An
objective national standard for appraisals will also make it harder for
financial institutions to put pressure on appraisers to their benefit.
PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP HARD-WORKING
AMERICANS BUY OR RENT QUALITY HOUSING
Help families buy their first homes and build wealth by
creating a new refundable, advanceable tax credit of up to $15,000. Biden’s
new First Down Payment Tax Credit will help families offset the costs of
homebuying and help millions of families lay down roots for the first time.
Building off of a temporary tax credit expanded
as part of the Recovery Act, this tax credit will be permanent and advanceable,
meaning that homebuyers receive the tax credit when they make the purchase
instead of waiting to receive the assistance when they file taxes the following
year.
ProvideSection 8 housing vouchers to
every eligible family so that no one has to pay more than 30% of their income
for rental housing. Roughly three in four households eligible for
Section 8 rental assistance do not receive housing assistance because the
program is underfunded. Biden’s approach is straightforward: the Section 8
rental housing assistance program should be fully funded so that everyone
eligible gets the assistance they need to pay their rent for a safe home. Biden
will devote resources to both voucher-based rental assistance and the
project-based program. Over time, this approach will provide assistance to
at least 17 million low-income
families. And, as part of the Homeowner and Renter Bill of Rights, Biden will
enact a law prohibiting
landlords from discriminating against renters receiving federal housing
benefits.
Create a new renter’s tax credit to help more low-income
families. Biden will work with Congress to enact a new renter’s tax credit,
designed to reduce rent and utilities to 30% of income for low-income
individuals and families who may make too much money to qualify for a Section 8
voucher but still struggle to pay their rent. He will allocate $5 billion in
federal funding for the tax credit every year.
Expand housing benefits for first-responders, public
school educators, and other public and national service workers who commit to
living in persistently impoverished communities or who work in neighborhoods
with low affordable housing stock. Biden will expand the Good Neighbor Next Door program,
which is designed to help strengthen communities that have experienced
significant underinvestment and high rates of poverty while also providing
opportunities for first responders, educators, and those engaged in national
service to purchase homes in those same communities. Specifically, Biden will
expand the program through additional down-payment assistance, partnering with
state housing agencies, tribal governments, local governments, and state/local
banks to offer the program’s existing significant discount on the price of a
home on a larger pool of homes, and providing access to a low-interest loan to
rehabilitate these homes. And, he will ensure these resources are also
available to public servants who work in neighborhoods with low affordable
housing stock.
Create the Public Credit Reporting Agency. Being
able to obtain a credit report is a critical step for homeownership. But today
credit reports, which are issued by just three large private companies, are
rife with problems: they often contain errors, they leave many “credit invisible” due to the
sources used to generate a credit score, and they contribute to racial disparities.
Biden will create a new public credit reporting agency 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.
Reducing Greenhouse Gases and Lowering Working
Families’ Electricity Bills
As Biden announced in his climate plan, he will set a target of reducing the
carbon footprint of the U.S. building stock 50% by 2035, creating incentives
for deep retrofits that combine appliance electrification, efficiency, and
on-site clean power generation. In addition to the $10 billion retrofitting fund
described below, other policies he will pursue to reduce the carbon footprint
of residential buildings include:
Directing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development to make housing for low-income communities more efficient.
Directing the U.S. Department of Energy to redouble
efforts to accelerate new efficiency standards for household appliances and
equipment.
Repairing and accelerating the building code process, and
creating a new funding mechanism for states and cities to adopt strict
building codes and train builders and inspectors.
Read Biden’s full plan to address the climate
emergency at joebiden.com/climate.
INCREASE THE SUPPLY, LOWER THE COST, AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF
HOUSING
Establish a $100 billion Affordable Housing Fund to
construct and upgrade affordable housing.
$65 billion in new incentives for state housing
authorities and the Indian Housing Block Grant program to construct or
rehabilitate low-cost, efficient, resilient, and accessible housing in areas
where affordable housing is in short supply. These funds will be
directed toward communities that are suffering from an affordability crisis and
that are willing to implement new zoning laws that encourage more affordable
housing.
$10 billion to make homes more energy efficient. This
retrofitting will lower families’ energy bills, create jobs for workers in the
trades in every state in the nation, and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
$5 billion to increase the stock of affordable housing as
part of larger community development efforts. Specifically, these
funds will expand the HOME program, ensuring
that the program’s requirements are more conducive to supporting first-time
homebuyers, and the Capital Magnet Fund,
which spurs private investment in affordable housing and economic development
in distressed communities. Among other uses, localities can use these funds to
purchase vacant, underdeveloped, or underutilized property and construct
affordable housing.
Increase funding for the Housing Trust Fund by
$20 billion. Biden will increase the availability of affordable
housing through the Housing Trust Fund, paid for by an increase in the
assessment on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These additional dollars will support
the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing units.
Provide tax incentives for the construction of more affordable
housing in communities that need it most. As President, Biden will
expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit –
a tax provision designed to incentivize the construction or rehabilitation of
affordable housing for low-income tenants that has created nearly 3 million affordable
housing units since the mid-1980s – with a $10 billion investment.
This investment will be designed to make the credit more efficient,
dramatically increasing the number of new or rehabilitated affordable housing
units. And, he will ensure that urban, suburban, and rural areas all benefit
from the credit. Biden will also invest in the development and rehabilitation
of single family homes across distressed urban, suburban, and rural
neighborhoods through the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act.
Invest in community development. In addition to
the community development Biden is proposing as part of his infrastructure initiative,
he will also expand flexible funding for the Community Development Block Grant
by $10 billion over ten years. The Community Development Block Grant funds
local efforts to expand affordable housing, improve infrastructure, and
increase economic opportunities for low-income individuals and communities.
These funds are flexible federal grants that localities receive to deal with
their specific challenges and support stabilization and infrastructure.
Eliminate local and state housing regulations that limit
affordable housing options and contribute to urban sprawl. Housing
policy can be used as a tool to battle climate change. Many lower- and
middle-income Americans are forced to live far away from job centers due to
high housing costs, leading not only to workers being overburdened by long
commutes and transportation costs, but also to higher greenhouse gas emissions.
Biden will tie new federal investments in housing to a requirement that states
and localities eliminate regulations that reduce the availability of affordable
housing and contribute to sprawl. He will direct his Secretaries of Housing and
Urban Development and Transportation to identify existing federal grant
programs that can be amended by adding zoning reform as a requirement. And,
Biden will expand investments in Local Housing Policy Grants to
give states and localities the technical assistance and planning support they
need to modernize housing regulations.
Ensure minority-owned businesses benefit from investment
in housing construction and repair. To further support wealth creation
among Black and Latino families, Biden will require his Administration to take
all available steps to make sure minority-owned businesses are able to benefit
from ongoing and new federal housing and infrastructure spending.
Use federal transit dollars to leverage local
investment in transit and affordable housing
Smart transit and regional planning policies are essential for ensuring
access to affordable housing, avoiding sprawl, improving quality of life by
reducing the distance between living and leisure areas, and mitigating
climate change. To meet these goals, Biden will ensure a portion of new
federal transit dollars are designed to leverage local investment in both
transit and affordable housing in transit corridors. Biden has proposed the
following new transit investments:
Offer tens of millions of Americans new transportation
options. Outside major cities, most Americans do
not have access to high-quality, reliable public transportation; and within
urban areas, it’s often in need of repair. As a result, workers and families
rely on cars, which can be a big financial burden, clog roadways, and –
along with light-duty trucks – significantly increase U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions. As President, Biden will aim to provide all Americans in
municipalities of more than 100,000 people with quality public transportation
by 2030. To that end, he’ll increase flexible federal investments, helping
cities and towns to install light rail networks and to improve existing
transit and bus lines. He’ll also help them to invest in infrastructure for
pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of e-scooters and other micro-mobility
vehicles. And, Biden will work to make sure that new, fast-growing areas are
designed and built with public transit in mind. Specifically, he will create
a new program that gives rapidly expanding communities the resources to build
in public transit options from the start.
Reduce congestion by working with metropolitan regions
to plan smarter growth. Biden will empower city, county, regional,
and state leaders to explore new, smarter, climate-friendly strategies to
help reduce average commute times and build more vibrant main streets.
Specifically, Biden will create a competitive grant program to help leaders
rethink and redesign regional transportation systems, to get commuters where
they are going safer, faster, and more efficiently. At the same time, Biden
will boost highway funding by 10% and allocate the new funding to states that
embrace smart climate design and pollution reduction, incentivizing them to
invest in greenhouse gas reduction. States will also be free to use existing
highway funding for alternative transportation options.
Connect workers to jobs. For too many
low-income workers, the cost of transportation and time it takes them to
commute to work every day are significant barriers. As President, Biden will
dedicate an additional $10 billion over 10 years specifically for transit
projects that serve high-poverty areas with limited transportation options,
so that workers seeking a better life won’t have to spend as much getting to
their jobs.
Read Biden’s full infrastructure plan at joebiden.com/infrastructure.
Ensure rural communities have access to affordable and
accessible homes. The Biden Administration will increase funding for
needed repairs of affordable rental housing properties and construction of new
property through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service,
including the Multi-Family Direct Loans and
the Single Family Direct Loans programs, which
support the construction of housing for low income, disabled, or elderly
individuals in rural communities. Majority Whip Clyburn’s 10-20-30 plan has already
been applied to a number of Rural Development programs in order to ensure a
portion of funds are dedicated to serving families living in areas facing
persistent poverty. As President, Biden will apply the
10-20-30 plan to all federal programs.
Expand funding for mission-driven, community-based
financial institutions that invest in building new housing in underserved
areas. As part of his plan to reinvest in communities across the
country, including in rural areas, Biden will expand funding for the Community Development Financial
Institutions Fund, which supports local, “mission-driven” financial
institutions in low-income areas around the U.S. – including those invested in
building new housing in underserved areas.
Drive additional capital into low-income communities to
spur the development of low-income housing. The New Markets Tax Credit
has drawn in $8 of private investment for every
$1 of federal investment in low-income communities by providing
tax credits to investors in community development organizations that support
everything from supermarkets to real estate projects to manufacturing
plants. Biden will expand the program
to provide $5 billion in support every year, and will make the program
permanent so communities can take the credit into account in their long-term
planning.
For all of these new housing
investments, those receiving assistance will be required to abide by
Davis-Bacon Act wage requirements so that jobs created with these investments
support family sustaining wages and benefits. And, the Biden Administration
will encourage the use of resources and materials that are sourced domestically,
as well as the use of project labor agreements.
Guarantee safe housing for our military families
The government has broken its trust with military families by providing
sub-par housing. Now, we have to work twice as hard to rebuild this trust.
That will require the utmost transparency and accountability from both the
government and the private sector partners charged with housing the families
of our service members. The Biden Administration will:
Enforce a comprehensive and standardized tenant Bill of
Rights for all military families, and as advocates have rightly demanded,
ensure U.S. Department of Defense senior leadership enforces compliance. We
won’t be making more empty promises to military families. We will hold these
landlords, and ourselves, accountable.
Require regular, standardized, objective, and published
reporting of military family satisfaction and concerns from all housing.
Establish a public-facing document outlining expectations
of quality and consequences for all housing providers and, when necessary,
terminate long-term leases held by private companies.
Read Biden’s full plan for military families at joebiden.com/militaryfamilies.
PURSUE A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ENDING HOMELESSNESS
Develop a national strategy for making housing a right
for all. Biden believes everyone should have the right to a safe roof
over their head. On the first day of his Administration, he will direct his Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development to lead a task force of mayors and other local
elected officials to put on his desk within 100 days a roadmap for making this
right a reality nationwide. Mayors and local elected officials are on the front
lines of tackling homelessness, so Biden will use their expertise to help the
federal government identify best practices that should be replicated across the
country.
Provide emergency funding designed to tackle the
homelessness crisis. Biden will work with Congress to secure passage
of Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ Ending Homelessness Act.
This bill funds a comprehensive, holistic strategy to ending homelessness,
including everything from case management to emergency shelters to additional
housing vouchers for homeless individuals. In total, this law will invest $13
billion to tackle homelessness over five years, including $5 billion for
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, and the law will create more than 400,000 additional
housing units for homeless individuals. In addition, Biden will ensure part of
this grant funding is specifically targeted to assist homeless children and
young adults.
Reform federal housing programs to ensure they take a
“housing first” approach to ending homelessness. The Trump
Administration has demonstrated acceptance of a
worldview that housing and food should be withheld until
homeless individuals tackle challenges such as addiction and mental illness.
This view isn’t just inhumane, it defies the evidence regarding what
works. More and more evidence is
making clear that a “housing first” approach – “guided by the belief that people
need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything
less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly, or attending to
substance use issues” – is an effective strategy for reducing
homelessness. So, while the Biden Administration will pursue a comprehensive
strategy addressing homelessness’ underlying causes – from making sure everyone
has access to quality mental health and addiction support, to increasing the
minimum wage and expanding workforce training, to changing the culture so more
LGBTQ teenagers are accepted in their homes – President Biden will make sure
our country commits to a “housing first” approach to ending homelessness. In
his first 100 days, Biden will direct his Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development to conduct a full review of federal housing policies to make sure
they pursue and incentivize the “housing first” approach. The Secretary will
identify all ways in which homelessness assistance grants can further support
rapid re-housing and long-term supportive housing. Supportive housing has been found to
have positive long-term impacts,
and rapid re-housing has been shownto lead to quick exits from
homelessness.
Reduce homelessness among veterans. The
Obama-Biden Administration cut the population of homeless
veterans by almost half. But with just over 23,000 veterans without shelter on
any given night, we have much more work to do. Biden will work with
Congress to continue to drive down veteran homelessness by permanently
authorizing the Supportive Services for Veterans Families program, which
provides critical funding for wrap-around services for those facing
homelessness. President Biden will also work to ensure that we better
understand the unique needs of women and LGBTQ veterans experiencing
homelessness. And, he will create safe, modern, clean, and recovery-oriented
housing for veterans being treated for substance use disorders and those who
are homeless by refurbishing buildings condemned or not in use, such as the
massive VA Los Angeles campus. Read Biden’s full plan to support our
veterans at joebiden.com/veterans.
Protect LGBTQ individuals. The Obama-Biden
Administration enforced the civil rights of the LGBTQ community, including by
ensuring federally funded homeless shelters provide housing according to an individual’s gender
identity and cannot refuse services based
on gender identity or sexual orientation. The Trump Administration has
since proposed allowing shelters to discriminate against transgender people
when determining their accommodations, for example by forcing transgender women
to sleep and use the bathroom in the same place as men. As President, Biden
will secure the passage of the Equality Act, ensuring
that no President can ever again single-handedly roll back civil rights
protections for LGBTQ individuals, including in housing and homeless shelters.
And, he will increase funding for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to
ensure LGBTQ individuals have access to transitional living programs that
provide essential services like job counseling and mental and physical health
care.
Expand access to supportive housing and services for
individuals with disabilities and the elderly. A Biden Administration
will increase the availability of supportive and accessible housing for seniors
and individuals with disabilities, including through the Supportive Housing for
the Elderly (“Section 202”) and
Supportive Housing for Individuals with Disabilities (“Section 811”) programs.
Biden also will increase resources for mental health services and substance use
disorder treatment, including through the Projects for Assistance in
Transition from Homelessness program.
Set a national goal of ensuring 100% of formerly
incarcerated individuals have housing upon reentry. If incarcerated
individuals do not find housing upon reentry, that lack of housing can be
completely destabilizing and limit their likelihood of successfully staying out
of the criminal justice system and fulfilling their potential. Biden will work
toward a goal of ensuring 100% of formerly incarcerated individuals – at the
federal and state level – have housing upon release. He’ll start by eliminating
barriers keeping formerly incarcerated individuals from accessing public
assistance, including housing support. He’ll direct the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development to only contract with entities that are open to
housing individuals looking for a second chance. And, he’ll expand funding for transitional
housing, which has been drastically cut under
the Trump Administration.
Ensure survivors of domestic and sexual violence have
safe, affordable housing
Biden has put forward a comprehensive plan to strengthen social supports for
survivors of domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking, including
helping victims secure housing, gain economic stability, and recover from the
trauma of abuse. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has identified domestic
violence as a top driver of family homelessness, and research points
to domestic violence as a key cause of homelessness for many women. And,
domestic violence survivors and their children often live in unstable housing
conditions, such as with relatives or friends in crowded and potentially
exploitative conditions or returning to abusive partners. Research demonstrates
that providing flexibility in eligibility, services, and support helps
survivors feel safer and rebuild their lives after violence.
The Biden plan will cut through the red tape that can slow down assistance
and limit options for survivors. Specifically, Biden will:
Establish a new coordinated housing initiative. Current
federal housing programs are insufficient for meeting the needs of domestic
and sexual violence survivors. Biden will bring federal agencies together to
create a comprehensive housing grant program tailored to survivors of
domestic and sexual violence. This grant program will include flexible
funding to support the practical needs of survivors; advocacy with landlords
and housing agencies to keep victims in housing; supportive services
including legal assistance, child care, and employment training; new
permanent housing vouchers; increased funding for the VAWA transitional
housing program; and home ownership opportunities.
Expand access to housing assistance. Biden
will strengthen the VAWA housing provisions, for example by making it easier for
victims to retain their federal housing subsidy when needed for safety
reasons.
Protect survivors from housing discrimination. The Fair Housing Act protects
women from gender discrimination in public and private housing, including
survivors who may be unfairly evicted from housing because of domestic
violence. The Trump Administration proposed rolling
back Fair Housing protections by making it harder to prove disparate impact
claims and allowing landlords and banks to use discriminatory practices. The
Biden Administration will vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act. VAWA also
protects survivors from discrimination in subsidized housing and allows
survivors to transfer to new units if necessary for safety. But red tape
makes these provisions challenging to implement. The Biden plan will make it
easier for survivors to transfer their housing assistance and move to a new
home so that they can be safe.
Read Biden’s full plan to end violence against women at joebiden.com/VAWA.
Investing In Our Housing to Grow the Middle Class, Paid for by Making
Sure Corporations Pay Their Fair Share
Biden’s $640 billion investment in America’s housing is paid for by raising
taxes on corporations and large financial institutions. Specifically,
approximately $300 billion of the housing plan is devoted to new construction
and is encompassed in the $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan. The remaining
portion is paid for by instituting a financial fee on certain liabilities of
firms with over $50 billion in assets.
A new study that shows Medicare for All would save Americans $450 billion and 68,000 premature deaths a year could bolster the 2020 presidential campaigns of progressives Senator Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Medicare for All is
ironically, considering that Americans and especially Democrats have indicated
that access to affordable healthcare is their number one priority, is the issue
that could sink the 2020 presidential candidacy of progressives Bernie Sanders and
Elizabeth Warren. Now Sanders is heralding a new study by epidemiologists in
the medical journal The Lancet which found that Medicare for All would save
Americans $450 billion and prevent 68,000 premature deaths a year. Here is
Sanders’ statement:
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday applauded a new study published
today by a team of epidemiologists in the peer-reviewed medical journal The
Lancet, which found that Medicare for All will save Americans $450 billion
and prevent 68,000 unnecessary deaths each and every year.
“This study confirms that Medicare for All will save the American people
$450 billion on health care costs and will prevent 68,000 unnecessary deaths –
each and every year,” Sanders said. “In other words, guaranteeing health care
as a human right by creating a Medicare for All system will cost substantially
less than our current dysfunctional health care system. It will save working
class families thousands of dollars and it will prevent tens of thousands of
Americans from dying each year. While the CEOs in the pharmaceutical and health
insurance industry may not like it, we will end their greed and enact Medicare
for All when I am president.”
According to the study, by replacing premiums, deductibles, co-payments
and out-of-pocket costs with a progressive tax system, Medicare for All will
save the average family thousands of dollars each year and will provide
lower-income households the greatest relief.
Struggling hospitals serving low-income communities would be
particularly helped by Medicare for All by eliminating uncompensated care,
increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to Medicare levels, and reducing
administrative overhead, according to the study.
The study also debunks several attacks on Medicare for All from the
private health care industry that made well over $100 billion in profits last
year. Doctors and hospitals would see large savings in cost and time from
streamlining our bloated and inefficient administrative and billing system,
allowing doctors to spend more time with patients, the study found.
The study is the latest in a series of studies conducted over the past
three decades that have found that guaranteeing universal health care through a
single-payer health care system would not only dramatically improve the health
and well-being of the American people, it would cost less than our current
dysfunctional health care system that puts profits over people.
Last month, another medical journal found
that 19 out of 22 studies done over the past 30 years concluded that moving to
a Medicare for All, single-payer health care system would cost less than our current
health care system in the first year, and all of the studies showed that it
would cost less within a decade of implementation.
New York State has made
$4.3 million in grants for 111 projects across the state that will help prevent
hunger and reduce the disposal of food waste though food donation and
recycling. The grants will support efforts by municipalities and organizations,
such as pantries and soup kitchens, to help divert scraps for recycling and
reduce the amount of organic waste by redirecting excess, edible food to New
Yorkers struggling with food insecurity.
“Wasted food hurts
needy families facing the terrible challenges of food insecurity and harms the
environment by growing landfills and contributing to climate
change,” Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
said. “These awards are the latest step New York is
taking to help local governments and community organizations support smart
investments that prevent food waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by
food disposal, and provide nutritious and healthy food to combat hunger across
New York State.”
Wasted food has
significant environmental, social, and economic impacts and these grants help
support municipalities and emergency food relief organizations by improving
food rescue efforts and diverting food scraps from disposal in landfills.
Reducing the landfilling of food scraps is also recognized as a valuable
mitigation measure in the state’s ongoing fight against climate change. The New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation will administer the grants.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “It is a sad fact that Americans waste about 25 percent of
the food purchased, leading to negative impacts on our environment and a waste
of food resources that could otherwise be used to help people in need. The projects
supported by the grants announced today are a combination of public outreach
initiatives and innovative, common-sense approaches to promoting food
recycling, helping the hungry, and reducing waste to build stronger, healthier,
and environmentally sustainable communities.”
Municipal Food Scraps
Reduction, Food Donation, and Food Scraps Recycling Grants
DEC is awarding a total
of $3.28 million in grants to 27 municipal projects that will use innovative
and comprehensive approaches to support wasted food prevention and reduction
initiatives, streamline food donation and rescue efforts, and/or develop
organics recycling programs and facilities. Many projects involve strategic
partnerships with community-based organizations to reduce the volume of
wasted food and food scraps entering the municipal waste stream. This is
accomplished through the development and implementation of wasted food
reduction education and outreach programs and by establishing municipal
composting and other organics recycling infrastructure. Among the highlights of
the municipal grant projects:
City
of Cortland $195,936: The
funding will support the Cortland Food Project Rescue and Waste
Prevention, a comprehensive community education campaign focused on wasted
food prevention and reduction. The city will develop and implement
Cortland’s first local food rescue system and volunteer network to seek
out large quantities of “past prime” produce that program staff
and volunteers will be trained to process into value-added food products.
The city will then coordinate with existing local hunger projects, such as
food pantries, soup kitchens, and the planned commercial community kitchen
and entrepreneurship program to be located at the Homer Avenue
Revitalization Project site;
Town
of Ossining $99,145: The
town will create a comprehensive food scraps recycling pilot program to
serve approximately 38,300 residents and neighboring areas. The town will:
purchase collection bins for several public sites, including nearby
Environmental Justice communities and for residential home use; develop
informational materials to include in the kits residents will use in their
homes; and Teatown Lake Reservation will begin community
education events and programming regarding food waste prevention and
reduction, composting, and the town-run food scrap recycling program;
Tompkins
County $70,426: The county will address
wasted food prevention and food donation by targeting apartment complexes
and multifamily units in the county. The project will educate tenants and
property managers, focusing on smart shopping, smart storage, and smart
food prep; site a food hub cooler for sharing excess edible food, with
leftover donations going to Friendship Donations Network (FDN) for further
distribution throughout the Tompkins County community; provide tenants
with free toolkits to collect food scraps from their kitchens for
composting; and develop “kitchen to compost” educational
materials; and
Village
of Sleepy Hollow $11,286: The
village will develop and launch a comprehensive food scraps recycling
program that includes: education efforts and materials that are accessible
for all residents, despite income or language barriers; create a food
scraps recycling program that offers 500 free starter kits (countertop
food scraps collection pail and storage bin) to residents for composting;
and create outreach materials designed to reach all demographics in the
village, including Spanish-language translations, and engaging low-income
residents and seniors in the participation of the project.
Emergency Food Relief
Organization Grants
Food pantries and other
local emergency food relief organizations are on the front lines when it comes
to helping those in need. These organizations often rely on donations of food
through partnerships with local businesses, farms, and other food donors to
supplement their inventories of wholesome food. However, as many of these food
pantries and organizations are volunteer-run and have limited funds, they often
do not have the resources to establish these partnerships or purchase the
necessary storage equipment and vehicles to transport donated perishable foods.
Due to these challenges, highly nutritious, perishable food that is ready to be
distributed to food pantries and soup kitchens — such as fresh produce — often
goes to waste, despite the efforts of donors and food rescue organizations.
DEC is funding 84
projects with $1.1 million to support projects including: hiring food recovery
staff focused on developing donation partnerships; purchasing efficient cold
storage equipment; kitchen equipment to prepared rescued, perishable produce;
vehicles to transport rescued food; and the implementation of hyper-local
perishable and prepared food recovery and distribution networks. In addition,
several projects include the establishment of nutrition and cooking classes to
help them use the food they receive from the pantries most efficiently. These
classes and workshops help clients reduce wasted food and stretch limited food
budgets. Highlighted grant projects include:
Iris
House $13,720: Iris House in Central
Harlem will use the funds to support efforts to distribute food closer to
the residents of East Harlem in New York City. Iris House will use part of
the grant funds to cover the operation costs of a van to transport food
pantry bag distribution to pop-up locations in East Harlem to save
residents the costs of transportation to Central Harlem. Iris House will
also develop and distribute brochures about nutrition and to advertise
their services and provide information about free food availability;
Second
Chance Foods $15,000: Second
Chance Foods is not-for-profit food rescue organization in Carmel, New
York, that will use the grant to support the salary of a kitchen manager
to process rescued food into cooked meals or prepare parts of meals to
donate to local food programs. By processing rescued food such as
blemished produce and unfamiliar foods, Second Chance Foods makes more
rescued food “usable” by soup kitchen managers and pantry
clients, preventing wasted food and increasing the amount of wholesome
food available to people;
Comfort
Food of Washington County, Inc. $12,420: Comfort Food Community serves a rural county with
limited access to grocery stores and a significant percent of the
population in poverty. CFC will hire a seasonal Food Recovery Assistant to
improve gleaning efforts at the 35 farms in their service area through
volunteer recruitment and management, as well as coordinating and
supervising rescue efforts. The Food Recovery Assistant will also work on
outreach and education elements of the Fresh Food Collective. CFC will
also use these grant funds to dedicate staff time to developing recipe
cards and coordinated meal kits for the gleaned produce to help ensure
that recipients of the produce are able to use all of it properly and
incorporate more nutritious food into their diets; and
Pitney
Meadows Community Farm, Inc. $15,000: Pitney
Meadows Community Farm, Inc., is not-for-profit organization in Saratoga
Springs dedicated to urban agriculture, farmland conservation, community
empowerment, and increasing access to fresh, healthy produce. The farm
will install a “Giving Garden” dedicated to growing food
for food pantries and will use the grant to hire a farm manager to oversee
the Giving Garden and associated donation partnerships; construct a wash/pack
station to properly prepare freshly harvested vegetables in a safe,
reliable, and convenient way; and install a walk-in cooler to store food
before it is donated to local pantries.
A complete list of
awardees/grantees and summaries of projects is available at the DEC website. For more information about how to
reduce food waste in all New York households: https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/98102.html.
New York State has long
been committed to the fight against hunger and Governor Cuomo has launched groundbreaking
initiatives and programs in recent years, including the Council on
Hunger and Food Policy, Vital Brooklyn, and the No Student Goes Hungry
initiative to combat hunger, improve access to healthy, locally grown foods,
and bring New York-grown foods and beverages to underserved communities. The
grants announced today also build upon the success of the 2019 Food Donations
and Food Scraps Recycling law signed by the Governor, that requires all designated
food scraps generators to first donate edible food to those in need, and
secondly, to recycle food scraps if a viable recycling facility is located
within 25 miles. In response to this crucial legislation, DEC has provided
$800,000 to Feeding New York State for additional resources to handle the
anticipated influx of donated food.
The grant announcement
was made at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern
New York in Latham, to help prepare New Yorkers for the
statewide ban on plastic carryout bags, which begins March 1. DEC, in
coordination with Feeding New York State, will distribute reusable bags to food
banks across the state as part of DEC’s efforts to encourage
consumers to bring their own bags whenever and wherever they shop. Feeding New York State helps
feed millions of people each year through more than 5,000 food pantries, soup
kitchens, shelters, and other programs.
The BYOBagNY initiative
is part of New York’s comprehensive outreach campaign with state and local
partners to educate retailers and consumers about the plastic bag ban, which
will help reduce the scourge of plastic bag waste in the state’s environment
and communities. New Yorkers use an estimated 23 billion plastic bags
annually—each for about 12 minutes—and approximately 85 percent of this
staggering total ends up in landfills, recycling machines, waterways, and
streets. For more information about the outreach efforts and details of the
law’s implementation, visit DEC’s website.
The widely anticipated vote to “acquit” Trump, impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, was never in doubt, though activists had hoped nationwide protests would shame Republicans into at least allowing witnesses and evidence into their show “trial”. But the activists are still determined for Trump to be held accountable – along with the Republicans in House and Senate who have been complicit enablers in higher and higher crimes and misdemeanors, breaching the public trust.
Mere hours after the Republicans voted to acquit – with the
singular exception of Senator Mitt Romney who acknowledged Trump’s abuse of
power – hundreds took to the streets, vowing to continue the protest, turn
Trump out of office and “flip the Senate”. “We will remember in November,” they
chanted as they marched from Columbus Circle, just across one of Trump’s
Manhattan buildings, down 57th Street o Fifth Avenue, and passed the
Trump Tower, to 42nd Street Public Library.
About 2,500 people in all participated in the protest, met
by fewer than a dozen pro-Trumpers.
They are calling for continued investigations and for
Congressional oversight so that Trump isn’t able to skate away, as in the 2016
campaign, hiding his tax returns which most likely would have shown financial
ties to Putin and Russian oligarchs (who made outsized donations to his
inaugural and bought condos at inflated rates), and made secret payments to
hush up a porn star, causing Trump to be labeled “Individual 1” in the
prosecution of his “fixer” Michael Cohen, now imprisoned, and the 10 counts of
obstruction of justice which the Mueller Probe found, saying they would have
indicted but for a Department of Justice “policy” against indicting a sitting
president.
In reaction, Trump, who used the State of the Union like a
political rally – even offering to
broadcast the names of donors “live” – followed up with continued smears
against any and all who have opposed him, even threatening to unleash the
Department of Justice to do the very thing – political witch hunt – that he
says he was the victim of. Except that there has never been any evidence or any
testimony offered that contradicts the crimes he is accused of, only the abuse
of his political power to extort complicity.
Indeed, it is now revealed that the Treasury Department,
which has stonewalled lawful requests from Congress for Trump’s tax returns (it
is actually a law), based on some sort of invasion of privacy of a US citizen,
and has sequestered the mandated audit of Trump’s returns while in office, has
been probing Hunter Biden to supply Senate Republicans with dirt.
The question is how long Republicans can ignore substantial majorities of people who want climate action, gun safety, immigration reform, voting rights and preservation of the Rule of Law and the fundamental premise that no one, not even a president, is above it.
There were more than 300 marches and protests around the country in towns large and small – marches in places from New York City and Petoskey, Michigan to Wasilla, Alaska; rallies in 46 states and Washington, D.C. and a “flash mob to say thank you to Sen. Romney” at his office in Salt Lake City.
Here are highlights from the rally, march and protest in New York City, one of dozens held around the nation on Wednesday, February 5, 2020:
