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Testimony of the NYS Community Equity Agenda Coalition’s Workplace Democracy Working Group for the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Economic Development
In this year’s budget, New York has a tremendous opportunity – thanks to federal funding made available through the Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act – to align with 22 other states by establishing a NYS Worker Ownership Center. The WORK Act is a new federal law designed to support the growth of worker-owned…
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Letter to Governor Hochul Regarding NYS Community Development Financial Institution Fund
We, the undersigned labor and community groups and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), write to urge you to take immediate actions, as outlined below, to repair and restore the NYS CDFI Fund to its intended purpose.
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Testimony Before the NYS Senate Standing Committee on Banks, Regarding Failure of Signature Bank
Today’s hearing poses two urgent questions for New York State policymakers: “Why did Signature Bank fail?” and “What can be done to prevent future bank failures in New York?” My testimony primarily will focus on how public banking can strengthen New York’s financial sector in ways that promote responsible lending, equitable reinvestment, and racial and…
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Testimony Before the NYC Banking Commission
Where the City places its public deposits is a fundamental matter of public concern. Our testimony will focus on how the City should use its considerable leverage to ensure that our public money works for the public good.
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Joint Letter to Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams in Support of the Community Land Act
The undersigned 113 organizations call on you to enact the Community Land Act, an urgently-needed set of bills that gives community land trusts (CLTs) and other nonprofits tools to develop and preserve permanently-affordable housing, community and commercial space, and other neighborhood assets. By taking land off the speculative market, CLTs protect public investment in affordable…
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Memorandum in Opposition to A5053 (Vanel)
We write to express our strong opposition to A5053, an act relating to regulating so-called earned wage advance (“EWA”) services. This bill is a direct threat to New York’s long-standing usury protections and would authorize predatory loan products, undermining consumer and worker protections and exacerbating wealth extraction from our state’s low income communities and communities…
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Testimony Before the New York City Council Committee on Finance, in Support of the People’s Bank Act
This year, the City of New York will collect more than $100 billion in revenue, from taxes and other sources, to fund public services. Currently, most of this money is placed on deposit with large, commercial banks that systematically harm New Yorkers and finance fossil fuels, speculative real estate, and other destructive industries. Public banking…
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Letter to NYS Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie Calling for Passage of the NYS Public Banking Act
We write to express our alarm over recent reports that hundreds of millions of dollars in public deposits belonging to New York local governments are held at failed Signature Bank. Our coalitions, which include dozens of community and labor groups representing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, strongly urge you to pass the New York…
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Testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, in Support of the Community Land Act
The Community Land Act is a bold legislative package that will give CLTs and other nonprofits tools to acquire land for permanently affordable social housing, affordable commercial and community spaces, and other critical needs. We urge the Committee and Council to pass the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA (Int. 196), Public Land for…
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Comments on Community Reinvestment Act Proposed Rulemaking
Our comments focus on three critical areas related to the CRA NPR: (1) the longstanding need to focus squarely on race; (2) regulatory examination and enforcement; and (3) the imperative to consider banks’ role in climate change.
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Letter to NYC Public Banking Commission Calling for De-Designation of Wells Fargo
We, the undersigned 25 organizations, including members of the Public Bank NYC coalition, write to you in your roles as members of the NYC Banking Commission (“the Commission”) regarding the recent Bloomberg Businessweek investigation into Wells Fargo’s discriminatory mortgage lending practices.1 For the reasons outlined below, we call on the Commission to revoke unconditionally Wells…
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Testimony to NYC Council Committee on Housing & Buildings, Preliminary Budget Hearing for FY2023
I’m pleased to testify today about community land trusts (CLTs), and to urge the Committee to support $3 million in FY2023 funding for the Citywide CLT Initiative. New Economy Project further urges the Committee to advance legislation to strengthen CLTs and expand non-speculative, community- and tenant-controlled housing. In the wake of the pandemic, public investment…