SB American News Week Ending 5/19

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THE SAN BERNARDINO

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AMERICAN

“A Man In Debt is So Far A Slave” -Emerson

NEWSPAPER A Community Newspaper Serving San Bernardino, Riverside & Los Angeles Counties Volume 52 No. 4

May 13, 2021- May 19, 2021

Mailing: P.O. Box 837, Victorville, CA 92393

Office: (909) 889-7677

Email: Mary @Sb-American.com

Website: www.SB-American.com

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance those of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)

NAREB Urging Policy Makers To Upgrade Black Homeownership To Priority Status

Nation’s First Bill to Extend Victim Services to Survivors of Police Brutality By Ken Epstein | Post News Group

National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) convenes 2021 Spring Policy Conference with specific policy recommendations that support the growth of Black Homeownership National News

The California Senate’s Committee on Public Safety this week unanimously passed SB 299. Authored by Senator Connie Leyva (SD-20), which would extend services to victims of police violence and expand eligibility for survivors of homicide victims.

Washington, DC – May 10, 2021 – Burdensome student loan debt, home appraisal bias, disparate mortgage lending pricing, historic discriminatory federal policies still adversely affecting the growth of Black homeownership, and the overarching societal effects of the pandemic are subjects of 2021 Spring Policy Conference to be convened by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) May 12-13, 2021. This year’s sessions are framed by the conference theme, “Increasing Black Homeownership: Are Current Housing Public Policies a Boost or a Hindrance?”. “NAREB is taking a deep dive into government policies, legislative initiatives as well as private sector lending practices that jeopardize the ability of Black Americans to purchase a home. Our goal is not merely to discuss, but to advance the NAREB agenda to Build Black Wealth through Homeownership. It takes consistent, focused advocacy and sharing with public officials how systemic impediments to homeownership can and should be eliminated,” said Lydia Pope, President-Elect, National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). Conf ir med elected and appointed officials scheduled to speak include: U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair,

Lydia Pope President-Elect, National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; U.S. Congressman Al Green (D-TX); U.S. Congressman Steven Horsford (D-NV); U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI); the Honorable Marcia L. Fudge, Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Mark Calabria, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Bruce Dorpalen, Executive Director, National Housing Resource Center. Among the noted housing policy experts and industry leaders

speaking during the two-day conference are: William Michael Cunningham, economist, Creative Impact Research; Michela Zonta, Senior Policy Analyst, Housing Finance and Policy, Center for American Progress; Ron Busby, President/CEO, US Black Chambers, Inc.; Sasha Hewlett, Director, Secondary & Capital Markets/Residential Policy, Mortgage Bankers Association; Natalie Maderia Cofield, Asst. Administrator, Office of Women’s Business Ownership, U.S. Small Business Administration, and Dwight Alexander, Sr. Vice

President, Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. Advocacy strategies are the threads connecting all of conference sessions. Whether regulatory or legislative obstacles interfering with the growth of Black homeowners, NAREB, along with its allies are prepared to push for proposals for change. Specifically, NAREB’s policy agenda includes: the establishment of a national down payment assistance fund; the reform and standardization of the payment calculation for school loans in mortgage underwriting for FHA, VA and the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) financing, and the elimination of Loan Level Price Adjustments (LLPAs) and riskbased pricing. As President-Elect Pope remarked, “the State of Housing in Black America, which we track every year requires our vigilance, transparency, and a focused action agenda to raise our current homeownership rate from 45.1% to be on par with the non-Hispanic White rate of 73.8%. Black homebuyers deserve the opportunity. Our communities will benefit and the nation will reaffirm its promise of the American Dream of homeownership for all of its citizens.”

Supporting small farmers and local economies by feeding the hungry State/Government News LYONS, NEBRASKA – Across the country, states have been increasingly innovative in finding ways to integrate the goals of eliminating hunger and strengthening local food systems, according to a white paper released recently by the Center for Rural Affairs. “Hunger and the Local Economy: Integrated State-Level Approaches to Food Access,” authored by Nathan Beacom, senior policy associate for the Center, explores the role of local grocery stores, gives examples of

state policies designed to make food more accessible, and offers lawmakers recommendations on ways to address the broader causes of food access and food insecurity in rural areas. “Food access policy can also be economic development policy; these goals work hand in hand,” Beacom said. “A strong local food system means more employment, better jobs, a stronger economy, and more access. This kind of win-win policy addresses the immediate needs, as well as the underlying causes of food

insecurity.” Among the recommendations offered is expansion of the Double Up Food Bucks program. Offered in 28 states and funded privately and publicly, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries use these incentives to buy fresh produce. The program matches vouchers up to $20 for $20 of SNAP funds. “Double Up Food Bucks has been successful in changing the diets of SNAP users, increasing the amount of fresh food they eat, and, ultimately, leading to the

better health outcomes that are predictive of better life outcomes,” Beacom said. “At the same time, the program supports local retailers and local producers by channeling SNAP funds toward them and doubling their impact.” Other recommended actions for states to consider include supporting farm to school programs and offering tax credits for the development of cooperative food ventures. The white paper is available at cfra.org/publications.

The California Senate’s Committee on Public Safety this week unanimously passed SB 299. Authored by Senator Connie Leyva (SD-20), which would extend services to victims of police violence and expand eligibility for survivors of homicide victims. “It is unacceptable that in order to receive assistance through the Victim Compensation program, police reports and the opinion of police would carry such heavy weight in the application for compensation when the injuries were sustained as a result of police actions,” Senator Leyva said. “SB 299 will improve access to vital resources for victims of police violence as they recover from the physical and emotional injuries caused due to the actions of police or—in the cases of individuals killed by police—be able to bury their loved ones with dignity and respect,” he said. “Just as the state’s Victims Compensation program can use evidence beyond police reports for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking, so too do victims of police violence deserve similar recognition of their circumstances so that they can get fair access to the help they need.” Police reports and opinion can also prevent families of homicide victims from obtaining compensation, without any recourse or due process. Families in shock at a violent loss then struggle to bury their loved ones. SB 299 would, for the first time, expand eligibility to make sure survivors of homicide victims are not denied based on the contents of inaccurate, unfair or biased police reports. “We cannot continue to let the police decide who is a ‘deserving’ victim,” says Youth ALIVE! Director of Programs, Kyndra Simmons. “This has prevented many survivors and victims, including victims of police violence, from accessing the resources and support meant to help them heal.” “Qualifying for victim compensation was life-changing for me after my son Jordan was killed,” says Tonya Lancaster,

trauma survivor and Youth ALIVE! client. “I want to see that support for everybody who needs it.” Under existing law, victims of limited types of crimes are eligible to receive compensation from the California Victim Compensation Board’s Restitution Fund. That compensation can cover a range of needs spanning medical expenses, burial expenses, wage and income loss and much more. SB 299 would extend this eligibility to include incidents in which an individual sustains serious bodily injury or death as a result of a law enforcement officer’s use of force, regardless of whether the law enforcement officer is arrested for, charged with, or convicted of committing a crime. This would ensure that survivors of police violence and loved ones of those killed by police are no longer dependent on either a police report documenting the victimization, which is often elusive, or the opinion of involved police when assessing a victim’s responsibility. “We cannot tolerate treating victims of police violence with any less care and compassion than we extend to other crime victims,” said Controller Betty Yee, California’s chief fiscal officer. “We must work toward a just, fair, and peaceful society, and this expansion of victim compensation is one small step in that work.” “”Advocacy for victims must include all victims and survivors, regardless of who caused the harm. That’s why my office started a first-in-the-state program in 2020 to ensure that our Victim Services Division compensates victims of police violence like any other victim,” said San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. “Unlike victims of other crimes, victims of police brutality are commonly denied access to victims compensation funds to cover burial costs, medical expenses, lost income, therapy and more,” said Prosecutors Alliance Executive Director Cristine Soto DeBerry. “No one should have to continued on page 3


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