Issues | - FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS/INVESTMENTS/SECURITIES
- Oppose the OCC proposed rule would force large banks to do business, against their will, with industries that harm the public
- MEDIA (INFORMATION/PUBLISHING)
- Support civil rights principles in the era of big data. Specifically, we need to end high tech profiling
- ensure justice in automated decisions
- preserve Constitutional principles
- ensure that technology serves people historically subject to discrimination
- defining responsible use of personal Information and enhance individual rights
- and make systems transparent and accountable.
- Support extending the Lifeline waivers throughout the full length of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- DISASTER PLANNING/EMERGENCIES
- Support H.R. 9051, the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help Act of 2020 to increase the amount of the stimulus check received by low-and moderate-income Americans by $1,400 per person.
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- HOUSING
- FHFA should significantly increase the GSEs affordable housing goals, particularly the low-income purchase goal. Furthermore, FHFA and the GSEs should take measures that make rate term refinancing more available to lower wealth borrowers and borrowers of color. In addition to bolstering access to responsible mortgage credit, the GSEs should also take all possible actions to mitigate foreclosures and to support affordable loan modifications for homeowners who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and recession
- Regarding the proposed housing goals for the GSEs: Tightening credit standards in the wake of COVID-19 are predictable but troubling signs that lower-income and minority home buyers are facing barriers to access and affordability
- goal-setting for 2021 should reflect that the Enterprises must provide leadership in the mortgage market and not lag the market in making mortgage credit available. The agency should consider setting higher benchmark housing goals but also adopting pricing, product, outreach and other affordable housing policies that support the Enterprises meeting them
- and throughout 2021, FHFA and the agencys newly-created Division of Research and Statistics should provide topline data and trend insights into Enterprise acquisitions and affordable housing activities related to the goal-qualifying segments of the market and create new measurements to track the progress of minority home buyers
- Support letter from Senators Brown and Menendez to FHFA Director Mark Calabria which argues that to better assist minority and low-income borrowers and reduce risk for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises), the housing goals for 2021 increase the share of Enterprise refinance guarantees that benefit low-income families and ensure that no such homeowner is negatively affected by an adverse market charge.
- Support S. 4969 , the Senate counterpart to H.R. 149 the Housing Fairness Act. This legislation would increase funding for HUDs Fair Housing Initiatives Program, make changes to the FHIP, reinstate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, and provide additional funds for research into housing discrimination
- Support the CDC extending their eviction moratorium through March 2021 and making key improvements to shore-up protections for renters
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- AGRICULTURE
- Support of the critical importance of getting the Dietary Guidelines right and ensuring that they serve all Americans, especially during this urgent time where the state of our health is so crucial in the fight against Covid19.
- Support an extension of 60 days on the comment period for the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) proposed rule entitled: Restoration of Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Flexibilities (85 FR 75241)
- NATURAL RESOURCES
- Support H.R, 6026, the Civil Rights Legacy Protection Act which would establish federal penalties against vandalism of civil rights memorials and monuments across the United States, as is currently afforded other national monuments and Veterans memorials.
- Support H.R. 3250, the Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools Act, which directs the Department of the Interior to study the sites associated with the life and legacy of Julius Rosenwald, a part owner and President of Sears, Roebuck and Company and a noted philanthropist who helped finance construction of 5,357 schools in 15 southern states between 1912 and 1932. The study shall include a special emphasis on specified sites, including certain Rosenwald Schools. In conducting such study, Interior shall (1) evaluate the national significance of the sites
- and (2) determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the sites as a unit of the National Park System, including an interpretive center in or near Chicago, Illinois
- POSTAL
- Support the Kaptur-Pascrell amendment to pilot postal banking in the FY 2021 appropriations package at $2 million.
- SMALL BUSINESS
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- UNEMPLOYMENT
- Support the inclusion of the COBRA subsidies that were in the original HEROES Act, so that laid-off workers have the option to affordably continue the coverage they receive through employers in any future HEROES Act
- Regarding the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: support Increased payments for primary care providers and for vaccine administration
- Ensuring health care providers deliver affordable, high quality telehealth services that meet patient needs
- and the development of a coordinated national strategy to address rural telehealth needs across the country.
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- BANKING
- Support the CDFI Fund giving its seal of approval only to lending practices that, in the spirit of the CDFI mission, carry reasonable interest rates and promote asset building, rather than saddling consumers with high-cost, harmful debt
- Support the Kaptur-Pascrell amendment to pilot postal banking in the FY 2021 appropriations package at $2 million.
- Oppose CFPB plans to conduct testing of new payday loan disclosures, as payday lenders would point to new required disclosures to resist meaningful consumer protections against unaffordable payday loans
- Oppose the OCC proposed rule would force large banks to do business, against their will, with industries that harm the public
- ENERGY/NUCLEAR
- Support $10B in supplemental funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
- BUDGET/APPROPRIATIONS
- Support funding the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) at the House-passed funding level of $240 million in fiscal year 2021
- Support the Kaptur-Pascrell amendment to pilot postal banking in the FY 2021 appropriations package at $2 million.
- Support the House-passed $19.1 million for the operating and programmatic expenses of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in any end-of-year funding package
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- DEFENSE
- Support a waiver for Lloyd Austin to be Secretary of Defense under President Joe Biden
- support Lloyd Austin's confirmation
- LABOR ISSUES/ANTITRUST/WORKPLACE
- Support that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the Commission) extend by a minimum of 30 days the comment period for responding to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), RIN 3046-AB19, Update of Commissions Conciliation Procedures
- Oppose any legislative provision in any stimulus package that provides businesses with immunity from COVID-related lawsuits, including the so-called Safe to Work Act.
- Support the EEOC withdrawing or suspending action on the proposed November 2020 update of the Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination (Compliance Manual)
- Oppose the EEOC considering revoking the delegation of litigation authority that currently resides with the EEOC General Counsel. This change would require the Commission to vote on all EEOC litigation, even non-controversial or individual cases, in order to proceed
- Support H.R. 2694, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant workers can continue to do their jobs by requiring employers to make workplace adjustments for those workers who need them due to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. These accommodations are often low-cost and temporary, such as a stool to sit on during ones shift or free and easy continuous access to clean, potable water
- Support H.R. 8294, the National Apprenticeship
- Act which would create and define the responsibilities for an Office of Apprenticeship (OA) within DOL. The OA's responsibilities include (1) supporting the development of apprenticeship models
- (2) recognizing qualified state apprenticeship agencies, and operating apprenticeship offices in states without a recognized agency
- (3) providing technical assistance to state agencies
- (4) periodically updating requirements for each occupation in the apprenticeship program and determining whether to approve new occupations for the program
- and (5) awarding grants
- TOBACCO
- Support funding the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) at the House-passed funding level of $240 million in fiscal year 2021
- LAW ENFORCEMENT/CRIME/CRIMINAL JUSTICE
- Oppose the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Support H.R. 8560, the Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act. This bill would remove the age requirement for those seeking an expungement order for first-time drug possession offenses
- Support the criminal justice provisions contained in the HEROES Act and urge these essential measures remain in any bipartisan package agreement achieved by Congress
- Support H.R. 7848 / S. 4630, the Counseling Not Criminalization In Schools Act, which would divert federal funding away from school-based law enforcement and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that create positive learning environments
- Support the to extend the suspension on federal student loans to at least September 2021
- What plans do all the relevant components of the Department of Justice, including the FBI and the Civil Rights Division, have to protect the right to vote for Americans across the country from the growing and real threat of violent white supremacist activity? White supremacist activity was elevated to a national threat priority earlier this year
- you have also acknowledged that intelligence shows that white supremacists pose a grave threat to our country. How has this increased the FBIs resources and focus on white supremacist activity in these weeks running up to the election and beyond?
- Oppose any legislative provision in any stimulus package that provides businesses with immunity from COVID-related lawsuits, including the so-called Safe to Work Act.
- Support the Cost of Police Misconduct Act , H.R. 8908 , which incentivizes law enforcement agencies to make public how much their city or county spends on judgements and settlements related to police misconduct
- Oppose the nomination of Thomas Kirsch to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Support H.R. 3884, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE) which Removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. The bill also requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees
- establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs
- imposes a 5% tax on cannabis products and requires revenues to be deposited into the trust fund
- prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions
- prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of a cannabis-related event (e.g., conduct or a conviction)
- establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses
- and directs the Government Accountability Office to study the societal impact of cannabis legalization
- Support S. 461, the HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act or the HBCU PARTNERS Act, which requires federal agencies that regularly interact with HBCUs to submit annual plans for strengthening the capacity of HBCUs to participate in federal programs. Among other things, the plans must establish how the agencies intend to increase the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements
- Oppose the nomination of Justin Walker to the D.C. Court of Appeals
- GOVERNMENT ISSUES
- Oppose the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Oppose filling the US Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- it should be filled by the next POTUS
- Support extending statutory reporting deadlines for apportionment and redistricting data from April to July 2021, to give the U.S. Census Bureau sufficient time to thoroughly implement complex data processing activities and complete the most accurate 2020 Census possible
- What plans do all the relevant components of the Department of Justice, including the FBI and the Civil Rights Division, have to protect the right to vote for Americans across the country from the growing and real threat of violent white supremacist activity? White supremacist activity was elevated to a national threat priority earlier this year
- you have also acknowledged that intelligence shows that white supremacists pose a grave threat to our country. How has this increased the FBIs resources and focus on white supremacist activity in these weeks running up to the election and beyond?
- Support the House-passed $19.1 million for the operating and programmatic expenses of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in any end-of-year funding package
- Oppose the nomination of Thomas Kirsch to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Support a waiver for Lloyd Austin to be Secretary of Defense under President Joe Biden
- support Lloyd Austin's confirmation
- Oppose the nomination of Justin Walker to the D.C. Court of Appeals
- UTILITIES
- Support $10B in supplemental funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
- INTELLIGENCE
- Support the 4th amendment is not for sale act, legislation to prevent law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining in exchange for anything of value subscriber or customer records that the agencies would otherwise only be able to compel the production of through a warrant, court order, or other legal process
- Support amending the Foreign Information and Surveillance Act (FISA) to strengthen and expand the role of the independent amici who appear before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in certain cases (Leahy-Lee amendment)
- removing Sec. 9307 from the Senate IAA, which makes the establishment of a Social Media Data and Threat Analysis Center mandatory
- and make a one-time report in last years IAA on best practices to protect privacy and civil liberties of Chinese Americans into an annual report that also covers civil rights.
- COMMUNICATIONS/BROADCASTING/RADIO/TV
- Support civil rights principles in the era of big data. Specifically, we need to end high tech profiling
- ensure justice in automated decisions
- preserve Constitutional principles
- ensure that technology serves people historically subject to discrimination
- defining responsible use of personal Information and enhance individual rights
- and make systems transparent and accountable.
- Support extending the Lifeline waivers throughout the full length of the pandemic
- Support that a broadband subsidy to be included in a COVID stimulus package
- HEALTH ISSUES
- Support the inclusion of the COBRA subsidies that were in the original HEROES Act, so that laid-off workers have the option to affordably continue the coverage they receive through employers in any future HEROES Act
- Regarding the Hospital OPPS: support making the health care system collect and report information about the ways in which they are failing people of color
- and stop the games that health care industry plays that increase the cost of health care by implementing payment parity across care settings
- Support Medicare and the 340B program
- Support that the leadership of the House and Senate implement protocols and controls that go far beyond testing alone to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the Capitol complex and greater Washington, D.C., area, while also prioritizing the protection of essential workers necessary to uphold the functions of the U.S. government in a time of crisis.
- Support a Pandemic Prevention Plan, which would invest in domestic programs, systems, and supply chains that will help improve Americans health outcomes, combat the spread of new disease, and ramp up public health capacity during global health emergencies
- support global public health efforts to identify and mitigate the spread of new diseases before they become global pandemics
- create at least 250,000 permanent, high-paying public health jobs to rebuild our depleted public health workforce and ensure the rapid deployment of contact tracers and other support workers during future pandemics
- address the systemic racism and discrimination embedded in our health care system and pass legislation ensuring that health care treatments, pandemic countermeasures, vaccines, and primary disease prevention measures are accessible for all
- and halt the environmental degradation that increases the likelihood of global pandemics
- Support of the critical importance of getting the Dietary Guidelines right and ensuring that they serve all Americans, especially during this urgent time where the state of our health is so crucial in the fight against Covid19.
- Support funding the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) at the House-passed funding level of $240 million in fiscal year 2021
- Support the CDC extending their eviction moratorium through March 2021 and making key improvements to shore-up protections for renters
- Equity must be paramount in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The process of developing, testing, and approving COVID-19 vaccines must be transparent. Clinical trials must include representation from diverse communities in order to ensure vaccine efficacy and trust in the process. Communities must be engaged in the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process to provide education and address vaccine hesitancy in communities of color. Robust data collection around vaccine development and distribution must be an instrumental part of our nations COVID-19 response. Once a COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by the FDA, it must be free and accessible for all people
- and Strenuous efforts must be employed before any discussion of a vaccine mandate.
- Support an extension of 60 days on the comment period for the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) proposed rule entitled: Restoration of Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Flexibilities (85 FR 75241)
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- CONSUMER ISSUES/SAFETY/PRODUCTS
- Oppose the CFPBs proposed major reorganization of the Division of Supervision, Enforcement, And Fair Lending (SEFL).
- Oppose the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus approach to consumers with Limited English Proficiency in the recently finalized Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) rule, and to encourage the Bureau to provide greater protections in its upcoming disclosure rule under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Oppose the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus approach to consumers with Limited English Proficiency in the recently finalized Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) rule, and to encourage the Bureau to provide greater protections in its upcoming disclosure rule under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Oppose CFPB plans to conduct testing of new payday loan disclosures, as payday lenders would point to new required disclosures to resist meaningful consumer protections against unaffordable payday loans
- RELIGION
- Support the EEOC withdrawing or suspending action on the proposed November 2020 update of the Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination (Compliance Manual).
- CIVIL RIGHTS/CIVIL LIBERTIES
- Oppose the Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping issued by President Trump on September 22, 2020. It attempts to erase the very concept of racism and sexism as being real, historical and present-day phenomena and undermines important and necessary employer initiatives aimed at understanding and dismantling racist, sexist, and discriminatory structures
- Support H.Con.Res. 100 / S.Con.Res. 50, which urge the establishment of a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation
- Support the EEOC withdrawing or suspending action on the proposed November 2020 update of the Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination (Compliance Manual).
- WELFARE
- Support H.R. 9051, the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help Act of 2020 to increase the amount of the stimulus check received by low-and moderate-income Americans by $1,400 per person.
- Support H.R. 133, the COVID-19 Relief and fiscal 2021 omnibus, which includes provisions to provide more than $900 billion for unemployment, direct payments, and business loans to combat the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extends eviction moratorium by a month and appropriates $25 billion in emergency rental payments. Provides low- and moderate income families with $600 economic stimulus.
- MEDICARE/MEDICAID
- Regarding the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: support Increased payments for primary care providers and for vaccine administration
- Ensuring health care providers deliver affordable, high quality telehealth services that meet patient needs
- and the development of a coordinated national strategy to address rural telehealth needs across the country
- Regarding the Hospital OPPS: support making the health care system collect and report information about the ways in which they are failing people of color
- and stop the games that health care industry plays that increase the cost of health care by implementing payment parity across care settings
- Support Medicare and the 340B program
- IMMIGRATION
- Support a new COVID relief package that includes all families (including legal immigrants and mixed-status families) in support measures and provides a retroactive fix for the CARES Act exclusion of immigrant families from stimulus payments
- Support ensuring that immigrants have equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines
- EDUCATION
- Support H.R. 8994, which restores the option to appeal for complaints filed in the Mar-Nov 2018 window and require the Department of Education OCR to notify all applicable complainants of this option. The bill also requires OCR to share a report on these activities with Congress
- Support H.R. 7848 / S. 4630, the Counseling Not Criminalization In Schools Act, which would divert federal funding away from school-based law enforcement and toward evidence-based and trauma informed services that create positive learning environments
- Support eliminating student debt
- Oppose the U.S. Department of Educations interim final rule, CARES Act Programs
- Equitable Services to Students and Teachers in Non-Public Schools (Docket ID ED-2020-OESE-0091), published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2020.
- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
- Support H.R. 51, making DC a state and allowing it all the rights and responsibilities of statehood, in the 117th Congress
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