Economic Justice
Democrats are building an economic approach that lifts every American, not just the privileged few. The average American CEO earns more before lunchtime in one day than a minimum wage worker earns all year. This is not the kind of America we want our children to grow up in. Today’s economic challenges – the foreclosure crisis, rising prices, stagnant wages, and disappearing jobs –are the cumulative result of years of Republican inaction and failed policies that have left more and more Americans behind.
News that the new jobless claims have climbed to more than 400,000 makes it clear that we must continue to take action to help Americans who are trying to make ends meet in this most difficult of economic times. This is yet another indication that we need a second economic recovery package, one focused on job creation, economic growth and disaster assistance.
The New Direction Congress is focused intentionally on economic recovery and on job creation. Thanks to the efforts of this New Direction Congress, millions of American workers have gotten a pay raise. The second phase of the minimum wage increase has gone into effect, putting another $28 a week into workers' pockets to help them cope with the high price of gas and of groceries. When we fully implement the minimum wage increase to $7.25, it will benefit more than 12 million workers.
This month, the House passed the most far-reaching reform in our nation's federal housing finance system in a generation. This legislation helps Americans avoid foreclosure on their homes, protects consumers from predatory lending, jumpstarts the housing market, increases access to affordable rental housing, and strengthens neighborhoods by helping to rehabilitate foreclosed properties.
Democrats are fighting for economic justice for all Americans – working for equal pay in the workplace, a minimum wage that reflects workers’ contributions and the rapidly-increasing cost of living, and providing assistance to those hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.
Fighting Pay Discrimination
Paycheck Fairness Act
This week, the House will consider the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963 by providing more effective remedies to women who are not being paid equal wages for doing equal work. The bill would also prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who share salary information with their co-workers; require the Department of Labor to enhance outreach and training efforts to work with employers to eliminate pay disparities; and create a new grant program to help strengthen the negotiation skills of girls and women.
Learn more about the Paycheck Fairness Act from the Education and Labor Committee>>
Pelosi: 'Women Deserve Equal Pay For Equal Work'>>
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
In May 2007, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Ledbetter v Goodyear that tosses aside prior law and makes it much harder for workers to pursue pay discrimination claims. The court held that a worker must file a charge of pay discrimination within 180 days of the employer’s first decision to pay someone less for discriminatory reasons.
In July 2007, the House passed key legislation that provides a remedy for women and men who have been victims of pay discrimination. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act corrects the Supreme Court decision that severely restricted the right of workers to have their day in court. Yet unfortunately, Republicans in the Senate blocked a vote on this legislation, thwarting efforts to allow victims of wage discrimination to seek justice in the courts. Women still make just 77 cents to each man’s dollar, and in an uncertain economy, equal pay for equal work is about daily survival for millions.
More on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act>>
The Gavel’s Lilly Ledbetter coverage>>
Raising the Minimum Wage
The Democratic-led Congress passed the first pay raise for working Americans in a decade. In 2007, the minimum wage rose to $5.85 an hour, and this month it rose to $6.55 an hour. It will rise again next year to $7.25 an hour. The previous Republican-controlled Congresses blocked minimum wage proposals from being considered. In 2006 alone, Republicans blocked minimum wage legislation from coming to a vote 11 times.
It is wrong to have millions of Americans working full-time and year-round, yet still living in poverty. The previous minimum wage of $5.15 an hour was simply not enough to cover the needs of the average family as they struggle with increasing costs of child care, education, health insurance, and gasoline prices. Before the increase in 2007, the value of the minimum wage had dropped to its lowest level in over half a century. Working full time, a minimum wage worker brought home only $10,712 a year, nearly $6,000 below the poverty level for a family of three. Raising the minimum wage in 2007 meant a $4,400 yearly pay raise—money that could pay for 15 months of groceries, or more than two years of health care. It could buy 19 months of utilities, 20 months of child care, or 30 months of college tuition at a public, 2-year college.
Learn more>>
Helping Families Facing Foreclosure
Problems in the subprime mortgage markets have helped push the housing market into its worst slump in 16 years. As many as 2 million Americans will see their mortgage rates increase in the next two years, with many of them losing their homes as a result of bad lending practices. Home foreclosures have shot up to an all-time high. As a result of the overall housing slump, tens of millions of homeowners could see the value of their home—their primary investment—drop in value.
In July, the House passed the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis, which was signed into law on July 30. The American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act, H.R. 3221, will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process.
To shore up the housing market and ensure the availability of affordable home loans, the bill would put a tough, independent new regulator in charge of the housing Government Sponsored Enterprises, or GSEs (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks), which are vital to both the financial markets and American homeowners. The new regulator will be far better prepared to quickly and effectively respond to issues affecting the safe and sound operation of these enterprises.
The centerpiece of the bill will help significant numbers of hard-working American families in danger of losing their home refinance into lower-cost government -insured mortgages they can afford to repay – at no cost to the American taxpayer.
Learn more>>
House Democrats on passage of the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act>>
Making College More Affordable
With today’s economy squeezing families and tuition prices continuing to soar, the high cost of college remains a top concern for Americans. However, there is some good news for college students and their families: New financial aid benefits enacted last year are beginning to kick in for this fall.
Thanks to the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, typical four-year student starting college this fall (with need-based student loan debt) will save about $2,570 over the life of his or her loan. The bill provides more than $20 billion in federal student aid over the next five years, interest rates on need-based (subsidized) federal student loans dropped from 6.8 percent to 6.0 percent on July 1st – making these loans more affordable for millions of low- and middle-income students. This is the first of step towards halving these interest rates – over the next few years these rates will continue to decrease until they reach 3.4 percent. The College Cost Reduction Act also increases the Pell Grant by $490, and provides up-front tuition assistance of $4,000 each year for students who commit to teaching high-need subjects in high-need public schools.
Learn more>>
Stopping Employment Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
In November 2007, the House passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). In 30 states, it is currently legal to fire someone simply because of his or her sexual orientation. This bill prohibits employers, employment agencies and labor unions from using an individual’s sexual orientation as the basis for employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promotion or compensation. The bill extends federal employment protections to gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers similar to those already provided to a person based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability. The President has threatened to veto this bill.
Learn more>>
The Gavel: House Debates ENDA>>
Helping Families With Rising Food Costs
In June, Congress overrode the President's veto of the Farm Bill, legislation that will ease the strain of rising food prices for millions of families. Nearly three-fourths of the Farm Bill, an additional $10.4 billion in new spending, goes to nutrition programs that help 38 million American families afford healthy food.
It updates the food stamp program to reflect the current state of our economy. These critical food stamp provisions will help about 11 million people by 2012. Households with children receive 77% of food stamp benefits.
The measure eliminates the current cap on childcare costs, provides incentives for families to save for retirement or education, and makes sure that the families of soldiers in combat are not penalized under the food stamp program. It increases the standard deduction and indexes it to inflation to help needy families afford increasing food prices in the future. The minimum benefit would be increased for the first time in 30 years and would increase in the future with to keep up with rising food prices.
It also provides much-needed support to emergency feeding organizations, such as food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens by increasing funding for TEFAP by $1.25 billion – with $50 million for immediate shortages at food pantries.
Learn more>>
Repaying Our Veterans
The GI Bill for the 21st Century, which was signed into law in June, provides a four-year college scholarship to veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The legislation will give our returning troops the tools to succeed when they return home, as well as strengthen our shaky economy and help rebuild our military by making service more attractive.
Learn more>>
Also in June, the HEART ACT became law, making permanent essential tax relief for our military families. This includes tax relief under the Earned Income Tax Credit, providing incentives to make sure that reservists called up for active duty do not suffer a pay cut, clarifying the availability of recovery rebates for military families, and expanding homeownership opportunities for veterans.
Learn more>>