The Honorable Thomas Richard Harkin
Chairman
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
The Honorable Lamar Alexander
Ranking Member
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Alexander:
Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Alexander, and Members of the HELP Committee: I greatly appreciate this opportunity to speak to you about economic security for working women, particularly the experience of women in the retail industry. My name is Amy Traub and I am a senior policy analyst at Dēmos. Dēmos is a non-partisan public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy.
Chairman Schumer, Senator King, Ranking Member Roberts, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony for this hearing on the harm of secret political spending, the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in McCutcheon v. FEC, and solutions to address the problem of improper influence of money in politics in America today.
Good morning, my name is Catherine Ruetschlin and I am a policy analyst at Demos, a non-partisan public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy. Access to an affordable higher education is central to the work of Demos because, despite its growing expense, a college degree remains a young person’s best bet for raising her standard of living and securing a place in the middle class.
Dear Mr. President: Thank you for your leadership in enacting the Affordable Care Act, and for your commitment to helping all Americans access quality, affordable health care, a goal that the undersigned strongly support.
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the undersigned organizations, we urge you to become an original cosponsor of “The Equal Employment for All Act” sponsored by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). In addition to the weak economy, job-seekers today confront another less discussed challenge— employers that require credit checks as a condition of employment.
Dramatic new public policy initiatives are needed to accomplish two broad interrelated goals: to ensure that all Americans have a chance to move into the middle class and, second, to ensure greater security for those in the middle class.
Good Afternoon. My name is Amy Traub and I am a senior policy analyst at Demos. We are a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy. I would like to thank the Progressive Caucus for this opportunity to provide testimony on our recent research.
I thank the committee for this opportunity to present testimony on the IDC’s campaign finance reform proposal. This testimony is submitted on behalf of myself and Miles Rapoport, President of Demos and former Secretary of the State of Connecticut.
As former and present Secretaries of the State of Connecticut, we are very proud of our state for broadening our democracy by adopting a public financing system for our legislative and statewide campaigns. As former legislators, we understand intimately the fundraising aspects of standing for election, and as Secretaries of the State we have been responsible for administration and implementation of campaign finance laws.
One motivation for this hearing is the recent study by the Federal Trade Commission finding that one in five American consumers identified material errors on their credit reports that were substantiated by the credit reporting agencies.
Over the past decade, Demos has conducted extensive research on credit card debt among low- and middle-income households. As part of this research, we have become increasingly concerned with how families are being financially penalized for being in debt, making it difficult, if not impossible, for them to ever get out of debt. In 2012, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of about a thousand low- and middle-income households that were carrying credit card debt for three months or longer. I was the principal researcher on that study.
Senator Musto, Representative Jutila, Senator McLachlan, Representative Hwang, Members of the Committee. Thank you for having me here today. It gives me great pleasure to come before the Committee on which I served for all ten years of my legislative service and with which I worked so closely in my years as Secretary of the State.
Demos is a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy. We are based here in New York City. On behalf of Demos, I thank the Committee on Civil Service and Labor for this opportunity to present testimony on Intro 97-A: The Paid Sick Time Act.
My name is Wallace Turbeville. I am a Senior Fellow at Demos, a national public policy organization working to reduce political and economic inequality, advancing a vision of a country where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy. I am testifying today on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of more than 250 organizations who have come together to advocate for the reform of the financial sector. I would also like to thank Marcus Stanley, AFR’s Policy Director, for assistance in preparing this testimony.