BAZELON CENTER PRESENT BLACK DISABLED LEADERS TRIBUTE ON 2/23/23
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Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Friday, February 17, 2023
Fair Lending
NCRC Announces $50 Billion Community Benefits Agreement With TD Bank
By NCRC / February 15, 2023 / Press Releases
TD Bank will commit $50 billion in investments, lending, philanthropy and other services for diverse and underserved communities, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) announced Wednesday, pursuant to a community benefits plan the organization facilitated between the bank and NCRC members.
“TD Bank brought dedication and open minds to the meetings with NCRC members that brought us to this strong and promising agreement,” said Jesse Van Tol, President and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition President. “The deal we just signed will ensure that communities of need see tangible increases in resources and economic opportunity in their neighborhoods — as every bank merger is legally required and morally bound to do. This agreement reflects the hard work of our members and the bank’s staff in numerous ways, including TD’s commitment to opening 25 new physical bank branches in marginalized communities — the largest such pledge to date by any of the 20-plus banks that have signed onto a community benefits agreement with NCRC members. I applaud everyone involved for bringing the candid, constructive energy these deals require to our meetings and producing such a robust final package.”
To identify areas of greatest need in communities across 22 states and Washington, D.C., the bank solicited feedback from NCRC leadership and non-profit groups from both TD and First Horizon markets from the time it announced its definitive agreement to acquire First Horizon Corporation in February 2022. TD will meet annually with NCRC to discuss and measure progress on the elements of the plan.
“Banks have an important role in providing economic opportunity and supporting changes that help low- and moderate-income (LMI), diverse and underserved communities achieve their financial goals,” said Leo Salom, President and CEO of TD Bank. “This is rooted in the belief that our business only does well when the people we serve are flourishing. Our Community Benefits Plan builds on TD Bank’s and First Horizon’s longstanding focus on our communities. We are excited to continue this focus in First Horizon markets as we move forward with combining our two organizations. Thank you to NCRC and its member organizations for their collaboration and critical insight as we developed an effective plan that addresses the priorities and needs of the communities we serve.”
Since 2016, NCRC has facilitated 27 community benefits agreements with bank groups that committed more than $639 billion for mortgage, small business and community development lending, investments and philanthropy in LMI and under-resourced communities.
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Source: National Community Reinvestment Coalition newsletter, February 17, 2023.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Book Review
The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans--and How We Can Fix It
by Dorothy A. Brown. Crown, 2021. 288 pages. $27.00, hardcover.
This book is a powerful - and very influential - exposé of racism in the American taxation system. Named as one of the best books of the year by NPR and Fortune, it is by a tax lawyer and Georgetown University Law Center professor.
“Important reading for those who want to understand how inequality is built into the bedrock of American society, and what a more equitable future might look like.”—Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist.
The author uses evidence from her long decades of cross-disciplinary research to show that U.S. tax law isn’t color-blind. This book includes the personal stories of white and black cross-income Atlanta families, to demonstrate how American tax law rewards the preferences and practices of whites while pushing black people further behind. In essence, tax policies build and protect intergenerational white wealth and exacerbate the racial wealth gap by subsidizing activities and personal choices that disproportionately benefit white taxpayers. Brown's data shows institutional tax disparities in education, workplace subsidies, and wealth building - among several other slices of the economy.
For instance, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances, white median wealth ($188,200) was approximately eight times the wealth of the typical Black family ($24,100). The racial wealth gap has almost not changed since the 1950s and 1960s, has continued as U.S. overall household wealth increased, and currently persists because of the huge share of white wealth.
Brown advocates the following changes:
- Publish tax data by race.
- Maintain a progressive income tax system but with no exclusions; a single deduction; and no preferential rates, such as on capital gains.
- Establish a tax credit to compensate for historical racism.
Proposals for using wealth to impose tax policy are nothing new. Prominent politicians, such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have promoted a wealth tax on high-wealth Americans. However, Brown’s wealth-based tax credit would avoid many of the pitfalls of wealth taxes.
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Sources:
Racial Economic Inequality
New Study Finds Significant Racial Bias in IRS Tax Audits
A new study led by a laboratory at Stanford that found that there is significant racial bias in audits. It founds that Black taxpayers receive IRS audit notices at least 2.9 times (and perhaps as much as 4.7 times) more often than non-Black taxpayers. It was done by staff of the Stanford Law School, Stanford RegLab, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, University of Chicago, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Tax Analysis.
They found that the main source of the disparity is differing audit rates by race among taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Also, it is shown that maximizing the detection of underreported taxes would not lead to Black taxpayers being audited at higher rates. In contrast, certain policies tend to increase the audit rate of Black taxpayers: (1) designing audit selection algorithms to minimize the "no-change rate"; (2) targeting erroneously claimed refundable credits rather than total under-reporting; and (3) limiting the share of more complex EITC returns that can be selected for audit.
Because the IRS does not collect data by race, the authors had to develop a sophisticated model to identify and analyze racial differences. This absence of IRS data is why such an analysis of audits has not been possible before this. Tax policy expert Dorothy A. Brown opposes having a racial identifier on IRS form 1040, because she "believes unconscious and conscious biases on the part of our tax administrators could unfairly target black taxpayers for audits, could subject black Americans to even worse treatment than they're already receiving. So I completely oppose any racial identifier on the face of the tax return, but there's more many ways to collect the information. So, not having it on the 10 40 doesn't mean you can't get it. The IRS statistics of income, um, division, which publishes statistics, they do surveys. They could ask information on their surveys. They could cross check the tax return data with social security race."
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Sources:
Read the February 14, 2023 Forbes article.
https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/measuring-and-mitigating-racial-disparities-tax-audits.
https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TaxcastExtraScript0421.pdf.
Lessening Racial Inequality
President Joe Biden Orders Federal Government to do More to Address Racial Inequality
The President's new Executive Order requires that an initial review into long-standing disparities in government services and treatment that he issued as Executive Order #13985 on his first day in office become an annual requirement for federal agencies. The reviews are aimed at increasing access to federal programs, services, and activities for disadvantaged communities. The new order also directs federal agencies to have equity teams and name senior leaders who would be accountable for increasing equity and addressing bias.
As the Order states:
"When any segment of society is denied the full promise of America, our entire Nation is held back. But when we lift each other up, we are all lifted up. As the President has said: 'Advancing equity is not a one-year project. It’s a generational commitment.'"
The Executive Order:
- Launches a new annual process to strengthen racial equity and support for underserved communities.
- Empowers Federal equity leaders.
- Strengthens community partnerships and engagement.
- Invests in underserved communities.
- Improves economic opportunity in rural and urban communities.
- Addresses emerging civil rights risks.
- Promotes data equity and transparency.
Federal agencies would need to improve the quality and frequency of their engagement with communities that have faced systemic discrimination. Also, the order formalizes Biden’s goal of a 50% bump in federal procurement dollars that go to small and disadvantaged businesses by 2025.
Under the order, agencies must also focus on new civil rights threats, such as discrimination in automated technology and access for people with disabilities and for those who speak languages other than English. It also includes a push to improve the collection, transparency and analysis of data to help improve equity.
To read more about additional steps agencies have taken and the Administration’s efforts to advance equity and justice for underserved communities, go to www.whitehouse.gov/equity. See agency 2022 Equity Action Plans and relevant links at www.performance.gov/equity.
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Sources:
Monday, February 13, 2023
Maryland Housing Days
MD HOUSING DAYS ARE 2/15 & 2/16
Come & Advocate for More Affordable Housing
View the full schedule here.
The Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition (MAHC)'s annual Housing Days are an opportunity to advocate with Maryland legislators for increased funding for affordable housing programs and increases in the budget of the Maryland Department of Housing & Urban Development.
MAHC's this year will advocate for a $250 million budget for the State's Rental Housing Programs budget - $172 million more than the current FY24 Capital Budget. This is the amount of funding needed to clear the pipeline of affordable housing projects in Maryland waiting to be completed. Come to Housing Days to tell legislators why it is critical to fund these programs.
The days are:
February 15, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Virtual Program.
February 16, 2023 | Starting at 8:30 a.m. - Legislative Visits in Annapolis.
Speakers include:
- DHCD Acting Secretary Jake Day.
- Washington Insider David Gasson.
- Ben Orr, CEO, Md Center on Economic Policy.
- and many of MAHC's friends from the Maryland House and Senate.
Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition
1212 York Road, Suite C 300, Lutherville, MD 21093
443-758-6270 / mdarden@mdahc.org
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Source: Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition newsletter, February 13, 2023.
Random Acts of Kindness Day is Friday the 17th
Random Acts of Kindness Day - February 17th
National Random Acts of Kindness is celebrated every February 17. It first originated in 1995 in Denver, Colorado and in 2004, spread to New Zealand. The idea behind this celebration is to make the world a little brighter and better through little and simple kind gestures, words and actions. People are encouraged to display unique and kind gestures to those around them.
Unique ways for you to celebrate National Random Acts of Kindness Day
- Leave an anonymous sticky note for your co-workers
- Compliment a stranger
- Donate some groceries to your local food bank
- Greet a person standing next to you in the elevator
- Surprise someone with some homemade meals or goodies
- Take time to thank the people you love
- Reconnect with an old friend
- Donate dog or cat food to the animal shelter
- Run an errand for a busy family member
Preparedness is the gift that keeps on giving and is perfect for treating yourself or a loved one. Watch this video to make sure you are prepared. Click here.
Visit these websites for resources on being prepared - pets too:
- MIA's Insurance Preparedness for Natural Disasters
- Maryland Department of Emergency Management - Disaster Supply Kit
- National Association of Insurance Commissioner's Home Inventory App
- Prepare Your Pets for Disasters
- Ready.gov
On February 17th, share a "random act of kindness" and promote these resources on insurance or preparedness with your loved ones.
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Sources: Maryland Insurance Administration newsletter, February 13, 2023. https://insurance.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx.
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