A Florida Senator Wants to Exclude People With Felony Convictions From the State’s Minimum Wage Increase Jerry Iannelli
Democrats’ Win in Georgia Shows What Voters Really Want From Government Emily Galvin-Almanza, Sean McElwee, Ethan Winter
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Is Fresh Off His Book Tour, But Activists Say He Doesn’t Live Up to His National Reputation Tara Francis Chan, Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Advocates For Domestic Workers, Voters, And Prisoners Express Alarm Over Trump’s Threat To End Stimulus Talks Lauren Gill
The Federal Government Is Failing Communities Suffering From Food Insecurity Food insecurity is not an acute emergency, but rather a chronic condition for low-income Americans that existed long before the current public health emergency. Ona Balkus
New Jersey Governor’s “Baby Bonds” Plan Is A First Step Towards Closing The Racial Wealth Gap. It Should Go Further And The Nation Should Follow Suit. Baby bonds are a good start toward changing the discriminatory status quo, but limiting it to New Jersey is shortsighted. Maurice BP-Weeks
How Antitrust Perpetuates Structural Racism Antitrust law, which was once a top line cause of populist and progressive movements fighting for a fair and democratic society, did control corporate authority in the past and can do so again. Sandeep Vaheesan
The Mississippi Program That’s Showing How Effective Direct Cash Transfers Can Be Researchers say that programs like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which gives Black women $1,000 a month, could be crucial in reducing the racial wealth gap. Lauren Gill
The COVID-19 Budget Crisis Makes Federal Aid To States Critical With states’ revenue streams drying up, state employees have been laid off and core services cut. This has increased the number of residents needing aid while reducing state aid available to vulnerable people when they need it most. Gladriel Shobe, Grace Nielsen
President Trump’s Eviction Moratorium Falls Far Short Of Calls For Rent And Mortgage Cancellation Tenants and progressive leaders who cried out for a national action must now grapple with two truths: This eviction moratorium will save lives, but everything about it is a page out of Trump’s re-election playbook. Tara Raghuveer
Pennsylvania Governor Calls for Marijuana Legalization to Cover COVID-19 Budget Shortfall Tom Wolf said Tuesday that legalizing and taxing recreational use of marijuana could help solve fiscal woes that arose from the pandemic, and address long-standing racial injustices. Joshua Vaughn
Last Week’s Big Tech Antitrust Hearings Sent An Unmistakable Message: Change Is In The Air For America’s Corporate Giants The committee signaled an unprecedented desire to break with one of the most durable, and damaging, economic frameworks of the last 50 years: the 1970s-era, hands-off antitrust ideology that helped bestow these titans of tech with such extraordinary power to begin with. Sarah Miller
‘It’s Feudalism, Pure Exploitation’ The Doe Fund says it pays homeless and formerly incarcerated people New York City’s minimum wage of $15 per hour. But the nonprofit charges weekly fees that can drive their wages below the federal minimum of $7.25. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
As Eviction Cliff Looms, Calls To Cancel Rent Grow Housing rights activists in California are pushing for taxation of rich residents to help the hundreds of thousands of people who may be at risk of losing housing after COVID-19 eviction restrictions end. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Maricopa County Moved Homeless People to Sweltering Parking Lots in Response to COVID-19 Hundreds were forced from an encampment to fenced-in, asphalt parking lots with no shade in Phoenix’s triple-digit summer heat. At least three people have died. Meg O'Connor
The Case For Racism Response Funds – A Collective Response To Racist Acts Through this mechanism, communities can accept accountability for the racism they allow to flourish by failing to disrupt it. Monica C. Bell
People Are About To Be Pushed Into Homelessness On A Large Scale. Hotels Are Key To Keeping Them Off The Streets. Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles County are at high risk for becoming homeless after the temporary halt on evictions is lifted—one of the largest mass displacements the region has ever seen. Ananya Roy, Jonny Coleman
The Financial Toll of COVID-19 Deaths Organizations in New York City have stepped in to help families with funeral costs and related matters in communities hit hard by the disease, but their money and resources are strained. Bryce Covert
How The Largest Known Homeless Encampment In Minneapolis History Came To Be The frustrations of residents in the Powderhorn neighborhood, not far from where George Floyd was killed, have gotten some national coverage. But the homelessness crisis in the city isn’t new, and it could soon get worse. Rachel M. Cohen
Extreme Summer Heat Is Endangering Homeless People Amid COVID-19 Pandemic As a ‘heat dome’ descends on much of the country and local governments scramble to provide safe refuges, concern grows over the effect of a disease that has ‘totally demolished the homeless people.’ Daniel Moritz-Rabson
When My Brother Died Of An Overdose, The State Charged Two People With Murder. That Isn’t Justice. You can’t incarcerate a public health problem. It doesn’t make us safer. It doesn’t repair harm. Daveen Trentman
Domestic Workers Face Economic Devastation During the COVID-19 Pandemic A survey published by the National Domestic Workers Alliance in April found that 55 percent of respondents were unable to pay April’s rent, and 84 percent were either not able to or didn’t know if they could afford food. Lauren Gill
The Pandemic Shows It’s Time for an Alternative to American Capitalism The nation has an opportunity to take advantage of this transformative event and pursue an alternative to the current system. David A. Love
We Need An Essential Workers Bill Of Rights To Make Sure Working People Have The Protections They Need From grocery store workers to nurses, from home care workers to janitors, from teachers to delivery workers to domestic workers -- there is an invisible, undervalued army of people who make our lives possible. Their work is essential, and it always has been. Ai-jen Poo
Trump’s Planned Trip To Mount Rushmore Puts Lives And A Fragile Ecosystem At Risk The July 4th event will only serve to endanger the Black Hills National Forest, spread contagion, and continue the president’s pattern of sowing hatred and division. Ruth Hopkins
New York City Laundry Workers Struggle in the Face of COVID-19 Workers report facing a difficult choice between earning a living and feeling safe and healthy at their job. Amir Khafagy
American Democracy Cannot Breathe Yes, we must radically transform policing in America. But we cannot stop there. We must transform the pervasive systems of economic and carceral injustice that are choking our common life. William J. Barber II, Saru Jayaraman
Formerly Incarcerated Businessowners Sue SBA For Denying Them COVID-19 Emergency Loans The lawsuit says the Small Business Administration overstepped its authority by imposing ‘arbitrary and capricious’ restrictions on a loan program passed by Congress. Bryce Covert
Cops, Climate, COVID: Why There Is Only One Crisis Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are both provoked by natural phenomena, the dangers they present are just as political as the crisis of police violence. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
COVID-19 Infections and Deaths Among Natives Are Underreported. It’s Time For State Health Departments To Step Up. While 80 percent of state health departments are recording race as part of their COVID-19 statistics, around half are not including Natives and are simply labeling them as “other.” Ruth Hopkins
The L.A. Mayor’s ‘Unacceptable’ Budget Would Deprive Those In Need And Accelerate The City’s Slide Toward A Police State The City Council must not let Mayor Eric Garcetti’s unconscionable priorities dictate how Los Angeles responds to the COVID-19 crisis.
Many Undocumented Immigrants are Frontline Workers, But Their Families Can’t Get Government Aid Advocates say states aren’t doing enough to close the gaps in the federal stimulus bill. Rebecca Chowdhury
Housing the Formerly Incarcerated Should Be A Fundamental Right, Especially in a Pandemic States must fund stable housing for all formerly incarcerated people to neutralize the spread of COVID-19 and create equitable opportunities for social reintegration. Demar F. Lewis IV
The Case For Universal Rental Assistance Expansion of an existing federal rental subsidy program, the Housing Choice Voucher, could stabilize housing for millions of households. Kirk McClure, Alex F. Schwartz
A New Federal Reserve Initiative Could Keep State And Local Governments Funded Through The Pandemic The Fed’s new Municipal Liquidity Facility can be a necessary financial lifeline to states facing a cash crunch -- but only if they use it properly and completely. Robert Hockett
COVID-19 Exposes Stark Inequalities Across U.S. As Thousands Struggle Daily To Find Food ‘It’s not only poor people standing in food lines, or going to food pantries and soup kitchens. Now you have the middle class and businesses that are suffering, too,’ one organizer said. Elizabeth Brico
Universal Basic Income Is A Path To A More Just Economy. One California City Is Already Seeing Positive Results. The pandemic is making it clear that it’s time to radically rethink the social contract. Amy Castro Baker, Stacia Martin-West
Governors Who Are Banding Together on Pandemic Response Should Adopt Universal Basic Income The federal government is not going to lead the way on addressing the economic pain caused by the shutdowns. But states have the power to do something about it now. David A. Love
California Tenants Will Go on a Rent Strike if the State Falls Short of Cancelling Rent Laid-off workers say they face insurmountable debt and homelessness if they have to pay back months of rent after the pandemic. Supriya Yelimeli
The Case For Universal Healthcare During A Pandemic An overwhelming majority of Americans support the federal government paying all healthcare costs for the duration of the coronavirus emergency. Alison P. Galvani
The Case For A Temporary Merger Ban For America’s Largest Companies Americans overwhelmingly support imposing a merger moratorium on large corporations and private equity firms. Sarah Miller
Housing Is A Human Right. It Should Not Be Predicated On The Money In One’s Pocket. There are certain universal human needs that any governing structure — from local to federal — is responsible for. Among these are housing, healthcare, education, public parks, clean water, and clean air — the things that make life beautiful. These needs touch every single living being and as such, are non-negotiable. They do not belong on the open market. Molly Beckhardt, Paul Boden, June LS
The Battle to Convert California Hotels into Housing Has Begun Elected officials need to stop making excuses for not getting unhoused people into hotel rooms. Jonny Coleman
Congress Does Not ‘Care’ About My American Family Intentionally disqualifying millions of American citizens from much-needed stimulus funds during this unprecedented health crisis is both unnecessary and cruel. Jane Lilly López
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: The Case For An Emergency Responder Corps As the coronavirus crisis continues to expand, it is clear that America needs a robust assistance program for the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and physically disabled, to ensure they have what they need to survive. The health, safety, and stability of all communities depend on it. Rashida Tlaib
New York City Must Take Action to Ensure the Most Vulnerable Survive the Pandemic The city has created the structural conditions that have engendered disproportionately high rates of infection and death among its Black and Latinx residents. TS Candii, Darializa Avila Chevalier
Formerly Incarcerated Americans Were Excluded From Federal COVID-19 Relief The Small Business Administration has created barriers for people re-entering the workforce after serving time in prison. Alex Sherman
Avoid Austerity To Prevent A State And Local Coronavirus Depression Local budget cuts enacted a decade ago left states and cities dangerously unprepared for COVID-19. We shouldn’t make those same mistakes again. Nathan Tankus
Coronavirus Lays Bare The Staggering Class Inequalities That Divide America Neither the coronavirus nor anything else is a ‘great equalizer’ because we aren’t, actually, all in this together. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
Transgender Sex Workers in New York City Struggle to Survive the Pandemic Advocates say the “progressive” city has left them to die. Rebecca Chowdhury
Voters Want Guaranteed Paychecks Through The Pandemic Voters want the government to take common sense measures that meet the scale of the crisis and preserve the economy so that when the coronavirus is contained, economic life can resume as rapidly as possible. It's time for lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to listen. Lindsay Owens, Ethan Winter
Majority Of Americans Support Monthly Cash Assistance To Offset Pandemic Damage To Economy New polling finds strong bipartisan support for recurring government payments to Americans, rather than a one-time payment. Ioana Marinescu, Hyeri Choi
Grocery Store Workers Are Risking Their Lives For Little Pay They make roughly half the average national income, and they’re at risk of COVID-19 exposure as they continue to work to ensure shelves are restocked and communities fed. Lizzie Tribone
Under Pressure, San Francisco Shifts Plan For Mass Indoor Homeless Camps This is still a severely inadequate response to this deadly pandemic. The Mayor has both the power and the obligation to house every single person in hotels; failing to do so puts thousands of lives at risk. Quiver Watts
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina For The COVID-19 Recovery To Come Powerful interests exploited Katrina to enrich themselves and transform the city. As a reporter who covered the fallout explains, our government’s lax oversight means the same could happen now, leaving those who most need help behind. Gary Rivlin
The Coronavirus Food Bank Crisis Is Already Underway In Austin and across the country, service providers are dealing with spikes in demand, new logistical challenges, and mounting uncertainty about the months ahead. Jay Willis
San Francisco Mayor Opts For Mass Indoor Homeless Camps To Further Concentrate Vulnerable People To leave hundreds of people in mass congregate shelters could be a death sentence for many of our vulnerable neighbors. Quiver Watts
Congress Failed to Make Cash Assistance Universal. Now Local Governments Must Step Up There’s still a chance to make sure some of the most vulnerable people can benefit from the federal stimulus bill. Yonah Freemark
As the Coronavirus Pandemic Worsens, Olympia’s Homeless Community Scrambles for Support The COVID-19 crisis is shining a light on America’s worsening housing crisis and limited resources for response. Mara Kardas-Nelson
Seattle Was Struggling To Care For Its Unhoused Population. Then Coronavirus Arrived. Advocates for the area’s homeless residents say the pandemic will worsen the crisis they have already been living through. Jay Willis
The Coronavirus Crisis Means We Need Cash Assistance for All But the proposals on the table are leaving our most vulnerable neighbors behind. Yonah Freemark
