Credit reports and scores control access to public goods people need. Yet, in the midst of a global pandemic and economic collapse, remaking the nation’s credit reporting system is not the top concern.
“This is a microcosm of many intra-progressive, intra-left policy debates—whether it’s better to do something universal and achieve something with relative ease or ensure that only those struggling by some definition get relief."
It is more vital than ever that Black- and brown-led organizations have the resources they need to combat the many issues confronting their communities and to build durable and sustainable power.
If we are to survive this crisis—and imagine a more equitable, dynamic economy to come, we must start with a recommitment to the value of universal, inclusive public infrastructure.
Written testimony of Demos President K. Sabeel Rahman before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law
Gulf Coast communities face the same environmental and racial injustices they faced during Hurricane Katrina—except now with the overlapping crises of COVID-19, economic collapse, and uprisings for Black Lives. Policy change must undo this injustice.
At the Democratic National Convention, former First Lady Michelle Obama made a point that is relevant to both parties: If policymakers do not take bold and transformative action, trends can and will get worse.
"Imagine any financial transaction you make and someone says the price of this thing is $100,000, but you are very likely to pay nothing, but first you have to fill out all these forms."
"To say that people post-crisis, as they try to rebuild their lives, have to carry the impact of this is just another round of disadvantage and discrimination.”
Congress must address how Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people confront both the worst health outcomes and the greatest threats to household financial stability as a result of the pandemic.
This platform proposes a set of actions the executive branch can take to equitably address the climate crisis without new legislation, major new appropriations, or other Congressional authority.
Over 100 community, civil rights, consumer, and student advocacy organizations urge House and Senate leadership to insist on student debt cancellation for all borrowers during negotiations over the next coronavirus relief package.