June, 28 2021, 11:03am EDT
More Than 85 Advocacy Groups Endorse the People's Response Act; Urge Congress to Pass Key Legislation
Newly introduced legislation brings a new focus on public safety as a public health issue, allocates critical resources toward community safety to fill gaps in the current system.
WASHINGTON
Today, more than 85 advocacy groups announced collective support for the People's Response Act, which was introduced today by Congresswoman Cori Bush. The newly introduced legislation would fund community-based, health-centered, non-carceral investments in public safety to fill critical gaps in the public safety system which has failed to protect Black people.
The People's Response Act brings a new focus on public safety as a public health issue and would provide grants at the state and local levels for organizations to develop and support pilot community-based programs. This bill builds on the efforts of Black, Latinx, and working class communities to redefine public safety through community-led, holistic models that have centered care over cages. In defining public safety as a public health issue, this bill allows those efforts to be brought to scale. The People's Response Act emphasizes a health-centered approach to public safety by empowering the Department of Health and Human Services and promoting interagency collaboration--because communities and experts agree that public safety is not a matter for the Department of Justice alone.The full text of the legislation is available at the peoplesresponseact.com.
"We are thrilled to see the introduction of the People's Response Act, a bill that centers the critical work Black communities have done to ensure that their communities and their families are safe. We know that despite the said purpose of law enforcement, a carceral model of public safety has been anything but safe for our communities. Instead, and like this bill would do, we must invest in community-based, community-led models that puts people first. Public safety is a public health issue and we must finally invest in the services that truly make us safe. We urge Congress to join Congresswoman Bush, support this bill, and work to create true safety in our communities," said Scott Roberts, Senior Director of Criminal Justice Campaign, Color Of Change.
"This bill is a continuation of the work that the people of St. Louis and people all across our country have been deeply engaged in since the police murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. As an activist who stood on the frontlines of the Ferguson uprising in 2014 and through the summer of protests for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor last year--I believe that our legislation should be responsive to the demands of those of us who risked our lives in pursuit of justice. That demand has always been clear: thriving communities, homes, clean air, and the chance to live a life unencumbered by trauma and senseless violence. This Act brings together a broad coalition of health professionals, advocates, teachers, mental health professionals, peers, counselors, social workers, and movement leaders to build an agency that is rooted in a holistic approach to public safety," said U.S. Representative Cori Bush (D-MO).
"Punitive tactics such as policing and imprisonment uniquely harm Black women. Police have harmed and killed us and our loved ones, mass incarceration policy has ravaged our communities, and courts have driven us to financial ruin. Despite more resources than it has ever had at its disposal, the criminal justice system fails to protect Black women each step of the way. The People's Response Act is a sensible approach that would create pathways to harm prevention and violence interruption that are more effective than policing in keeping communities safe. Congresswoman Cori Bush has answered the cry from gender justice, racial justice, and mental health advocates who know that community-led, health-based investments are the only just public safety solution," said Gina Clayton-Johnson, Founder & Executive Director, Essie Justice Group
"The People's Response Act is transformative legislation that puts us on the path toward achieving our full vision of safety for all Black people. It moves us toward a shared vision of what truly keeps Black people safe: dramatic investments in communities that have suffered from generations of systemic racism and economic exploitation, incentives for local governments to adopt critical non-carceral practices, and the creation of a federal community safety agency to make the critical link between public safety and public health. We demand legislators hold a hearing for the People's Response Act and move the bill towards passage. We know what it takes to keep our communities safe, that is why we will organize to support Rep. Bush and the bill's co-sponsors to make this approach real for Black people," said Kayla Reed, Executive Director of Action St. Louis and leader of the Movement for Black Lives' Electoral Justice Project
The grants provided by the People's Response Act would allow organizations to scale-up public services and programs including vouchers for supportive housing, community-based employment programs, violence interruption, harm reduction counseling services, school mediation, and treatment for mental health and substance abuse.
The People's Response Act has garnered support from civic and advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Greenpeace, Black Live Matter, Movement for Black Lives, Essie Justice Group, Dignity and Power Now, Center for Popular Democracy, Human Rights Watch, Sunrise Movement, Latino Justice, National Employment Law Project, Promise of Justice Initiative, Drug Policy Alliance, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Common Justice, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Showing Up for Racial Justice, Civil Rights Corps, Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund, Real Justice Network, Equal Justice Under Law, Public Justice Center, Louisiana Survivors for Reform, National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), and Parents Organized for Public Education.
"Rep. Bush's excellent legislation helps create a sustainable federal infrastructure for community safety alternatives to violent policing. If passed, it has the potential to drastically reduce harm and violence in Black and brown communities, and ultimately, transform how we imagine public safety. This is a long overdue move forward, and we applaud Rep. Bush for hearing the calls of the millions of people who've been organizing against police violence over the last year," said Arvin Alaigh, Campaign Manager, MoveOn.
"Los Angeles County is home to the largest jail system in the nation, but through the tireless work of our community, we are now leading the nation in the development of a Care First vision that prioritizes community-based systems of care over incarceration and policing," said Ivette Ivette Ale, Senior Policy Lead, Dignity and Power Now. "From the passing of Measure R and Measure J, to the creation of the Alternatives to Incarceration roadmap, we are taking critical steps to transform our county. Federal funding that supports these efforts and invests in our most vulnerable communities will propel this work forward and create the blue-print for national transformation."
"An actionable, visionary change to the way we approach safety is long overdue. Communities need policies that root safety not in punishment, but in health, education, housing, and the other things that people truly need to thrive. The People's Response Act is a key step in this direction, and we are thrilled that Rep. Bush is leading this charge," said Thea Sebastian, Director of Policy, Civil Rights Corps.
"We applaud Representative Bush for proposing solutions that rethink public safety. Far too many people with psychiatric disabilities, and particularly those who are people of color, have died or experienced needless incarceration due to avoidable contacts with law enforcement. Law enforcement should not be the default response to mental health emergencies," said Jennifer Mathis, Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy, Bazelon Center.
"LiveFree California believes gun violence in this country is at epidemic proportions and it's impact disproportionately felt in marginalized communities and only through focused and intense strategies supported by sufficient funding and effective programs can this be addressed," said Tim Kornegay, Coalition Director of LivFree California.
"As a national public health organization, we enthusiastically support building community-led, non-punitive public safety systems. We have seen time and again the ways that policing and incarceration threatens community health, especially among Black, Indigenous, immigrant, poor, and unhoused people. This bold legislation is a crucial step to advancing health equity and racial justice," said Amber Akemi Piatt, Health Instead of Punishment Program Director, Human Impact Partners.
"We cannot expect an institution rooted in the history of American chattel slavery to keep our communities safe. There is no such policy or technology that can reform policing - we need to completely divest from this racist punishment system and seriously tackle the issue of violence. This requires investing in the resources that address the root causes of violence in order to create healthy and safe communities. But it also means investing in the resources that allows us to respond to crises in a principled and dignified way. Our communities have had the courage to envision a world beyond the brutality of our current carceral system and it's time for our leaders to do the same," said Myaisha Hayes, Campaign Strategies Director at MediaJustice.
"The Bail Project applauds The People's Response Act for modeling public safety as a public health issue. Investments in people and not incarceration is how we achieve public safety. Through our Community Release with Support model, we have seen time again that housing, employment, mental health care, and other voluntary services can help return a person to court pretrial or keep them out of the system altogether. We look forward to building upon the foundation that this legislation will set in fostering more non-carceral and community-based models to public safety," said Kanya Bennett, Senior Policy Counsel & Legislative Coalition Manager, The Bail Project.
"Sunrise Movement stands with Rep. Bush in our shared vision of safety that invests in community, care and a non-carceral system," said Lauren Maunus, Advocacy Director for Sunrise Movement. "Billions of our tax dollars are used to train cops to kill. It's time to defund the police and invest in our communities through legislation like the People's Response Act- doing so would bring us one step closer towards the Green New Deal," said Lauren Maunus, Sunrise Movement Advocacy Director
Specifically, the People's Response Act would:
Create a public safety agency within the Department of Health and Human Services to fund and coordinate research, technical assistance, and grant programs related to non-carceral, health-centered investments in public safety.
Establish a First Responders Hiring Grant to award competitive grants through HHS and direct resources to community-based organizations and state, local, and tribal governments to hire emergency first responders, such as licensed social workers, mental health counselors, substance use counselors, and peer counselors, in an effort to improve crisis response and increase non-carceral, health-based approaches to public safety.
Fund several grant programs to implement and invest in community-led, health-based investments in public safety.
Fund grassroots, community-based organizations to implement non-carceral investments in public safety, including a dedicated grant for violence prevention.
Fund and incentivize states and local governments to shrink their criminal-legal systems and invest in community-led, non-carceral, and non-punitive investments in public safety.
Color Of Change is the nation's largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over one million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
LATEST NEWS
The Fed Accused of 'Playing With Fire' After Latest Rate Hike
"It shouldn't take a lot of courage to resist another interest rate hike when the economy is this fragile," said one critic.
Mar 22, 2023
Progressive economists and other experts blasted Federal Reserve leadership on Wednesday for raising interest rates yet again despite concerns about recent bank failures and how the quarter-point increase will impact the U.S. and global economies.
"Once again, interest rate hikes are going to fall hardest on low-wage workers and the poor—the same people who have already been hurt the most by rising prices," tweeted University of California, Berkeley professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "Higher rates could also imperil more banks, and risk even more financial chaos. The Fed is playing with fire."
Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters Wednesday that although the Federal Open Market Committee "did consider" a pause on rate increases following the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank failures, officials ultimately decided to raise the federal funds rate to a range of 4.75-5%, the highest level since 2007.
"The Fed under Chair Powell made a mistake not pausing its extreme interest rate hikes," declared Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) a fierce critic of nine consecutive rate hikes since last March as well as the Fed's regulatory rollbacks that proceeded the bank collapses.
"I've warned for months that the Fed's current path risks throwing millions of Americans out of work. We have many tools to fight inflation without pushing the economy off a cliff," added Warren, who has repeatedly called for ousting Powell.
Patriotic Millionaires chair Morris Pearl—a bank bailout expert and former managing director at BlackRock—similarly contended that "the Fed's decision to keep pushing forward with rate hikes no matter the circumstances is a dangerous mistake."
Describing such hikes as "a blunt instrument," he stressed that high interest rates "are not well suited to the economic realities the country now faces—and will inevitably end up doing more harm than good."
Pearl continued:
In our modern economy, high interest rates are simply not an effective way to fight inflation. Rate hikes have disproportionately hurt just a few sectors, like housing, automobiles, and some banks and investors, while leaving many of the nation's largest employers relatively unscathed.
Rising interest rates do nothing to address a major cause of inflation, corporate price gouging, and actually make another long-term cause, lack of investment in new housing, worse. Instead, the Fed is betting that lowering employment and cooling wage growth is the best solution to inflation.
Higher interest rates may be a cure for inflation, but if they end up causing another banking crisis, or pushing the economy into a recession, the cure may be worse than the disease.
An analysis released Wednesday by Accountable.US explained that "SVB's failure was partly due partly to a 'plunge' in bond value and $1.8 billion in 'paper losses' amid the Fed's rate hikes. By the end of 2022, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had warned that U.S. banks were 'sitting on $620 billion in unrealized losses' that may make their balance sheets appear healthier than they really are."
The watchdog group found that "at the end of 2022, the five biggest U.S. banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank Of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and U.S. Bank—reported a total of $233 billion in unrealized losses on held-to-maturity securities, including $54 billion in unrealized losses on Treasury securities. These same banks reported a combined $39.4 billion in unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities, including $12.7 billion in losses on available-for-sale U.S. Treasuries."
Liz Zelnick, director of economic security and corporate power at Accountable.US, warned Wednesday that "hiking interest rates, even if more slowly, will devastate Main Street and Wall Street alike by wiping out millions of jobs while sending Treasury securities into a downward spiral," acknowledging that the recent bank turmoil prevented an even bigger increase than 25 basis points.
"A recession and broken financial system are not worth the price of higher interest rates that have failed miserably to curb the corporate greed epidemic helping to drive up costs," Zelnick added. "To date, the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell have been more than willing to let average American families bear the brunt of their job-killing strategy—but are they also willing to let their banker friends on Wall Street go down with the ship?"
The Hill highlighted that ahead of Wednesday's announcement, influential figures such as economist Paul Krugman and analysts for Goldman Sachs—in a Monday letter to investors—had advocated for pausing rate hikes.
"Bank stress calls for a pause," wrote Goldman Sachs analysts. "Banking is not just another sector of the economy because financial intermediation is vital to every sector. As a result, addressing stress in the banking system is the most immediate concern and must take priority over other less urgent goals for the moment. We expect that policymakers and staff economists at the Fed will have the same view."
During his Wednesday press conference, Powell insisted that "our banking system is sound and resilient with strong capital and liquidity. We will continue to closely monitor conditions in the banking system and are prepared to use all of our tools as needed to keep it safe and sound."
While Powell also emphasized the Fed's commitment to learning from the recent SVB and Signature failures to prevent repeat events, both the bank collapses and a year of rate hikes have fueled calls for his ouster.
Asked by CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday whether she had ever directly told President Joe Biden that he should fire Powell, Warren said she wouldn't talk about private conversations "but what I will say is I've made it very clear as publicly as humanly possible that I didn't think that he should be reconfirmed as chair of the Fed. And I think he's doing a really terrible job."
"And he's doing a terrible job on both fronts," she said, referring to the Fed's dual mandate. In terms of oversight, Powell "has spent five years weakening regulations over these multibillion-dollar banks," and on monetary policy, he is "risking pushing our economy into a recession."
"What he's trying to do is get two million people laid off, and one of the things that we need to understand: He wants to raise the unemployment rate by more than a point within a single 12-month period. We have done that before in this country. In fact, we have done it 12 times before. And out of all 12 times, how many times has it resulted in a recession?" she said. "The answer is 12."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Restarting Michigan Nuclear Power Plant Risks 'Chernobyl-Scale Catastrophe,' Coalition Warns
"This more than $10 billion in ratepayer and taxpayer robbery would merely fund an insanely high-risk game of radioactive Russian roulette on the Lake Michigan shoreline," said one critic.
Mar 22, 2023
A coalition of 191 individuals and 185 groups representing thousands of people on Wednesday implored the federal government for the third time not to fund the revival of a roughly 51-year-old nuclear power plant that was shut down last May in Covert, Michigan.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the coalition warned that providing financial aid to Holtec International, which purchased the Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP) last June, could lead to a massive public health and environmental disaster that reverberates far beyond the shoreline of Lake Michigan—a source of drinking water for millions of people in multiple states.
A little over a week after taking ownership of PNP "under the false pretense of decommissioning it," Holtec secretly applied for funding from the DOE's Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program in early July to reopen the plant, the coalition explained in a statement. The company's application—supported by Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who had been advocating for a "dangerous 'zombie reactor' bailout and restart scheme at Palisades" since April 2022—was made public in early September.
Thanks in part to opposition from the coalition, which sent its first letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in September, the DOE rejected Holtec's first funding request in mid-November. The following month, however, Holtec announced it would apply for federal funding during a second round of allocations, prompting a second letter of opposition from the coalition.
As The Holland Sentinelreported earlier this month: "Holtec is taking a different route with its second attempt at funding. Rather than applying through the CNC program, the company applied for funds from the U.S. Department of Energy loan office."
Terry Lodge, legal counsel for the coalition's lead groups, Beyond Nuclear and Don't Waste Michigan, wrote in Wednesday's letter that "DOE's recently issued amended 'guidance,' which was specifically rewritten to enable Holtec to apply for $1.2 billion of federal taxpayer funds, is not legal under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)."
"We understand that Holtec... may be applying to DOE for a subsidized loan under a different law, with the intention of using funds from the IIJA to pay off the loan," wrote Lodge. "We question whether such a combined transaction would be lawful under the IIJA. Even if it is, IIJA credits may not be used to support Palisades. Congress intended the IIJA to support only currently operating commercial nuclear reactors that face termination of operations for economic reasons. Palisades does not meet any criteria for eligibility."
The coalition once again asked Granholm—a former Democratic governor and attorney general of Michigan—and other high-ranking officials at the DOE to deny Holtec's request that the non-operational PNP be certified to receive such federal funding.
Most importantly, PNP is unable "to operate safely due to a litany of chronic and acute problems associated with age-related degradation and neglected maintenance on safety-significant systems, structures, and components," the coalition argued in its statement. "This includes the worst neutron-embrittled reactor pressure vessel in the country and perhaps the world, at risk of pressurized thermal shock through-wall fracture, which would lead to reactor core meltdown."
"But additional pathways to catastrophic meltdown include a reactor lid, as well as steam generators, that have needed replacement for 17 years or longer," the coalition continued. "Palisades' control rod drive mechanism seal leaks have been uniquely bad in all of industry, for more than a half-century. Now added to this long list is Holtec's neglect of vital maintenance, such as of the turbo-generator, bending under its own immense weight, as well as the steam generators, to name but two examples."
Holtec has "applied to DOE for a billion dollar federal taxpayer-backed nuclear loan guarantee under the Inflation Reduction Act, which it would use to promote the reactor restart scheme, hoping to pay it back over time with the CNC program bailout," said the coalition. In addition, Holtec is "seeking a more than billion dollar subsidy from the state of Michigan, as well as yet another lucrative, above-market rate power purchase agreement with an unnamed utility company in the area. Also, Holtec has applied to DOE for $7.4 billion in federal nuclear loan guarantees, authorized under the 2005 Energy Policy Act and congressionally appropriated on December 23, 2007, for the design certification, construction, and operation of four small modular (nuclear) reactors, more than one of which would also be located at the Palisades site."
In the words of Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear and board member of Don't Waste Michigan, "This more than $10 billion in ratepayer and taxpayer robbery would merely fund an insanely high-risk game of radioactive Russian roulette on the Lake Michigan shoreline."
"Both extremes of the risk spectrum would be co-located at the Palisades site, if Holtec gets its way," said Kamps. "The ever-worsening breakdown phase risks at the old reactor would exist alongside the break-in phase risks of the new reactors, risking a Chernobyl-scale catastrophe, with the potential for Fukushima-style, domino-effect, multiple meltdowns."
According to The Holland Sentinel: "Holtec has acknowledged there will be 'a number of hurdles' to reopening the plant even if funding is secured. Those include financial commitment from the state, procuring a power purchasing agreement, upgrading the switchyard, partnering with a licensed operator for the restart, rehiring qualified and trained staff, and maintenance and delayed capital improvements of the facility—the plant closed earlier than planned due to failure of a control rod drive seal."
Citing comments a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission official made during a public meeting on Monday, MLivereported this week that PNP "would be the first plant to enter the decommissioning phase and then try to restart."
During the meeting, Kamps declared, "Over my dead body are you all going to get away with this."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Shocking and Immoral': Report Details Private Equity's Stranglehold on US Healthcare
"The damage that private equity has wrought on Americans' healthcare from cradle to grave, simply for profit, has become a life-or-death situation."
Mar 22, 2023
Private equity's ownership of U.S. healthcare providers is incompatible with the needs and best interests of patients and should be checked with federal legislation, according to a report published Wednesday by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Critics of for-profit care have long decried private equity's focus on maximizing returns through practices including slashing staff, surprising patients with astronomical bills, and eschewing low-margin care upon which vulnerable populations rely. The new report—authored primarily by Public Citizen healthcare policy advocate Eagan Kemp—examines investment firms' impact on more than a dozen healthcare sectors, from reproductive health through end-of-life care.
"Private equity acquisitions in the healthcare sector have steadily climbed since the financial crisis in 2009, particularly in the past five years," a summary of the report notes. "Unlike acquisitions of hospitals, which typically occur under a public spotlight, the private equity industry's acquisitions of physician practices and other healthcare business lines often occur with little or no disclosure or public scrutiny, hindering the ability of regulators and watchdogs to monitor the effects of private equity ownership."
According to the report:
In general, the private equity industry's business model poses risks to the long-term sustainability of entities that the industry acquires. That is, in large part, because private equity purchases are typically financed with debt that is immediately transferred onto the books of the businesses acquired, thus leaving the acquired entities with debt burdens to manage.
Meanwhile, private equity investors seek outsize returns on an accelerated timeline, generally aiming to exit investments in three to five years with returns of 20%-30% per year. This objective induces them to take short-sighted steps to supercharge profits or otherwise wring capital out of the assets they acquire.
The risks posed by private equity investments in healthcare are particularly acute. After all, the services healthcare providers offer can spell the difference between life and death. Private equity has targeted segments of the healthcare industry since at least the 1990s, with many predictable outcomes. Among them, shocking lapses in safety have occurred, prices have risen faster than at non-private equity acquired entities, and patients have been subjected to price gouging schemes.
The conflict between providers' obligations to provide the best care and private equity investors' insatiable appetites for maximized [returns] provides is clear. "You can't serve two masters," a doctor who previously worked for private equity-owned U.S. Dermatology Partners toldBloomberg. "You can't serve patients and investors."
"Thanks to a lack of transparency, we don't know everything about private equity's incursion into healthcare. But what we do know is shocking and immoral" said Kemp. "The damage that private equity has wrought on Americans' healthcare from cradle to grave, simply for profit, has become a life-or-death situation. Transparency and oversight are needed, stat."
The report suggests legislative solutions including Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) Stop Wall Street Looting Act and Rep. Pramila Jayapal's Healthcare Ownership Transparency Act. The latter, according to Jayapal's office, "would require private equity firms and other financial interests to disclose ownership stakes in healthcare facilities including nursing homes."
A September 2022 Public Citizen report detailed how federal regulators had failed to implement a 2010 law requiring nursing homes to disclose their owners. Other investigations during the Covid-19 pandemic found that home healthcare, hospice, and nursing facilities and services owned by investment firms often provided a lower standard of care.
"We applaud Rep. Jayapal's ongoing effort to shine a light on the dangerous toll private equity vultures are taking on our health," Public Citizen president Robert Weissman said in a statement. "Adequate regulation of this predatory industry is acutely critical when it comes to the healthcare sector."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular
SUPPORT OUR WORK.
We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100%
reader supported.
reader supported.