State May Scale Down Its New Home Loan Program Designed to Assist First-Time Homebuyers

By Alejandro Lazo CalMatters

In this economy, who has enough money for a down payment on a house?

Despite a projected $25 billion budget deficit, the state of California does. At least for now.

The California Housing Finance Agency is poised to launch a scaled-down version of its new shared equity home loan program on March 27. With the Dream for All program, the state plans to provide $300 million worth of down payments for an estimated 2,300 first-time homebuyers.

The complicated program involves the state paying some or all of the upfront costs for buying a home — the down payment, for instance — in exchange for a share in the home’s value when it is sold, refinanced or transferred. If the home appreciates in value, those gains to the state would then be used to fund the next borrowers — a little for the seller; a little for the next aspiring buyer.

Everybody wins — as long as prices go up. The trouble is that home prices have been declining in the state for months, even as higher mortgage interest rates have made monthly mortgage payments more expensive.

A potential economic downturn looms as well, as the Federal Reserve weighs raising borrowing costs even further as soon as today.

And California’s tech industry is taking a beating and laying off workers, contributing to a decline in personal incomes. Income taxes are the state’s biggest revenue source.

Given the uncertainty, Gov. Gavin Newsom in January proposed a significantly smaller version of the 10-year, $10 billion program originally envisioned by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego. In his January budget, Newsom proposed spending an initial $300 million on the program, a cut from the $500 million compromise signed last year.

Optimism and expectations

The size and scope of the Dream for All program will likely be a subject of negotiations between Newsom and the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature this year. The governor is expected to offer a revised state spending plan and a new financial forecast in May.

Devoid of Tenderness — Two Catholic Writers Discuss Time of Reckoning for American Church

Peter Schurmann

At the start of the COVID pandemic, amid the lockdowns, fear and isolation, San Francisco’s top Catholic leader called on congregants to gather en masse in front of City Hall. The move was a direct challenge to local authorities then working to slow the spread of the deadly virus.

According to author Mary Jo McConahay, that was exactly the point.

Archbishop Salvatore

Cordileone and other ultraconservative Church leaders in the US, writes McConahay in her new book, Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right, “took advantage of the opportunity presented by COVID to posit Church authority against that of the state.”

Shunning masks and disparaging vaccines, Church leaders here stood in open defiance of public policy, of the scientists working to save lives, and of the guidance of their own pontiff, Pope Francis, who appealed to Catholics worldwide to get vaccinated as an “act of love.”

McConahay, a veteran journalist who spent years covering conflict and social unrest in Latin America and the Middle East, describes herself as a “cradle Catholic,” someone who as a young girl attending Immaculate Conception Grammar School in Monrovia, California desperately wanted to serve as an altar boy. “I grew up absorbing everything the Church had to give.”

The author, MaryJo McConahay, whose new book, Playing God, explores the rightward shift among America’s Catholic clergy.

Yet despite her faith – indeed, because of it – she’s taken an unflinching look at what she describes as the rightward lurch among America’s top clergy, a shift fueled by visions of a Christian nationalism long associated with right-wing evangelical movements, and at odds with decades of reform since Vatican II and with the social justice movements of today and yesteryear.

And, says McConahay, that transformation is being funded by the same streams of dark money empowering a newly resurgent far-right in this country.

“Charles Koch supports 40 Catholic Universities. None of the Bishops turned down that money, even though it comes from fossil fuels and other dirty

Devoid of Tenderness — Two Catholic Writers Discuss Time of Reckoning for American Church...continued industries,” says McConahay, pointing to Francis’ critiques of capitalism and the environmental damage it has wrought as an example of the widening breach between American Catholicism and the more “pastoralist” approach advocated by the Pope and his supporters. That divide, she adds, has implications that go beyond the Church and its adherents.

“The more you have leaders like this trying to undermine state authority, the more you are slipping into autocracy,” says McConahay. “This cohort of US Bishops believes what is good for them from a doctrinal point of view is good for the rest of the country. And that’s dangerous. Its anti-democratic and a threat to democracy.”

Six of the nine justices on the US Supreme Court are Catholic, a majority of them adhering to the more conservative views espoused by American Bishops. Meanwhile, among the roughly 60 million Catholics in the US today, a majority – six-in-ten as of 2021 – have expressed a favorable opinion of Pope Francis.

McConahay’s book comes amid an onslaught of sex abuse scandals, the latest emerging just this week out of Baltimore, where priests are accused of abusing more than 600 victims over the course of nearly four decades. The scandals have rocked local diocese, with several here in California having already filed for bankruptcy or considering doing so as they contend with mounting legal fees.

They also land during Holy Week as millions of Catholics prepare to celebrate Easter. For McConahay, the news is yet more proof of the need to rid the Church of the “clericalism” that assumes priests and bishops can do no wrong and that allows for the continued attempt to cover up for the abuse.

“The extent to which clericalism is extinguished in the church, that the church becomes the people of God… we will have more tools at hand to fight this kind of thing.”

McConahay spoke at an event this past week in San Francisco organized by Ethnic Media Services to mark the launch of her book. The gathering was moderated by noted author and essayist Richard Rodriguez. (Both McConahay and Rodriguez spent much of their early careers writing for Pacific News Service, a forerunner of EMS.)

A gay man and a devout Catholic, Rodriguez has long wrestled in his writings and in public speaking engagements with the juxtaposition of those two identities. Yet with the growing conservative tenor of the US Church – even in famously liberal San Francisco, where Rodriguez attends mass – he now sees his own obsolescence in the church as a part of its future.

“We understand what the game is,” says Rodriguez, recalling a Valentine’s Day tradition at his Church where couples are asked to stand for applause. Richard and his partner of nearly four decades do not stand. “It is to celebrate he and she.”

Today’s church, he adds, is “devoid of tenderness.”

And yet for McConahay, it is that ostracization and marginalization that excites and invigorates her faith, a faith she says was deepened over the course of reporting for her book. “I believe in the core teachings of the Church, in the value of human life and the necessity to reach out to the other, no matter who the person is.”

The Church espoused by this current crop of American Bishops, in McConahay’s telling, is a far cry from that founding principle, a division she says “mirrors the extreme divisions we have in this country. And rather than standing for pulling us together, Church leaders have planted themselves on one side of that division.”

Toward the end of their conversation, Rodriguez shares his experience with a conservative priest who years earlier had invited him to lunch out of a genuine interest in dialogue. It was the first time a member of the clergy had invited him to break bread and to listen.

For Rodriguez, McConahay’s book is just such an invitation, an opportunity for those in the pews to engage with the Church hierarchy, to have their voices heard.

“Maybe you should invite Cordileone to lunch,” he suggests.

Maybe I will, McConahay replies.

MaryJo McConahay is the author of several books, including The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II. Her latest book is Playing God: American Catholic Bishops and the Far Right.

“Pray No More for These People!”

By: Lou K. Coleman

State May Scale Down Its New Home Loan Program Designed to Assist First-Time Homebuyers...continued

Lawmakers must pass a balanced budget by June 15 in order to get paid.

The proposed cut “will not impact the Administration’s commitment or timeline for implementing the program,” Newsom’s Department of Finance said in January.

In a Feb. 13 email to CalMatters, Christopher Woods, budget director for Atkins, said her office will seek more funding for the program.

“The Governor ‘proposing’ to pull back some funds has very little to do with what will actually happen,” Woods wrote to CalMatters, in response to earlier coverage of the program. “No one should expect the program to be cut, and we should all fully expect additional funds — perhaps as much as $1 billion — to be allocated in the 2023-24 Budget Act.”

“With interest rates rising, the program is needed more than ever … and there are several innovative ways to fund the program,” Woods wrote.

First United Methodist Church~ Compton Serving Compton Since 1868

1025 South Long Beach Boulevard Compton, California 90221 Telephone No.: (310) 639-0775

Lifestyle/Religion News

First United Methodist of Compton (FUMCC) is hosting a special anniversary service at 10:00 am on April 23, 2023 in recognition of 155 years of ministry in Southern California!

The theme for the special anniversary Sunday is "Jesus is Alive . .. Walk With Him" taken from Luke 24: 13-35.

The guest speaker will be Pastor Stephanie Hoxey. Pastor Hoxey currently serves as the Assistant Pastor to Pastors Calvin and Apostle Veronica Moore of the Word of Fire Tabernacle Church. As a young child, Pastor Hoxey was actually raised attending FUMC ! She is the daughter of the late Maxcy and Blondell Filer - both of her parents were very active in the

Compton NAACP and in the forefront of the local civil rights movement. Her dad, Maxcyknown locally as "Mr. Compton" - served on the Compton City Council for 15 years ! Pastor Hoxey shares her parents' commitment to reach back and help others.

FUMC is one of the oldest churches in all of Southern California. The current Pastor, Reverend Dr. Arnetha Inge, is encouraging the community to "come andjoin us for our 155th Birthday party!" There will be light refreshments served after the Worship Service. FUMCC is located at 1025 S. Long Beach Blvd. Compton, CA 90221. For further information, please call the church at (310) 639-0775.

WITNESS FOR JUSTICE #1146

Celebrating the Unsung Heroes and Breaking Down Boxes

Katie Adams

Lou K. Coleman

Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg Me to help them, for I will not listen to you. I tell you, even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, my heart would not go out to these people. Send them away from My presence! Let them go! They wouldn’t listen, and now it’s too late! Mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, upon beast, upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn and shall not be quenched for this is a nation [America] that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction. Therefore, I will appoint over them four forms of destruction,” “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. I will hand them over to trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth. I will stretch out My hand against them and destroy them; I am weary of relenting! Do not pray for these people. Their fate of judgment and exile is already certain, [Jeremiah 7:16, 20, 28; 11:14; 15:1-3].

Listen, in all your getting get an understanding. If you don’t get yourself together, you will find yourself caught up in the wrath of God. Understand, whatever God says, He does, and His word stands for eternities. Waste no more time. God’s wrath is coming, and it’s coming soon. For His wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. [Romans 1:18]. Take advantage of the opportunities God’s grace provides. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! [Romans 6:1-2].

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

I want to buy a big bouquet of flowers for every person who has scheduled a hard-toschedule meeting. And name a boulevard for each person who keeps track of the action items and next steps on a big project. I want to celebrate the note takers. The Excel sheet makers. The calculate how many slices of pizza we need figure-out-ers. I want to talk about the people who make up the infrastructure of the good work of justice and who often are the architects of the work but rarely the recipients of accolades. I bet right now you can think of those folks in your congregation. The work of making sure that the signs are printed, that someone has proofread the church bulletin or double-checked the protest route and gotten permits. This work can often be tedious and goes under the radar, but it is essential to what we do as people of faith working and yearning for a just world.

I also don’t want to get lost the idea that in advocacy spaces we’re being thoughtful and careful about not putting people into boxes. We’re deep in our patriarchal, white supremacist society, which means we must be mindful of who is doing the caretaking and administrative tasks. I work in coalitions a lot, which means everyone is doing all the jobs. But that also means that people who present as female are often taking notes, scheduling meetings, and keeping the coalitions moving on. This shows up time and again. As people of faith, we are offered such a gift in imagining a just world restored, and our commitment to justice and compassion should be reflected internally and externally. How does this show up in your organizations or congregations? Are we doing a good enough job not only celebrating that behind the scenes work but being equitable about its distribution and burden.

As the policy advocate for domestic policy issues in the Washington Office, I get to see both sides of this story, the massive work that goes into planning advocacy and the inspirational and life-giving work that plays out for all to see. Each person’s role in advocacy is critical and valued—but I don’t often see that articulated out loud. When people come to ask how they can engage in advocacy, I want to make sure we’re talking about the many and varied ways they can make a difference in the advocacy space. Whether it be using a bullhorn, compiling an Excel tracking sheet, writing a poem, calling and writing legislators, or birddogging them on congressional recess, your voice is important, and I don’t want that to get lost. Whatever skill you have is needed and important and deeply valued. Are you especially skilled at making cold calls? A walking thesaurus? Is one of your spiritual gifts coming up with fun yet not too corny icebreakers? Are there some drag queens in your congregation who can be a part of your Easter cantata? The list, and the need, goes on…

When we all work in concert with each other, it’s astonishing what can be done—just look around. But we all know the work of advocacy is long and we need to shore one another up in the journey. As we celebrate Easter and the renewal of hope it brings, let’s borrow some of that holy imagining to make our holy spaces and faithful places ones of celebration for profound prayers and also really well-made coffee. Let’s join together to make sure that we’re not sticking to the same way things have always been done by putting people in societally restrictive boxes. Because at the end of the day, imagining a just world for all starts with imagining that world for ourselves.

Katie Adams is the Policy Advocate for Domestic Issues for the United Church of Christ.

5 Health Benefits Of Black Coffee

5 Health Benefits Of Black Coffee...continued

The health benefits of drinking black coffee to your brain don’t just stop with degenerative diseases. Studies show that people who drink one cup of coffee per day can see about an 8% reduction in their risk for a depressive episode.

A lot of people start their days with a cup of coffee but in many cases, they’ve added sweeteners and other accompaniments. However, there may be more benefits to skipping all of that and drinking your coffee as black as you can handle it.

Is Black Coffee Good For You?

Generally, the answer to this question is yes. Black coffee can be good for you because it’s a great source of nutrients and healthy natural compounds.

According to a nutritive analysis, an 8-ounce cup of black coffee contains approximately 3% of the daily value of thiamin, niacin, and potassium. It also has 14% DV of riboflavin. Black coffee is also a significant source of caffeine and polyphenols, which have well-known health benefits.

Does Black Coffee Have Calories?

Yes. As with all types of food, black coffee has calories.

How Many Calories Are In Black Coffee?

Typically, an 8-ounce cup of black coffee only has 2 calories. This may vary slightly depending on how it’s prepared but not significantly.

5 Health Benefits Of Black

Coffee

1. It May Reduce The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

Studies show that there may be a direct relationship between how much black coffee you drink and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

According to researchers, drinking up to 6 cups of coffee per day can result in a significant reduction. While some researchers estimate that the benefits are because of caffeine and the polyphenol, chlorogenic acid, others proved differently. The participants in a study with decaffeinated black coffee showed similar results to those who had caffeinated coffee.

2. It Can Protect Your Brain

There have been multiple studies regarding the effect of black coffee on neurodegenerative disorders and the results have been somewhat mixed.

However, it’s possible that drinking coffee regularly can reduce your risk of developing illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. You may also be less likely to experience cognitive decline.

3. It May Protect Your Liver

According to several studies, drinking coffee can help you to maintain a healthy liver. As with diabetes, this protection is directly linked to how much you drink.

Those who drank one cup per day saw a 15% reduction in their risk of developing illnesses such as liver cancer and cirrhosis. If you go up to 4 cups of coffee, however, you may see as much as a 71% reduction in the same risk.

4. It Can Lower Your Risk Of Depression

San Bernardino City Unified Welcomes Native Son Mauricio Arellano As New Superintendent

SBCUSD News engaging families and the community. The superintendent oversees the District's budget, staffing, and facilities, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and efficiently to support teaching and learning.

That risk may also be influenced by how much coffee you drink. At first, researchers attributed this benefit to caffeine but other studies that included decaffeinated coffee suggest that it may be linked to another component in the drink.

5. It May Prevent Cancer

Several studies have shown a possible link between drinking coffee and a reduced risk of developing certain cancers. Researchers suggest that this health benefit is related to the antioxidants that are naturally found in coffee. If you drink at least one cup of black coffee per day you may reduce your risk of developing endometrial, breast, liver, and colorectal cancers.

Does Black Coffee Help You Lose Weight?

Though more research is needed, there are a few studies that show drinking black coffee can help you to lose weight. There is some evidence that coffee positively affects the storage of fat while supporting good gut health. It’s been shown that drinking black coffee can result in decreased body fat overall.

Additionally, one study showed that people who drank at least 2 cups of coffee per day were 17% more likely to have increased energy during physical activity, which is important for weight management. Researchers were also able to establish a link between drinking black coffee 30-60 minutes before a meal and eating less.

Final Words On Black Coffee

Researchers are still working on proving all the possible health benefits of black coffee but there is enough information available for you to consider having a cup or two per day. Of course, if you have any concerns about adding caffeine to your diet, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor first.

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State May Scale Down Its New Home Loan Program Designed to Assist First-Time Homebuyers...continued

from page 6

“We do know that there’s a lot of excitement out there,” Martin told CalMatters in a recent interview.

How it will work

Some details have been revealed in CalHFA board meetings, public hearings and a report to the state Legislature. Here are some of the program’s key components.

The loans will not be available for all Californians. Only those who earn 150% or less of the median income of others in their county qualify. Those income limits vary by county, with $300,000 being the cut-off in pricey Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, but $159,000 for many inland counties such as Fresno and Merced.

The loans will cover as much as 20% of a home purchase. Whenever a home is sold, transferred or refinanced, a borrower will owe the state the original amount the state invested, plus a percentage of the home’s increase in value. If the original loan was 20 percent of a home’s value, the seller would owe the state the original loan plus 20 percent of its increased value, though that amount would be capped at 250% of the original loan amount.

Homebuyers...continued

pooling the shared equity loans into securities and selling them to investors, to help provide additional money for other borrowers.

Many Wall Street financial institutions bundled often poorquality mortgage loans into securities during real estate’s boom years and sold them to major investors. But during the years of downturn, getting help to homeowners was complicated by the difficulties identifying who exactly owned these loans.

“If they are sold into private, securitized trusts there is a lack of transparency about who owns your debt, and a lack of information about options if there are problems,” Sitkins said. “I really want to be sure that there are guardrails and protections for the borrowers.”

Consumers are cautious

As CalHFA officials were designing the program last year, they held several listening sessions online, taking comments from the public. Jake Lawrence, a 41-year-old cannabis entrepreneur in Willits who also runs a nonprofit, said he liked what he heard.

The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) is proud to announce the return of one of its own, Mauricio Arellano, as the new superintendent of California’s seventh-largest school district. Arellano, a native of San Bernardino, attended District schools and returns on April 17 to lead SBCUSD as superintendent.

“We are thrilled to have Mauricio back in San Bernardino,” said Board of Education President Dr. Scott Wyatt. “His experience and expertise will be invaluable as we work to ensure that every student in San Bernardino and Highland has access to a quality education.”

Arellano’s career in education spans more than three decades, and he has held a variety of leadership roles in Southern California school districts. Most recently, he served as superintendent of neighboring Redlands Unified, where he oversaw significant improvements in academic achievement.

As superintendent, Arellano is responsible for setting a clear and compelling vision for SBCUSD, including goals and strategies for improving student achievement, creating safer schools, and

“I am honored to return to San Bernardino, the place where I grew up and went to school,” Superintendent Arellano said. “I am excited to work with our dedicated educators, staff, and community partners to provide our students with the best possible education and abundant opportunities for success.”

A reception to welcome Arellano and his family back to the community will be held on Tuesday, April 18 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Dr. Margaret Hill Community Room, located at 777 North F Street in San Bernardino.

Arellano was selected by the SBCUSD Board of Education in February 2023 in a unanimous vote following a comprehensive community engagement process and national search.

He graduated from San Bernardino High School and started his career in education as a bilingual elementary school teacher in the District more than 30 years ago. Arellano is the son of immigrant parents from Mexico who also worked in SBCUSD schools. He was a firstgeneration college student when he pursued his undergraduate degrees in sociology and Spanish at the University of California, Riverside. He later earned a master’s degree in educational administration from California State University, San Bernardino.

Woods declined to answer follow-up questions for this story.

Atkins, who championed the equity sharing program last year, has said the Dream for All program is a priority. She said in a recent statement she isn’t giving up on getting more money for it.

“Our state is about to launch a program that will help change people’s lives for the better, and make the dream of homeownership a reality,” she said. “While existing funding for the California Dream for All is a great first step, we are working to allocate additional funding in the upcoming state budget — with the ultimate goal of providing $1 billion per year — to help even more families set the foundation for building generational wealth.”

Falling equity

The uncertainty in the economy and housing market has been a subject of discussion at CalHFA for months, as officials and political appointees seek to launch a program meant to take advantage of rising home prices at the very moment home equity is falling.

State officials said buyers positioned to hold onto a property for the long-term are those best suited for the program when home prices are falling.

In a presentation to its board of directors in January, CalHFA officials also said the agency is planning for a program with a potentially “very short life cycle.”

“Having lived the dream of buying a house in Los Angeles in 1989, when the market peaked, and then selling it at a loss almost a decade later, I can appreciate that the market doesn’t always go up,” Jim Cervantes, CalHFA’s chair, said during that Jan. 19 meeting.

“Disclosures, whatever we can do to mitigate — or rather, have prospective buyers understand what they’re getting into — would be extremely valuable, because no one’s a good market timer.”

California home prices, already rising for years, saw big gains during the pandemic, as mortgage interest rates hit historic lows and families sought more space for their remote work set-ups to practice social distancing.

The median price of a previously-owned, single-family home in California, as tracked by the California Association of Realtors, increased 47% from March 2020 to May 2022, when it peaked at $900,170.

That same month the Federal Reserve, in order to tackle inflation, began its most aggressive interest rate hikes in years driving up mortgage costs for consumers.

Since May 2022, the state’s median home price has fallen 16.5% to hit $751,330 in January.

Market change

Despite the decline in home prices, monthly mortgage costs continue to make the state’s housing market more unaffordable than at nearly any point in the last 15 years, particularly for lower- and middle-class families. Only 17% of families in California could afford a median-priced single family home at the end of last year, according to the Realtors group.

Given the rapid market changes, Tiena Johnson Hall, CalHFA’s executive director, called the governor’s reductions in Dream for All funding prudent at CalHFA’s January meeting. “There’s still a lot of room for (home) values to continue to decrease, and that is what we expect to see,” she said.

In February, the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst projected a revised $25 billion deficit in next year’s state budget. Since then, job growth nationally and in California has remained strong, except for layoffs in the tech sector.

The full details of the Dream for All program — for instance, which lenders will offer the shared equity loans to borrowers — are not yet available from CalHFA.

And loans will not be immediately available to consumers when the program launches this month. Lenders will need a month to six weeks to roll out the loans and begin marketing them to consumers, said Ellen Martin, a CalHFA official tasked with designing the program.

A social equity feature of the program will be included for those who earn as much as 80% of the area median income. They will get to keep more of their equity when they sell, refinance or transfer their properties than others with higher incomes. Also about 10% of the initial state funds, or $30 million, will be reserved for those lower-income borrowers.

The loans can be used to fund down payments and closing costs, including interest rate buydowns.

Given the complexity of the program, borrowers will be required to complete a homebuyer education course.

Advocates’ concerns

The complexity of the program has some consumer advocates worried.

Lisa Sitkin, a senior staff attorney with the National Housing Law Project, said it would be wise for the agency to ensure borrowers receive periodic notices about the loan’s atypical details.

“As time goes by, people tend to forget and treat it as a normal loan, and I think it is useful for people planning to be reminded,” said Sitkin, a member of a working group advising CalHFA on the program.

A proposal to sell the loans as mortgage-backed securities also has her worried. California officials are exploring the idea of

“I’m very interested. The problem we face is that there’s such a flux in what’s going on,” Lawrence said. “We’re in the middle of a housing market bust, so we’re gonna watch prices tumble for a minute.”

What’s more, one of the county’s biggest industries, the marijuana trade, has been hit hard by declines in cannabis prices. “It’s beyond suffering,” Lawrence said. Lawrence also wondered how the state will calculate equity if he makes improvements to a home.

Despite his questions, he is considering the idea.

“It doesn’t hurt my feelings to share equity with someone who invests in me,” he said of the state. “And anybody that understands any kind of financial literacy should understand an investor should be able to have their expected ROI (return on investment). For me, I have zero issue with the idea.”

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Ensuring Our Right to Invest in the Next Generation’s Future...continued from page 4

The costs of these mistaken and misrepresented policies are real. Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania determined that within eight months of Texas passing a law that prevented local governments from using five of the largest bond underwriters taxpayers would pay $300-$500 million more on $31.8 billion those governments wanted to borrow. That amounts to about a 1 percent tax on that debt. Not to mention the banks cut out of the Texas market have Texas employees whose companies can no longer compete in their state. Fortunately, some public officials are insisting that they be allowed to shape portfolios in ways that are fiscally sound precisely because they consider environmental impacts. I was in New York City last week for an announcement by city Comptroller Brad Lander and the trustees of the New York City

Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System of their plan to reach net zero pollution from emissions in their investment portfolios by 2040.

“If the cynical war of political distraction waged by red-state politicians at the behest of their fossil-fuel donors deters us,” Lander predicted, “we will sacrifice our opportunity to maximize long-term investment returns along with millions of lives and trillions of dollars of global investment.”

Opponents of this responsible approach to investing derisively label it “woke” because they know that term creates confusion and for some fear. So it’s a perfect wedge to divide us. If anything, they need to wake up to the idea that Americans want to pass on a safer, healthier planet powered by abundant energy to our children and our grandchildren. We want to put our money where our aspirations are.