California Lawmakers: Smarter Policy Can End Poverty

organize around key votes and issues and build power in order to advance bold policy change.”

Other CLBC lawmakers who are members of the newly formed poverty caucus are Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Ladera Heights) and Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda).

California’s First Partner: Gender Pay Gap Is “More Obvious” With Black Women...continued

The Job Losses

Majority Leader Isaac Bryan (California District 55) and Mayor Michael Tubbs (Founder, End Poverty in California) with Greg Kauffman (EPIC) and Jacob Kornbluth (Filmmaker) at thePoverty and Power Impact Screening and Conversation in Los Angeles

A group of progressive California lawmakers – including three members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) -- have pledged to end poverty in California by advancing more effective policy during the next legislative session – and beyond.

Newly appointed Assembly

Majority Leader Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) announced the formation of the End Poverty in California Caucus last month at a Los Angeles screening of the documentary “Poverty and Power.” The film features former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, an anti-poverty advocate who founded a non-profit that shares a name with the caucus, End Poverty in California (EPIC).

“We're headed towards the end of the legislative session, but we're in the process of recruiting members to the poverty caucus,” Bryan, who is the chair of the new caucus, told California Black Media.

“We've got about a half dozen members already,” Bryan continued. “As we continue to do outreach in the legislature, I expect that number to grow. By the time we come back together in January to introduce new legislation we should have everything ready to go, to focusing on criminal justice reform and the housing crisis’ systemic nexus to poverty in the state.”

Bryan is the treasurer of the CLBC. The End Poverty Caucus says it will aim to “help lawmakers

Padilla, Takano Highlight Upcoming PACT Act Benefits

Deadline...continued from page 1 for his work on this important legislation and to deliver one simple message: apply today and get the benefits you’ve earned.”

“Already thousands of veterans have applied for benefits since last August when President Biden signed my Honoring our Pact Act into law, and it will take continued outreach to make sure that number continues to grow,” said Representative Takano. “I’m thrilled to have welcomed Senator Padilla to Riverside today to meet veterans in my district, learn about their experiences, and discuss this historic expansion of benefits.”

The PACT Act, originally authored by Representative Takano and signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, is one of the largest health and benefit expansions for veterans in more than 30 years. While there is no formal date by which veterans need to apply for these benefits, veterans who apply by August 9, 2023 will be eligible for benefits backdated to August 10, 2022, the day that President Biden signed the PACT Act into law. Last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that veterans under 40 who may have been exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their service are now eligible for breast cancer risk assessments and mammograms (as clinically appropriate) at the VA. Since Congress passed the PACT Act, the VA has delivered more than $1.6 billion in PACT Act-related benefits to veterans and their survivors. All eligible veterans and survivors can file a claim — or submit their intent to file a claim — for PACT Act-related benefits now. Visit VA.gov/PACT for more information.

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“Part of the reason over a quarter of our state’s residents live at or below the poverty level is because of California’s failed public policies,” said Smallwood-Cuevas in a statement. “Our State Legislature must fight for California’s working families by creating equitable access to quality jobs and doubling down on what Californians earn across the board, particularly for residents from marginalized communities of color.”

Bonta said bills she introduced this year have prioritized the needs of children and families, but she looks forward to working with her colleagues to take bolder and broader action to address those problems.

It’s clear that we need to advance stronger policies that will coordinate effective, placebased delivery of wrap-around services for people most in need to make significant progress in the fight against poverty,” Bonta said. “I look forward to joining forces with our End Poverty Caucus to ensure that we strengthen our safety net and tackle the racial and economic inequities in our communities.”

Other members of the Caucus are Senators Nancy Skinner (D-Oakland) and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), Ash Kalra (D-Fresno), Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Luz Rivas (D-Arleta).

Some critics have cautioned, however, that creating a caucus focused on poverty is political showmanship by Democrats that will have little impact on actual poverty reduction. Tim Anaya, vice president of the conservative leaning Pacific Research Institute, says “The new End Poverty in California legislative caucus is not going to foster a serious discussion about helping Californians climb the economic ladder. Rather, EPIC promotes policies that don’t work and would trap more Californians perpetually in poverty.”

Instead, Anaya proposes, lawmakers should support free market reform to support entrepreneurship and small business growth. In an oped titled “Ending poverty in California Requires Good Policy, Not Platitudes,” that several California news outlets published last week, the author,

According to the report, Black women lost out on $39.3 billion in potential wages due to differences in industry and occupations relative to White men.

Racism and sexism are two of the obstacles that Black women face in the workplace. More than half of Black women surveyed for a 2021 National Women Law Center reported facing gender and racial hurdles to opportunity at work.

In 2019, Siebel Newsom launched the California for ALL Women, an initiative to address gender equity at the state level. Through the initiative, she has been an outspoken champion and thought leader on pay equity, working to close the race and gender wage gaps.

That same year, Siebel Newsom announced the California Equal Pay Pledge under California for all Women to build upon California policies such as the Fair Pay Act.

In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law the Pay Transparency for Pay Equity Act, introduced by Senator Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara). This law requires employers to disclose salary ranges on all job postings and to allow public access to pay data broken down by race, ethnicity and sex for direct employees and those hired through third-party staffing agencies.

“As there is more transparency in the hiring and promotion process there will be outcome in closing the pay gap across companies,” said Siebel Newsom.

Mitchell says she is proud to

California’s First Partner: Gender Pay Gap Is “More Obvious” With Black Women

Jaya Padmanabhan | California Black Media

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 1, 2023

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The Work For Humankind island partnership also captured essential data on the Pink-footed Shearwater, a native bird whose ecosystem was threatened. Volunteers deployed AI-detecting

California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom says, “gender discrimination is the oldest form of oppression,” and America must act urgently to fix it.

Although California has some of the strongest pay laws in the nation and the smallest gender pay gap, Siebel Newsom says the Golden State still has work to do to close the wage gap for all women.

For Black women, the first partner says, closing the wage gap is “most obvious.”

“Black women live at the intersection of racial and gender discrimination leaving them doubly impacted by the wage gap,” said Siebel Newsom. “Pay inequities and gaps in wealth and economic opportunity are deeply rooted in our country’s long-standing history of racism and misogyny.

To mark Black Women’s Equal Pay Day Siebel Newsom released a video on July 27 along with Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and PolicyLink Founder in Residence, Angela Glover Blackwell.

“Today is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day – a day set aside each year to shine a light on the disparity in pay for Black women in this country and the farreaching impacts for families, communities, and our economy,” said Bass in the video.

“Economic injustice is a problem across the board, and to solve problems effectively and authentically, we have to focus on those most impacted. Together, we will work to close this gap,” the mayor of California’s largest city continued. On average, women earn 84 cents for every dollar a nonHispanic White man does. That breaks down to Black women earning 67 cents; Latinas and Native Americans 57 cents; mothers 74 cents; LGBTQIA women 87 cents and women in leadership positions 72 cents for every dollar a non-Hispanic White man earns. Women are hired into lower paying roles at lower starting salaries and take longer to move into leadership roles.

Black women are overrepresented in industries that experience significant downturns.

A report by the Department of Labor found that in 2020, 12% of Black women were employed in education and health services but a disproportionate number of them (14.9%) experienced job losses. Also, in wholesale and trade, the majority of losses were Black women. In that sector, Black women comprised 5.6% of the workforce but 14.6 % of stand with the first partner and other women and allies around California and the United States to end racial and gender pay discrimination.

“Intentional and bold action on closing the wage gap among Black women and women of color is needed across every sector and will put us on a path to truly ensuring all women, their families and communities are no longer shortchanged from economic prosperity,” said Mitchell.

Recently, Siebel Newsom convened and moderated a panel on pay equity at Genentech in South San Francisco. Genentech was an early signatory of the Equal Pay Pledge. The panel included Genentech CEO Alexander Hardy, Interim Chief Diversity Officer Cari DeLoa, and representatives from other parts of the business.

In addition to Genentech, there are 130 other companies and municipalities in California that have signed the Equal Pay Pledge. While acknowledging that this is not a significant number, Siebel Newsom said that there are several major global companies, like Apple, Intel, Twitter, Airbnb, Salesforce and Gap, that “are committing to equity and fairness in their policies.”

“Closing the pay gap for Black women is an essential step for economic justice,” said Glover Blackwell. “When Black women and other women of color are paid equally, we'll see the benefits cascade throughout society.”

Jaya Padmanabhan is a freelance journalist and a consulting editor for Ethnic Media Services.

California Lawmakers: Smarter Policy Can End Poverty...continued

Steven Greenhut, Western Region Director for the R Street Institute, compared the California Legislature to a high school student council setting unrealistic goals they cannot achieve.

“Ending poverty is a large promise – and the Legislature is much better at passing laws that exacerbate poverty (minimum wage, anti-competitive union work rules, onerous licensing requirements) rather than reduce it,” Greenhut writes.

Although poverty, overall, in California has decreased over the last four years, the numbers are still dire. About 28 % of state residents (4.5 million people) are poor or near-poor, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The state’s homeless and housing affordability crises also compound problems poor and low-income families face in the state, according to policymakers.

Bryan says he looks forward to working with leaders like Tubbs, who has been a leading proponent of progressive economic policies like Guaranteed Basic Income and Baby Bonds.

“The best policy solutions come from listening to the people who are the most affected. I am proud to lead a caucus that is dedicated to doing exactly that,” said Bryan.

HUD Issues Invitation for Public Housing Agencies to Join Moving to Work Demonstration Program

Move to Work allows greater flexibility to improve housing choice and self-sufficiency.

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published PIH NOTICE 2023-20 seeking applications for the Overall Impact of Moving to Work Flexibility and Administrative Efficiencies

Cohort of the Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program. The notice outlines the process by which public housing agencies (PHAs) with 1,000 or fewer combined units of public housing and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) units will be selected for the MTW Expansion. The new cohort will test the overall effects of MTW flexibility on a PHA and the residents it serves, with a particular focus on administrative efficiencies.

"Giving Housing Authorities flexibilities to care for their vulnerable populations under the Moving to Work Demonstration has led to excellent results for low-income families," said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge.

"Today, we are pleased to invite additional Housing Authorities to join the program and replicate the successes we've seen across the country."

“MTW reduces administrative burdens for PHAs, which creates tremendous opportunity for innovation that should deliver positive change for residents,” said Richard Monocchio, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. “The power of MTW to drive policy change relies on housing authorities with strong leadership and resident-centered vision participating — and that is exactly who we are seeking with this latest notice.”

First authorized by Congress in 1996, MTW is a demonstration that provides public housing authorities (PHAs) the opportunity to redefine how they operate by giving them flexibility to try “outside the box” ideas that address local community continued on page 4