CORONAVIRUS: Booker Introduces Bill to Get Unemployment Assistance Immediately to Laid-Off Workers

Bill would eliminate “waiting week” requirement.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) today introduced a bill to reduce barriers to unemployment insurance for workers throughout the country who are unable to work due to the Coronavirus. The bill will address “waiting week” requirements, which forces laid-off workers who have satisfied every other eligibility requirement to wait one week before being able to access unemployment assistance. These requirements exist in 42 states (though New Jersey doesn’t have a waiting period).

The bill would federally fund the first week of unemployment insurance during national disasters and public health emergencies and it would give states two years to amend their laws to ban waiting weeks altogether.

“Public health emergencies can quickly become economic disasters for those who are already struggling,” Booker said. “This common-sense bill ensures workers and their families don’t have to needlessly wait to receive assistance when they need it most.”

Full text of the bill is available here. 

Clyburn urges Biden to pick black woman as running mate

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) urged former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday to pick a black woman as his running mate to "reward" them for loyalty to the Democratic Party if he is its presidential nominee.

Clyburn, who endorsed Biden ahead of his South Carolina primary win late last month, told NPR, "I really believe that we've reached a point in this country where African American women need to be rewarded for the loyalty that they've given to this party."

He named a number of black women who he thinks would be good choices to share a ticket with Biden, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.

Clyburn also mentioned Democratic Reps. Marcia Fudge (Ohio), Val Demings (Fla.) and Karen Bass (Calif.) as potential choices, as well as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

National Society of Black Engineers postpones March conference

The National Society of Black Engineers postponed a planned convention in San Antonio that was scheduled for March 25-29.

A letter from National Society of Black Engineers leadership to its members said the decision to postpone the conventions was made to protect the members, their families and communities as well as “to ensure the quality of the workshops.” The letter mentioned that a number of NSBE’s corporate partners and several confirmed speakers had canceled their participation in the event because of travel restrictions.

David Gonzalez, the director of communications for Visit San Antonio, told KSAT the National Society of Black Engineers is hoping to reschedule in San Antonio later this year.

[SOURCE: KSAT]

Charles Barkley calls for cancellation of NCAA Basketball Tournament

CBS March Madness analyst and NBA great Charles Barkley appeared on ESPN's "Get Up" and called for the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

...I'm gonna say this and I'm probably going to get in trouble because I work for Turner, March Madness and CBS. I think Turner Sports and CBS need to close down March Madness, man...Because, even if there's no fans in the stands, you can't have these players breathing on each other for two weeks. Even if they had a hotel, they're going to be in different cities around the country. I hate to say it...like I said, I probably shouldn't say it because I work for CBS, I think we’re going to have to shut down March Madness until we know more."

As of right now, the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball tournaments will be played without spectators. The men's tournament will be played in 14 cities.

HBCUs still ‘woefully underfunded,’ according to UNCF president

One could argue it’s been a victorious year for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The FUTURE Act – legislation sustaining federal funding for minority serving institutions — made a fraught, winding journey to President Donald J. Trump’s desk, where it was signed into law in December.

But during a recent event, Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), discouraged unbridled optimism.

“I cannot stand before you here today and say only that the state of HBCUs is strong or only that HBCUs remain resilient,” he said at the organization’s second annual “State of the HBCU Address” where HBCU leaders and allies gathered in Washington D.C. “As you know, those truths are only part of the story.”

He argued that the permanent annual $255 million in federal funding for minority serving institutions, with $85 million designated for HBCUs, marks progress, but it isn’t enough to solve the “HBCU paradox” – the fact that HBCUs enjoy broad bipartisan support but continue to be “woefully underfunded.”

The support that exists, though it spans party divides, is “too often a mile wide and an inch deep,” Lomax said. “Too often it creates an all too convenient gap between rhetoric and reality. It makes it easy for people to look and sound like they are HBCU boosters without having to take the hard steps and make a deep-seated commitment to eradicate decades of disparate treatment of HBCUs.”

He directed a few pointed comments at Trump, who claimed at the Davos economic conference in January that his administration “saved” HBCUs.

Lomax acknowledged that HBCU leaders “deeply appreciate” that the president signed the FUTURE Act, forgave the loans of HBCUs impacted by Hurricane Katrina and offered capital finance loan deferment for 13 HBCUs. But he also noted that the FUTURE Act wasn’t included in Trump’s 2021 federal budget and Trump’s efforts to remove programs like federal work study would hurt HBCU students if successful. Meanwhile, most Democratic candidates — Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg – have proposed more extensive plans for funding HBCUs.

“We know the president wants the bragging rights for having done ‘more than any other president’ to support HBCUs, so there’s still time for you to claim that mantle,” he said, addressing the president and prompting laughs from the audience. “We hope you will propose in the coming months investments that rival or exceed those of your Democratic opponents.”

Lomax laid out several ongoing policy goals like lobbying for a $1 billion grant for HBCU infrastructure, doubling the Pell grant and tripling Title III funding, the funds guaranteed in the FUTURE Act.

But the federal government isn’t the only sector responsible for the inequitable funding of HBCUs, he said, pointing to “subtler forms of disparate and unfair treatment” by philanthropists, accreditors, corporations and lenders.

Notably, he cited a recent report from the Student Borrower Protection Center called “Educational Redlining,” which found that Upstart, an online lending platform, offered HBCU graduates higher interest rates, costing them thousands of dollars more than similar graduates from predominantly white institutions.

“Let’s make this year the year inequitable treatment of HBCUs is named and shamed,” he said.

[SOURCE: LouisianaWeekly]