ISSUE

According to The Black Institute and the Minority Merchant Council’s report, “Stop Killing Us,” black and brown businesses overwhelmingly received less of the relief aid allocated for small businesses, faced significant discrimination during the application process, and face the greatest amount of risk moving forward if further action is not taken by all levels of government. Only 20% of eligible firms in states with significant concentrations of minority enterprises received aid from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). 26% of minority businesses surveyed in the NYC Comptroller’s report on the pandemic, did not receive any form of aid from the EIDL. Further, an analysis of fair lending treatments showed a concerning 43% rate of difference in treatment between white and black persons when they applied for the PPP.

POLICY

NY desperately need a new stimulus package from the State that addresses the plight of people of color. Small businesses have undoubtedly suffered especially during the pandemic, and minority businesses especially have been crushed by the costs of operation, adaptation to new business ecosystems, and the unforgiving specter of rent. Moratoriums can only do so much for these businesses. But we cannot ignore other organizations and systems that have suffered; schools, health care, transit authorities, and students struggling with crushing debt.

LEGISLATION

BLAC demands that the Governor introduce a “One Shot Deal” to deal with the impending eviction crisis by offering renters the opportunity to wipe out their pandemic rent obligations without infringing on the rights of landlords, allowing them to deduct the lost rent at a proportionate rate to their property taxes. BLAC also demands that the Governor immediately introduce sweeping relief measures to help stabilize the economy of New York by offering support to industries and individuals that have suffered heavily as a result of the pandemic.

ISSUE

For decades the management of the majority of city, state, and federal pension funds has largely rested in only a handful of institutions. As The Black Institute demonstrated in its report “The BlackRock Files”, the majority of pension funds are handled by only one institution, with a poor record of corporate diversity and equitable investments. Beyond this, however, numerous other financial institutions have demonstrated repeatedly that they lack any sense of responsibility for ensuring fair access to their services for minority consumers and businesses. Even though, as we have demonstrated in our reports “The Fight For Fair Investment” and “The One Percent Solution” that only a small portion of government and financial investments need be allocated to minority enterprises, there has been no such actions to that effect.The gross inequities in the financial sector require a significant amount of policy shifts to even begin to rectify. To start, The Black Institute believes that the amount of transparency in government dealings with financial institutions must dramatically increase. We also believe that, in line with the proposals set out in our publications, there must be a legally mandated percentage of pension and other investments within or managed by MWBE enterprises, in order to speed the development and proportional representation of MWBEs with in the economy. Additionally, we demand that a systemic audit of all financial institutions operating within the state be conducted in order to ascertain and expose any disparities in the treatment and services offered to minority customers and businesses. Finally, BLAC demands that such legislation includes a legal obligation for the government to cut any and all ties with an institution should they fail to meet specified diversity and inclusion provisions.

POLICY

The gross inequities in the financial sector require a significant amount of policy shifts to even begin to rectify. To start, The Black Institute believes that the amount of transparency in government dealings with financial institutions must dramatically increase. We also believe that, in line with the proposals set out in our publications, there must be a legally mandated percentage of pension and other investments within or managed by MWBE enterprises, in order to speed the development and proportional representation of MWBEs with in the economy. Additionally, we demand that a systemic audit of all financial institutions operating within the state be conducted in order to ascertain and expose any disparities in the treatment and services offered to minority customers and businesses. Finally, BLAC demands that such legislation includes a legal obligation for the government to cut any and all ties with an institution should they fail to meet specified diversity and inclusion provisions.

ISSUE

The NY State Liquor Authority, the NYPD, and the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife have created a coordinated effort that is continually used against so many minority night life establishments known as a Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspot (M.A.R.C.H.) Operation. Following a complete analysis of information concerning M.A.R.C.H. Operations, TBI concluded that there is a pattern of discriminatory application of these M.A.R.C.H. raids which has resulted in 92.5% of the M.A.R.C.H. operations occurring in neighborhoods with at least 30% minority populations. These raids lack all the transparency and accountability that are required to ensure their application is not abused and manipulated by gentrifying forces that are so rapidly changing New York City.

POLICY

In order to rectify the inequities being manifested, the Governor must take immediate action to promote policy that creates accountability for the conduct of the agencies that the Governor is responsible for. The Governor must support policy that will lead to an investigation and reimagining of the State Liquor Authority (SLA)’s usage of M.A.R.C.H raids and its collaboration with other state agencies on this matter. It is the Governor’s duty to promote a healthier, more equitable system of evaluating and disciplining delinquent businesses that does not provide an avenue for targeted and racialized raids, as the current system has been so embarrassingly used for.

LEGISLATION

BLAC demands that the Governor signs A8636 of the 2019-2020 session, introduced by Walter Mosley which would amend Section 11 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law to require the SLA chairman and commissioners to file annual financial disclosures. We also demand that the Governor support the amendment of Section 17, Article 2 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law be amended to establish a temporary SLA Penalty Clemency program, such that impacted businesses are allowed to claim clemency for all monetary penalties due to the SLA.

ISSUE

African Americans are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of whites, yet both ethnicities consume marijuana at roughly the same rates. Specifically, a 2020 analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union, concluded, “Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, notwithstanding comparable usage rates.” Further, there are massive barriers to entering the legal marijuana market for African-Americans. According to Marijuana Business Daily, 81% of marijuana business owners are white, 5.7% are Latino, and merely 4.3% are African-American.

POLICY

BLAC demands the Governor sign into law legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana immediately and expunge all convictions for possession of marijuana. Further, BLAC proposes for the Governor to earmark a portion of the revenue generated from legalized marijuana for communities that have been disproportionately impacted by criminal anti-drug laws, as well as steer proceeds to drug treatment programs.

• On the economic front, BLAC demands policies that would increase Black entrepreneurs’ access to the NY marijuana market through the lowering of capital requirements, ensuring there is no ban on anyone with a criminal record, providing educational tools, and most importantly, allocating funding.

LEGISLATION

On the state level, BLAC demands the Governor sign Senate Bill S1527C, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) in New York. This bill:

• Includes vital protections against housing and employment discrimination and addresses additional devastating impacts of marijuana prohibition in the fields of immigration and child welfare;
• Protects young people by reducing access to marijuana and promotes comprehensive, reality-based drug education;
• Establishes a licensing system that favors small businesses and family farmers, not large corporations, including co-op and microbusiness licenses that can reduce barriers to entry for people with less access to capital and traditional avenues of financing;
• Uses tax revenue for social good like community reinvestment, job training, youth programs, and drug treatment programs

ISSUE

The State of Black NY released a report this November highlighting the massive digital divide affecting communities of color. According to the report, many Black and Hispanic families can only access internet through smart phones, about 40 percent of residents lacked either mobile or home internet services and 18 percent lacked both. As New York City continues to be impacted by the pandemic and have shifted to virtual learning once again, minority and low-income children do not have the resources to get the same educational experience as their white counterparts. While they have provided tablets and laptops, our government has failed to recognize that these tablets are useless without access to the internet. About 100,000 school-age children live in 40,000 households without internet according to an April report by the Citizens’ Committee for Children and the Comptroller office’s analysis of Census data.

POLICY

BLAC demands the Governor step in to allocate funding to cover internet costs for low-income families without internet service for the rest of the school year. Based on estimates of the cost per household using currently advertised internet fees, it should cost at most $16 million dollars. There must be further commitment to providing more technical support and resources to high-need areas, which should include outreach at free meal distribution sites, and a partnership with community-based organizations and technicians in order to reach more people who need support. BLAC proposes that the Governor must work with service providers to provide free or reduced service for the remainder of the pandemic. Finally, we demand that this allocation must be included within the state budget in perpetuity, with a portion being set aside as an emergency fund to provide this critical support for children to the increasingly digital education realm in the event of another disaster or pandemic.

ISSUE

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New York is on the brink of a rental building foreclosure crisis as hundreds of thousands of tenants in New York delve deeper into arrears, are unable to afford rent and are on the cusp of only compounding the homelessness crisis across the state. Even before the pandemic, New York City has experienced a systemic pattern of poor housing policies that have resulted in an affordable housing shortage, an affordability crisis and a homelessness crisis all ballooned into one massive crisis with no end in sight. The strongest evidence of New York City’s worsening affordability crisis is the fact that homelessness has soared to the highest levels since the Great Depression. The major causes of record New York City homelessness are the widening gap between housing costs and incomes.

POLICY

The Governor must support policy that encourages the construction of more affordable housing buildings to curb the homeless epidemic. The Governor must find ways to incorporate new projects that refurbish existing dilapidated buildings into affordable housing complexes and to stop using homeless shelters as a stop gap.

LEGISLATION

In order to address the foreclosure crisis and subvert a massive influx of homeless residents, the Governor must sign into law a universal moratorium on evictions through Senate Bill S8667, the Emergency Housing Stability and Displacement Prevention Act. This would prevent all eviction and foreclosure filing for commercial and residential tenants during the pandemic plus an additional year after it. Beyond that, however, BLAC supports H.R.6515, the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, which would cancel the rents for tenants and mortgage payments of some homeowners if NY is in a state of emergency, plus an additional 90 days. More importantly, The Black Institute demands New York invest in the building of more permanent, subsidized affordable housing instead of stop-gapping issue with shelters.

• Issue: According to The Black Institute and the Minority Merchant Council’s report, “Stop Killing Us,” black and brown businesses overwhelmingly received less of the relief aid allocated for small businesses, faced significant discrimination during the application process, and face the greatest amount of risk moving forward if further action is not taken by all levels of government. Only 20% of eligible firms in states with significant concentrations of minority enterprises received aid from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). 26% of minority businesses surveyed in the NYC Comptroller’s report on the pandemic, did not receive any form of aid from the EIDL. Further, an analysis of fair lending treatments showed a concerning 43% rate of difference in treatment between white and black persons when they applied for the PPP.
• Policy: NY desperately need a new stimulus package from the State that addresses the plight of people of color. Small businesses have undoubtedly suffered especially during the pandemic, and minority businesses especially have been crushed by the costs of operation, adaptation to new business ecosystems, and the unforgiving specter of rent. Moratoriums can only do so much for these businesses. But we cannot ignore other organizations and systems that have suffered; schools, health care, transit authorities, and students struggling with crushing debt.
• Legislation: BLAC demands that the Governor introduce a “One Shot Deal” to deal with the impending eviction crisis by offering renters the opportunity to wipe out their pandemic rent obligations without infringing on the rights of landlords, allowing them to deduct the lost rent at a proportionate rate to their property taxes. BLAC also demands that the Governor immediately introduce sweeping relief measures to help stabilize the economy of New York by offering support to industries and individuals that have suffered heavily as a result of the pandemic.

• Issue: or decades the management of the majority of city, state, and federal pension funds has largely rested in only a handful of institutions. As The Black Institute demonstrated in its report “The BlackRock Files”, the majority of pension funds are handled by only one institution, with a poor record of corporate diversity and equitable investments. Beyond this, however, numerous other financial institutions have demonstrated repeatedly that they lack any sense of responsibility for ensuring fair access to their services for minority consumers and businesses. Even though, as we have demonstrated in our reports “The Fight For Fair Investment” and “The One Percent Solution” that only a small portion of government and financial investments need be allocated to minority enterprises, there has been no such actions to that effect.The gross inequities in the financial sector require a significant amount of policy shifts to even begin to rectify. To start, The Black Institute believes that the amount of transparency in government dealings with financial institutions must dramatically increase. We also believe that, in line with the proposals set out in our publications, there must be a legally mandated percentage of pension and other investments within or managed by MWBE enterprises, in order to speed the development and proportional representation of MWBEs with in the economy. Additionally, we demand that a systemic audit of all financial institutions operating within the state be conducted in order to ascertain and expose any disparities in the treatment and services offered to minority customers and businesses. Finally, BLAC demands that such legislation includes a legal obligation for the government to cut any and all ties with an institution should they fail to meet specified diversity and inclusion provisions.
• Policy: The gross inequities in the financial sector require a significant amount of policy shifts to even begin to rectify. To start, The Black Institute believes that the amount of transparency in government dealings with financial institutions must dramatically increase. We also believe that, in line with the proposals set out in our publications, there must be a legally mandated percentage of pension and other investments within or managed by MWBE enterprises, in order to speed the development and proportional representation of MWBEs with in the economy. Additionally, we demand that a systemic audit of all financial institutions operating within the state be conducted in order to ascertain and expose any disparities in the treatment and services offered to minority customers and businesses. Finally, BLAC demands that such legislation includes a legal obligation for the government to cut any and all ties with an institution should they fail to meet specified diversity and inclusion provisions.

• Issue: The NY State Liquor Authority, the NYPD, and the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife have created a coordinated effort that is continually used against so many minority night life establishments known as a Multi-Agency Response to Community Hotspot (M.A.R.C.H.) Operation. Following a complete analysis of information concerning M.A.R.C.H. Operations, TBI concluded that there is a pattern of discriminatory application of these M.A.R.C.H. raids which has resulted in 92.5% of the M.A.R.C.H. operations occurring in neighborhoods with at least 30% minority populations. These raids lack all the transparency and accountability that are required to ensure their application is not abused and manipulated by gentrifying forces that are so rapidly changing New York City.
• Policy: In order to rectify the inequities being manifested, the Governor must take immediate action to promote policy that creates accountability for the conduct of the agencies that the Governor is responsible for. The Governor must support policy that will lead to an investigation and reimagining of the State Liquor Authority (SLA)’s usage of M.A.R.C.H raids and its collaboration with other state agencies on this matter. It is the Governor’s duty to promote a healthier, more equitable system of evaluating and disciplining delinquent businesses that does not provide an avenue for targeted and racialized raids, as the current system has been so embarrassingly used for.
• Legislation: BLAC demands that the Governor signs A8636 of the 2019-2020 session, introduced by Walter Mosley which would amend Section 11 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law to require the SLA chairman and commissioners to file annual financial disclosures. We also demand that the Governor support the amendment of Section 17, Article 2 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law be amended to establish a temporary SLA Penalty Clemency program, such that impacted businesses are allowed to claim clemency for all monetary penalties due to the SLA.

ISSUE: African Americans are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at nearly four times the rates of whites, yet both ethnicities consume marijuana at roughly the same rates. Specifically, a 2020 analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union, concluded, “Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, notwithstanding comparable usage rates.” Further, there are massive barriers to entering the legal marijuana market for African-Americans. According to Marijuana Business Daily, 81% of marijuana business owners are white, 5.7% are Latino, and merely 4.3% are African-American.

POLICY: BLAC demands the Governor sign into law legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana immediately and expunge all convictions for possession of marijuana. Further, BLAC proposes for the Governor to earmark a portion of the revenue generated from legalized marijuana for communities that have been disproportionately impacted by criminal anti-drug laws, as well as steer proceeds to drug treatment programs.

• On the economic front, BLAC demands policies that would increase Black entrepreneurs’ access to the NY marijuana market through the lowering of capital requirements, ensuring there is no ban on anyone with a criminal record, providing educational tools, and most importantly, allocating funding.

LEGISLATION: On the state level, BLAC demands the Governor sign Senate Bill S1527C, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) in New York. This bill:

• Includes vital protections against housing and employment discrimination and addresses additional devastating impacts of marijuana prohibition in the fields of immigration and child welfare;
• Protects young people by reducing access to marijuana and promotes comprehensive, reality-based drug education;
• Establishes a licensing system that favors small businesses and family farmers, not large corporations, including co-op and microbusiness licenses that can reduce barriers to entry for people with less access to capital and traditional avenues of financing;
• Uses tax revenue for social good like community reinvestment, job training, youth programs, and drug treatment programs

ISSUE: The State of Black NY released a report this November highlighting the massive digital divide affecting communities of color. According to the report, many Black and Hispanic families can only access internet through smart phones, about 40 percent of residents lacked either mobile or home internet services and 18 percent lacked both. As New York City continues to be impacted by the pandemic and have shifted to virtual learning once again, minority and low-income children do not have the resources to get the same educational experience as their white counterparts. While they have provided tablets and laptops, our government has failed to recognize that these tablets are useless without access to the internet. About 100,000 school-age children live in 40,000 households without internet according to an April report by the Citizens’ Committee for Children and the Comptroller office’s analysis of Census data.

POLICY: BLAC demands the Governor step in to allocate funding to cover internet costs for low-income families without internet service for the rest of the school year. Based on estimates of the cost per household using currently advertised internet fees, it should cost at most $16 million dollars. There must be further commitment to providing more technical support and resources to high-need areas, which should include outreach at free meal distribution sites, and a partnership with community-based organizations and technicians in order to reach more people who need support. BLAC proposes that the Governor must work with service providers to provide free or reduced service for the remainder of the pandemic. Finally, we demand that this allocation must be included within the state budget in perpetuity, with a portion being set aside as an emergency fund to provide this critical support for children to the increasingly digital education realm in the event of another disaster or pandemic.

ISSUE: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New York is on the brink of a rental building foreclosure crisis as hundreds of thousands of tenants in New York delve deeper into arrears, are unable to afford rent and are on the cusp of only compounding the homelessness crisis across the state. Even before the pandemic, New York City has experienced a systemic pattern of poor housing policies that have resulted in an affordable housing shortage, an affordability crisis and a homelessness crisis all ballooned into one massive crisis with no end in sight. The strongest evidence of New York City’s worsening affordability crisis is the fact that homelessness has soared to the highest levels since the Great Depression. The major causes of record New York City homelessness are the widening gap between housing costs and incomes.

POLICY: The Governor must support policy that encourages the construction of more affordable housing buildings to curb the homeless epidemic. The Governor must find ways to incorporate new projects that refurbish existing dilapidated buildings into affordable housing complexes and to stop using homeless shelters as a stop gap.

LEGISLATION: In order to address the foreclosure crisis and subvert a massive influx of homeless residents, the Governor must sign into law a universal moratorium on evictions through Senate Bill S8667, the Emergency Housing Stability and Displacement Prevention Act. This would prevent all eviction and foreclosure filing for commercial and residential tenants during the pandemic plus an additional year after it. Beyond that, however, BLAC supports H.R.6515, the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020, which would cancel the rents for tenants and mortgage payments of some homeowners if NY is in a state of emergency, plus an additional 90 days. More importantly, The Black Institute demands New York invest in the building of more permanent, subsidized affordable housing instead of stop-gapping issue with shelters.