Issue 3 -- February 3rd, 2004 -- Local  Edition

High Road:  Award Winning Anti-Predatory Lending Drive Launched

Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune joined officials from Freddie Mac, the Tulsa Area Fair Housing Partnership and Home Ownership Tulsa (HOT) to launch Oklahoma's first Don't Borrow Trouble hotline to help residents spot and avoid unscrupulous lending practices.  In related news, the  legislative fight over predatory lending also begins in Georgia this week.

Low Road:  Wal-Mart attempts to buy "Get out of Jail Free" card

Mother Jones reports that “the average hourly worker at Wal-Mart earns barely $18,000 a year at a company that pocketed $6.6 billion in profits last year.” Wal-Mart has also been accused of locking employees in stores at night, while an internal audit found "extensive violations of child-labor laws and state regulations requiring time for breaks and meals."  Now USA's biggest company is beefing up in a new area: Politics. Wal-mart is trying to buy a pass, rocketing to No. 2 among all campaign givers, with Republican candidates receiving about 85% of the company's contributions.  Click Here to see how to keep big boxes out of your community.

Trailblazers:  Leaders in Local Government

Oakland, CA:  Cities fight “Unprecedented Threat” to Local Power

A group of four California cities and fourteen workers’ rights, environmental and civil rights organizations are fighting to defend the power of cities to adopt living wage laws covering businesses with city contracts. 

New York City, NY:  Extending health coverage to more New Yorkers

The "audacious" program, proposed by the health care workers' union and the Greater New York Hospital Association, aims to "cover one million people without health insurance and modernize hospitals.” How it would work: The state would levy "a $3,000 tax on employers for each worker they do not insure, with a smaller levy for small businesses that pay low wages." That money then "would be used to increase the number of people in New York's state-subsidized health plans like Medicaid, Family Health Plus and Healthy New York, which together already constitute the most expansive such system in the country."

Des Moines, IA: Don't eliminate local tax credits, supervisors urge

Iowa's county supervisors showed up in force at the Iowa Capitol, urging lawmakers to reject the idea of eliminating state financing of local property tax credits.  Related:  Mayor Garner says Utilize EITC in Cities.  Click here to Download the Letter.

New York City, NY:  Council members support affordable housing

Three pieces of legislation developed by ACORN were pushed by City Council committees late last year, including ordinances that: (1) Change the affordable housing income guidelines to create thousands of units affordable to households earning less than $40,000 per year; (2) Reform the City’s policy of auctioning off public land in low-income neighborhoods without any requirements for improvement or development; and (3) Increase disclosure requirements for the City’s affordable housing programs to better track who is benefiting.

Maricopa County, AZ: State ahead of curve on job training

Whether it's training nurses to work on the Navajo Reservation or training workers to fix airplanes, Arizona's community colleges are ahead of Bush's curve in preparing students, particularly people wanting to change careers, for fields with high demand and high growth potential.

New York, NY: Sen. Clinton: Leave No City Behind

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton beat the drum for more security funding at a meeting of mayors.  Related Story: Nation's Mayors Say Security Funds Lacking

News from Local Government

Albany, NY: Call for Medicaid Cap
Saying Gov. Pataki's suggestions to curb Medicaid costs fall short of what they want, county executives are pressing legislators to enact strict caps on new Medicaid expenses. In a related story, one County leader looks to trim health costs.

West Palm Beach, FL: 3 most-populous counties push for ballot paper trail
Florida's three most populous counties took a rare, unified stance, calling the legislature to require a ballot-by-ballot paper record of votes cast on electronic voting machines.

Springfield, IL: Legislator wants tax assessments out of newspapers, on Internet
A proposed change in state law would save county governments thousands of dollars. Opponents say it could leave citizens ill-informed about tax assessments.

Seattle, WA: House panel OKs allowing light rail in district package
The House Transportation Committee approved legislation to include light rail in any package of projects and taxes it submits to King, Snohomish and Pierce county voters.

Juneau, AK: Mayors blast budget
Alaska mayors roared into the Capitol, howling about state spending cuts and declaring "no confidence" in the Legislature to solve the state's budget trouble.

Montgomery County, MD: Plan to cut $170 million upsets Md. counties --Local governments stand to lose as much as $170 million in state aid for transportation, special education, utility deregulation and other progressive programs.  Related: No general tax rise in Md. spending plan; counties face cuts

San Antonio, TX:  Broadcasters aren’t Serving Us -- A "standing-room-only and often intense crowd" trekked to the San Antonio City Counsel Chamber for a public FCC hearing. Dozens of citizens "told members of the FCC that broadcasters aren't always serving the community."

Marion County, IN:  Townships under attack in legislature -- A series of bills that would dramatically alter or eliminate township government resulted from a study by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

High Road Reports

A recent GAO study on Support for Low Income Families notes that while most states subsidize public transport and child care, and offer employment services, fewer states subsidize child care for sick children, offer employment retention bonuses for parents who find and retain employment, or assist with the purchase of used cars.

According to the Urban Institute, affordable housing in the Washington, D.C. area is a regional challenge, not just an inner-city problem. Four out of five low-income families spending 30 percent or more of their income on shelter live in the suburbs.

Low-Income Working Families Are Dispersed throughout the Nation.   A Brookings Institute analysis of Earned Income Tax Credit data finds that low-income working families live in large cities and rural areas in nearly equal numbers, creating common policy interests for supporters of urban neighborhoods and small rural towns alike.

ALICE offers best practices in high-wage, low-waste, worker-friendly, publicly-accountable  local policy.  Our website serves as a collaborative clearinghouse for local elected officials, activists, organizations, and issue experts who want a map and a vehicle to take the high road.  If you have innovative policy you'd like to share with the rest of the country, send them to our National Director at andy@highroadnow.org

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