United States Senate
Background Guide B
CAHSMUN XVII Letter from the Director
Dear Senators,
Our names are Othman Mekhloufi and Joshua Dar Santos, and we have the distinct pleasure of serving as the Co-Presidents of the 117th session of the United States Senate at CAHSMUN 2021. This year, we will be serving alongside your brilliant Chairs Alec Yang and Nikki Wu.
The United States Senate is the Upper Chamber of the United States Congress. Each state consists of two Senators, and in this year’s committee, the goal is to pass two pieces of legislation through the Senate. This iteration of the United States Senate will focus on the topics of affordable healthcare and infrastructure development of black communities. With the current session of the Senate sitting at a 50 Democrat-50 Republican split, Senators will have to practice and master their persuasion, diplomatic, and compromising skills in order to come to a bipartisan agreement.
Whether you are a new or seasoned delegate, we hope that this committee will provide you with valuable information and knowledge on U.S. government and structure. Most importantly, however, we hope that you will find your own unforgettable memories in this committee, and we genuinely wish that your experience at CAHSMUN 2021 is just as enjoyable as it is educational.
We wish you the best of luck in your pre-conference preparations, and should any questions or concerns arise, please do not hesitate to contact us through the committee email, [email protected]. We, on the behalf of the entire dais team, look forward to meeting you all this April and welcome you to the United States Senate.
Sincerely,
Othman Mekhloufi and Joshua Dar Santos Co-Presidents of the 117th United States Senate — CAHSMUN 2021
Committee Description
The legislative branch of the United States of America is composed of the Congress, a bicameral legislature divided into two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The aim of the Senate is to represent the States equally whereas that of the House of Representatives, or the House, is to represent the populace democratically and proportionally. The Senate is made up of two Senators for each state regardless of population. As the upper house of Congress, the Senate reserves certain rights not held by the House of Representatives—it is charged with confirming Presidential nominees of Secretaries of many Departments in the executive branch, conducts impeachment trials on public officials in the federal government, dissects international bills and treaties, and implements cloture on debates (the act of blocking legislation or debate on a certain issue). However, the Senate also maintains a set of limitations. Spending and tax bills, for example, must originate from and are largely controlled by the House.
New bills can be introduced in either part of Congress, or both simultaneously. When legislation is newly drafted, it first goes to one of 19 sub-committees, such as the Budget Committee or the Ways and Means Committee for approval, then to the House assembled, and finally to the Senate assembled for a final vote. This thorough process can take months, going through dozens of revisions and criticisms throughout the many committees in both houses of Congress. Once the Senate and House have ironed out differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill, it is finally presented to the president of the United States for signing, where it is then passed and waits to be enacted into law or vetoed.
Voting in the chamber follows a straightforward procedure: when a bill comes to voting, the presiding officer asks for the vote of each Senator, where they respond with either “Yea” or “Aye” in favour, or “Nay” in opposition. The share of votes needed to pass a bill is a simple majority.1
As the centre of legislation for all of the United States, the decisions of the Senate hold economic, social, humanitarian, and international impacts. It is therefore crucial that Senators are able to analyze the consequences behind each policy alteration with extensive knowledge on each topic.
1 https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/how-a-bill-becomes-a-law
Topic Overview
African-American communities in the United States disproportionately face socioeconomic disparities in the form of crumbling public infrastructure such as schools, housing, healthcare, transportation, and more. In the past, racist attitudes and policies in the United States, both in the private and public sectors, have politically, economically, and socially disenfranchised these minority groups. First starting with the African slave trade in the 17th century, racist disenfranchisement then slowly inched to segregation and Jim Crow laws, ultimately being addressed by the Reconstruction Era and the civil rights movement. The centuries which encapsulated these events saw the end of slavery and established equal protection under the law, but simultaneously underwent discriminatory lending practices and socioeconomic injustices. The turmoil of these practices have led to events which shaped the history of the union such as the Civil War, Black Lives Matter, and a series of other activism-driven operations to achieve racial justice. Today, in the 21st century, these infrastructural shortcomings manifest themselves in outcomes, such as high levels of crime and poverty, along with overall poor quality of life. Generally speaking, this is seen in examples such as lower life expectancy, accessibility to healthcare, higher community crime rates, and poor housing. The United States Senate, as the upper house of Congress, holds distinct authority to dismantle previous programs and establish new ones which remedy the issues found today on the federal level that states do not have the power or authority to address. Senators are now tasked with identifying the causes of these disparities and implementing means of resolving them through whichever policies they deem most effective, such as housing reform, free- market economics, government subsidies, restitutions, education, and a variety of other available ideas.
Timeline
August 20, 1619 –– Privateer ship “The White Lion” arrives with twenty African slaves in the British Colony of Jamestown, Virginia, marking the beginning of slavery in North America.2
July 2, 1777 –– Vermont becomes the first state in the union to abolish slavery.3
2 history.com/this-day-in-history/first-african-slave-ship-arrives-jamestown-colony 3 https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/vermont-1777-early-steps-against-slavery
March 26, 1790 –– The Naturalization Act of 1790 is signed into law, limiting naturalization of citizenship to “free white persons[s].”4
April 12, 1861 –– The United States Civil War commences, creating a stark divide between pro and anti-slavery states regarding the rights of African-Americans.5
December 6, 1865 –– The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, nationally abolishing slavery.6
July 9, 1868 –– The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, awarding citizenship to former slaves and establishing equal protection under the law.7
February 3, 1870 –– The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, prohibiting states and the federal government from denying citizens the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”8
May 18, 1896 –– The Supreme Court of the United States rules in a landmark case, Plessy v. Ferguson, that state laws segregating White-Americans from Black-Americans are constitutional under the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine.9
June 27, 1934 –– Following the Great Depression, in an attempt to stimulate the economy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) signs the National Housing Act into law, making federal guarantees to mortgages only available to White-Americans.10
July 2, 1964 –– The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law, prohibiting private and public- sector discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and national identity.11
4 https://immigrationhistory.org/item/1790-nationality-act/ 5 https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history#section_2 6 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/thirteenth-amendment#section_5 7 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fourteenth- amendment#:~:text=The%2014th%20Amendment%20to%20the,era%20to%20abolish%20slavery%20and 8 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=44 9 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson 10 https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/national-housing-act-1934/ 11 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=97
April 11, 1968 –– The Fair Housing Act, also known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968, is signed into law, nationally prohibiting discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.12
May 27, 2015 –– Wisconsin-based Associated Banc-Corp makes a USD 200 million settlement in providing mortgage loans with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for systematically denying mortgages to African-American and Hispanic-American home buyers.13
Historical Analysis
Slavery Disparities toward minority communities have always existed throughout the United States’ history, first starting with African-American slavery long before the founding of the Republic. The first African slaves in North America landed in the British Colony of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 on the English privateer ship The White Lion.14 They were seized from a Portuguese ship transporting slaves from Africa to Southern Europe.15 All subsequent indentured servants in North America were brought over in the coordinated, comprehensive Atlantic slave trade throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Africans would either be abducted in their home countries by slave traders, or lawfully sold to them by local authorities. Upon arrival to the Americas, they would be sold to land-owners primarily for cheap labor in the agricultural industry.16 Of over 10 million slaves trafficked throughout the running years of the Atlantic triangle route, an estimated 400,000 would end up in North America, with the rest dying in transit or taken to other global British, French, and Spanish colonies.17
Upon the ratification of the United States constitution in 1788, specific powers were delegated to the national union, while others were left to lower forms of government, namely what the Supreme Court characterizes as the “police power” or non-interstate criminal law.18 This afforded individual states with the sole power to control the legality of slavery within their own borders. The federal government had effectively no say in the matter from a statutory
12 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fair-housing- act#:~:text=The%20Fair%20Housing%20Act%20of,religion%2C%20national%20origin%20or%20sex.&text=The %20Fair%20Housing%20Act%20stands,of%20the%20civil%20rights%20era. 13 https://www.housingwire.com/articles/34006-hud-associated-bank-redlining-settlement-is-largest-ever/ 14 history.com/this-day-in-history/first-african-slave-ship-arrives-jamestown-colony 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 17 https://historyincharts.com/trans-atlantic-slave-trade-destinations-and-statistics/ 18 https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
point of view. Southern states, whose economies were agricultural-based, relied on cheap labor provided by involuntary servitude for the cheap export of goods such as tobacco, and thus took meager action against chattel enslavement––the distinct practice in which an individual and his/her offspring would indefinitely belong to an owner as legal property to be bought, sold, and laboured. In contrast, the economies of Northern states were far more commerce-based, diminishing the need for cheap labor and thus gradually yielding the complete abolishment of slavery in the North as the 19th century struck, with Vermont being the first state in the union to abolish slavery in 1777.19
American Civil War
By the mid-19th century, slavery was entirely abolished in Northern states while remaining fervent in the South.20 The divide of economic needs, and thus slavery laws, created a stark contrast between the two regions. Ultimately, the question of slavery became a moral and philosophical one regarding the natural rights and liberty of man; it had moved away from its initial economic basis. The North and the federal government, led by the Republican party, began increasingly campaigning for slavery’s abolition in the South and enacted anti-slavery policies, such as halting foreign importation of the slave trade.21 Upon the election of anti- slavery President Abraham Lincoln (R) in 1860, the Southern states collectively seceded (broke apart) from the union in an attempt to prevent the abolition of slavery, sparking the American Civil War.22 The conflict spanned from 1861 to May 1865, yielding a Northern victory over the secessionist movement.23
Reconstruction Era
After the war, a series of constitutional amendments—known as the “Reconstruction Amendments”—were passed into law to address racial issues in the United States. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery nationwide; the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed equal protection of the law to all individuals and afforded citizenship to former slaves.24 Finally, the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited state and national voting laws from discriminating on the basis of skin color or race. Reconstruction offered newly-freed slaves and African-Americans a series of new rights and privileges, such as the ability to own property, sign contracts, and enter marriages. Certain
19 https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/vermont-1777-early-steps-against-slavery 20 https://www.history.com/topics/black- history/slavery#:~:text=Between%201774%20and%201804%2C%20all,over%20the%20next%2050%20years. 21 https://www.history.com/topics/us-politics/republican-party 22 https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history 23 Ibid. 24 https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilWarAmendments.htm
restitutions, such as healthcare, housing, and wages for previous labour for former slaves, were also offered. Despite this, the Southern United States saw the rise of white supremacy groups, social and legal discrimination through Jim Crow laws, and racist state constitutions, ultimately yielding African-American second-class citizenry.
Jim Crow Despite new constitutional rights and protections yielding economic and political gain, minority communities in the United States, namely African-Americans, continued to face racial discrimination both in the private and public sectors. Stores and services would often refuse to serve African-Americans on the basis of race.25 Likewise, in the late 19th and early 20th century, in order to erase the gains made by minorities in the Reconstruction Era, Southern states enacted legislation known as Jim Crow Laws, which racially segregated Black and White-Americans in public facilities such as schools, buses, theatres, parks, swimming pools, etc.26 The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that the segregationist policies in public facilities were constitutional under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, creating the “separate but equal” doctrine.27 Although Jim Crow Laws were exclusively found in the South, racist attitudes and discriminatory policies persisted in both the Northern states and the federal government well into the twentieth century.
Red-Lining Despite having been gradually eased since the late 1800s, segregationist policies first notably made their mark in the 20th-century through discriminatory mortgage policy toward African- Americans. In response to the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) instituted The New Deal, a large collection of new economic programs to stimulate growth, attempt to end the recession, and prevent further happenings of the like in the future.28 As part of the New Deal, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created to institute loan programs for Americans to be able to finance homes.29 The FHA would execute this by providing federal guarantees on mortgages in order to ease the financial burden of defaults (missed mortgage payments) and thus incentivize financial institutions to issue loans in times of economic uncertainty.30 However, to determine approval for federal loan backing, coloured-coded maps were created, marking eligible neighbourhoods in green and ineligible
25 https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws 26 Ibid. 27 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson 28 https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/new-deal 29 https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/national-housing-act-1934/ 30 Ibid.
neighbourhoods in red, thus coining the term “red-lined” when red areas were unable to receive federal subsidies.31 Among many financial factors which constituted eligibility for housing loans such as payment history, employment, and wealth, the FHA widely focused on the predominant race of the areas in question. The FHA marked predominantly marked African-American neighbourhoods as high risk for loan defaults, making it nearly impossible for African-Americans to receive federal guarantees on mortgages and buy homes. From 1934 to 1968, only 2% of home loans were awarded to African-Americans.32
Civil Rights Era
In response to segregation, social racism, and other forms of institutional discriminatory policies, African-American activists began calling for equal rights and treatment, sparking the Civil Rights movement. Ultimately, this effort yielded three major pieces of legislation, with the first being the Civil Rights Act of 1957, signed into law by President Eisenhower (R).33 It was the first piece of civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction Era, and it empowered the federal executive branch to enforce existing civil rights laws, such as protecting the right to vote, and created comissions to investigate and suggest corrective measures in instances of discrimination. Seven years later came perhaps the most consequential legislation in the civil rights movement—the Civil Rights Act of 1964—which entirely prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin, effectively ending lawful segregation and further empowering the government to enforce civil rights law.34 Finally, Congress passed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, which put an end to discriminatory mortgage lending practices in both the private and public sectors.35
2008 Housing Crisis
The housing crisis of 2008, known as the subprime mortgage crisis, was a result of a complex series of events; however, simply outlined, the crisis can be attributed to risky mortgage practices (primarily in refinancing homes), where lenders continued to finance homes with inflated values and approved mortgages to borrowers who may not be good credit risks.36 When the housing market collapsed and interest rates increased in the mid-2000s,
31 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/redlining-what-is-history-mike-bloomberg-comments/ 32 https://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_06_a-godeeper.htm 33 https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/civil-rights-act- 1957#:~:text=The%20result%20was%20the%20Civil,with%20the%20right%20to%20vote. 34 https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=97 35 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fair-housing- act#:~:text=The%20Fair%20Housing%20Act%20of,religion%2C%20national%20origin%20or%20sex.&text=The %20Fair%20Housing%20Act%20stands,of%20the%20civil%20rights%20era. 36 https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2017/04/13/430424/2008-housing-crisis/
homeowners could not afford the higher mortgage payments, and foreclosures became rampant.37 Lenders were left with re-possessed homes valued substantially below the amount they financed. For example, between 2007 and 2009, American home equity decreased by around 9%, but for Black Americans specifically, it fell 12%.38
Current Situation
Housing
The ramifications of discriminatory housing practices (red-lining) in the mid-20th century manifest themselves today in the form of a continuous cycle of housing poverty. Very few African-Americans were able to purchase homes in the mid-20th century due to red-lining, while White-Americans did so with ease. By 1995, only 41.9% of African-American families owned homes, in contrast to 70.5% of White-Americans.39 In 2019, the homeownership rate between African and White-Americans remains nearly consistent with 1995 rates: 42.1% of African-American families own homes, in contrast to 73.3% of White-American families.40 In the 20th century, White-Americans were able to purchase homes, which positioned them to live in areas with increasing property value. This influx of wealth attracted businesses which catered to the population, creating a positive feedback loop of increasing property value. This also permitted White-Americans to create generational wealth, fund private education, and achieve a multitude of other economic prosperities. Meanwhile, African-American families remained in low-income neighbourhoods with diminishing property values, unable to accrue wealth and do the same. Additionally, the use of past sales prices in appraising homes in black communities allows for a race-based assessment, in which the property is declared as being of less worth than a comparable property in a white community.41 This is because appraisers use past sales prices as the baseline for their assessment, with some adjustments for any upgrades or deficiencies.42 Since comparable homes have been historically appraised higher in white neighbourhoods, homes in black neighbourhoods are perpetually assessed at a much lower baseline.43
37 Ibid. 38 https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/black-recession-housing-race/396725/ 39 https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2009/05/12/iii-homeownership-1995-to-2008/ 40 https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2019/07/15/469838/racial-disparities-home- appreciation/ 41 https://academic.oup.com/socpro/advance-article/doi/10.1093/socpro/spaa033/5900507 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid.
In an attempt to find a solution, the House of Representatives passed the YIMBY Act (H.R. 4351) in March 2020, a law that paves the way for making housing more affordable through non-discriminatory land use and policies.44 The passing of this bill will also support the provision of decent housing for low and moderate income families. Furthermore, first introduced under the 1968 Fair Housing Act, the HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (AFFH) defines “fair housing” as housing that is safe, affordable, decent, free of discrimination, and accessible.45 It requires states, local governments, and public housing agencies that are receiving HUD funds to certify that they are furthering fair housing.46 Finally, the Housing Choice Voucher Program is provided by the HUD to assist low income families own or rent homes.47
In the Senate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a progressive voice in the Senate, introduced the USD 450 billion American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2018 to address the housing difficulties faced by many Americans, particularly minority groups, like affordable housing shortages, preserving rental units, and discrimination issues relating to housing mortgages and zoning.48 In the same year, Sen. Warren introduced the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act to the House in collaboration with Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). This bill aims to provide access to an additional 3 million new affordable housing units to the market and predicts creating 1.5 million jobs and reducing rent by 10% within the next ten years.49 50
Economic Zoning As mentioned beforehand, the influx of wealth in predominantly White-American neighbourhoods due to red-lining attracted businesses and other forms of local investment. However, the types of businesses that were attracted offered immense socioeconomic advantages unseen in minority communities. Oftentimes, these would be in the form of organic grocery stores, community centres, and high-end restaurants. In contrast, minority communities would predominantly attract liquor stores, firearm and munitions retailers, and
44 Ibid. 45 https://nlihc.org/resource/trump-administration-eliminates-affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing-rule-nlihc-and- other 46 Ibid. 47 https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/about 48 https://archive.curbed.com/2018/9/25/17901270/elizabeth-warren-housing-crisis-american-housing-economic- mobility-act-2018 49 https://archive.curbed.com/2018/12/11/18136027/elizabeth-warren-affordable-housing-bill 50 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/elizabeth-warrens-fix-americas-housing-crisis/571210/
corner stores catering to the local population.51 While the organic and grocery-dedicated stores offered bulk sales (greater quantity for less expense), corner stores exclusively offered the opposite, making grocery shopping more expensive to already-impoverished minorities with little savings. This inability to save money while buying more further contributes to a cycle of poverty. Furthermore, in 2019, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity Act of 2019, which addressed zoning reform and affordable housing. The bill would require all states that receive a Community Development Block Grant from the HUD or a Surface Transportation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement zoning policies that allow for a more diverse housing supply.52
Education The aforementioned cycle of housing poverty created by historic discriminatory lending practices also inhibits quality of education in minority communities. Public educational institutions are primarily funded by local property taxes. In neighbourhoods of greater property value—predominantly White-American—more tax revenue is produced, thus better funding education. In those where the property value is low as a result of red-lining, which are predominantly occupied by minority groups, fewer funds are put toward public schools, making it impossible to appropriately subsidize teachers, supplies, and facilities necessary for adequate education. These schools are also less likely to have access to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs––rigorous, advanced academic syllabuses––along with academic extracurricular activities.53 The poor quality of education in these minority communities creates few job opportunities, limits workers to lower wages, and generally inhibits potential economic growth, locking minority groups in cycles of poverty. For example, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was in effect from 2002-2015 and its goal was to make K-12 education more equitable for disadvantaged students, including students from minority groups, poverty-stricken families and those requiring special education. The federal act standardized education and student achievement through annual testing, and schools were penalized when student performance failed to meet proficiency and show improvement.54 The biggest criticism for the NCLB was that teaching became concentrated only on areas that students were tested on and created a culture of over-testing
51 https://www.kcet.org/shows/power-health/liquor-stores-dispensaries-and-smoke-shops-our-neighborhood-is- killing-us 52 https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2684 53 https://atlantablackstar.com/2018/06/04/black-and-brown-students-are-denied-access-to-advanced-placement- courses-the-new-jim-crow-in-education/ 54 https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childs-rights/basics-about-childs-rights/no-child-left-behind- nclb-what-you-need-to-know
in schools.55 As one final example, the National Environmental Education Act was established in 1990 as a program under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that promotes environmental education and other related activities to elementary and secondary students through grants.56 The act is still active to this day.
In the Senate, Sen Gillibrand introduced the Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teacher's Act (PACT) in April 2019.57 This act would provide mandatory funding for students from low income families.58 However, it was effectively shut down by the Republican-led 116th Senate, as it was merely read and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.59 The fact that this bill was struck down in its introduction phase is a clear indication of the Republican Party’s opposition to solutions like the ones introduced in the bill.
Transportation & Urban Employment The American poverty cycle in terms of infrastructural issues in minority communities also attributes itself to poor funding for public transportation. Throughout the 1950s, the United States underwent drastic infrastructural development with the popularization of the automobile and booming population post-World War II. As cities came into fruition, many took residency outside its borders, creating the need for mass highway systems stemming from the suburbs entering the downtown core. Due to poor funding, public transportation such as trains and buses modeled these routes, exclusively going out of the suburbs and into the city (and vice versa), rather than in between or within other residential areas. The few existing public transportation routes within and in-between less urban areas are often unreliable and have infrequent service, making them unsustainable methods of transportation. For example, the ridership of “Park and Ride” (facilities where consumers can park their cars and board local buses for commute) enjoy newer and better kept buses, faster routes due to the use of HOV lanes, and comfortable amenities such as cushioned and reclining seats. Park and Ride buses are located all over the country, typically funded by local or state governments. Local buses, however, have longer routes and do not have the same level of amenities, sometimes even lacking bus stops or seating at bus stops.60 Thus, it becomes necessary to own a car to reliably travel—a costly expense inaccessible to many living in
55 https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/12/09/congress-replaces-no-child-left-behind-shifts-power-to-states 56 https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/97-97.html 57 https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1172 58 https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/top-stories/gillibrand-announces-keep-our-pact-act-to-support-low- income-students-students-with-disabilities/ 59 https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1172 60 https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2020/08/24/transportation-racism-has-shaped-public-transit-america-inequalities
poverty. Given this inability to reliably travel, minority groups are forced to reside in either cities or suburbs in order to commute to their place of work, both of which have high costs of living, diminishing the option of residence in affordable housing elsewhere. Moreover, by restricting individuals to certain areas with set job availability, this inadequate public transportation also renders higher-paying employment opportunities inaccessible as minority groups are unable to seek jobs elsewhere in less urban areas. Ultimately, this further exacerbates the cycle of poverty in minority communities.
In the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), with a coalition of Democrats, introduced the Economic Justice Act in 2021, which included a USD 10 billion program to tear down highways that run through or are close to neighbourhoods and communities, and rebuild surrounding urban areas.61 The program, called the Restoring Neighborhoods and Strengthening Communities Program or the Highways to Boulevards Initiative, would be available to regions with a high concentration of low income residents or people of colour.62 The act has received substantial public support, primarily from Democrat voters.63 However, this bill was again shut down by the majority-Republican-led 116th Senate—a clear indication of the Republican Party’s desire to preserve the nation's highways.
Possible Solutions
Housing Reform In the United States, the shortage of affordable housing for low-income families disproportionately impacts black Americans. As such, it is necessary to explore solutions that further provide affordable housing—both in the property sales and rental markets. The United States Senate could consider providing incentives to builders and developers to construct more duplexes, triplexes, quads and multi-level homes (such as condominiums) that are not only affordable and stable, but also close to schools and other amenities, such as key transportation and infrastructure.64 To encourage builders and developers, the U.S. government could implement tax credit incentives and adapt building permit requirements to become more efficient. In addition, the issue of unfair lending practices could be addressed by legislation that makes disputes on discriminatory lending practices more accessible, handled
61 https://usa.streetsblog.org/2021/01/11/senate-considering-10b-highway-removal-bill/ 62 Ibid. 63 https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2020/7/16/low-income-and-communities-of-color-prioritized-in- coronavirus-relief 64 https://joebiden.com/housing/
in a timely manner, and holds accountable those institutions that engage in this practice.65 Finally, the issue of unfair property appraisals, where homes in black neighbourhoods are assessed at lower values compared to those of similar majority-white neighbourhoods, can be mitigated by strengthening existing legislation against the use of ethnic and socioeconomic factors in assessing homes.66 Solutions could also include measures that eliminate the use of prior sales comparisons in property assessments, a tool normally used for marketing purposes.67
In order to improve housing opportunities for those living in high-poverty areas, expanding mobility counselling programs could aid struggling families. The Mobility Counseling Program in Chicago helps low-income families who are already recipients of housing assistance with finding homes in areas with a poverty rate under 20%.68 Furthermore, the Housing Opportunity Program in Chicago provides services such as housing search counselling, unit referrals (when a unit—single-family home, apartment, etc.—for sale or rent is referred to potential buyers or renters), financial counselling, and transport to potential new homes to families living in high poverty areas.69 The program receives aid from Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO), which recommends building more affordable family-sized units, strengthening requirements to purchase new homes, creating more incentives for developers to create affordable housing, and ensuring sustainable funding.70 Programs such as the Housing Opportunity Program help lower-income families move to areas with higher quality education and higher overall standards of living.71 Expanding this program on a national or state-wide scale can greatly improve accessibility in finding affordable homes for impoverished families; however, it must be noted that in order to expand such programs to a nationwide scale, massive funding from the federal government is needed. This comes with the issue of adding to the U.S.’s already mounting deficit. It is for the Senate to decide whether or not the benefits of implementing a program like the Housing Opportunity Program outweigh the costs.
65 Ibid. 66 https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2020/09/24/housing-racial-disparities-race-still-determines-home-values- America 67 Ibid. 68 https://www.thecha.org/residents/services/mobility-counseling- program#:~:text=The%20Mobility%20Counseling%20Program%20assists,and%20low%20violent%20crime%20rat es 69 https://www.brookings.edu/research/time-for-justice-tackling-race-inequalities-in-health-and-housing/ 70 https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/doh/provdrs/developers/svcs/aro.html 71 https://www.brookings.edu/research/time-for-justice-tackling-race-inequalities-in-health-and-housing/
Equal Distribution of School Funding
Given that public school funding (K-12) in the United States comes largely from catchment property taxes, it is not a surprise that there are disparities in the education systems in lower- income and higher-income communities. Generally, wealthier communities with higher property valuations receive adequate or even a surplus of funding to run the schools in their area. Conversely, low-income communities, where property values are not nearly as high, have less funding for their schools. Consequently, as low-income communities are often communities of colour, these residents are at a particular disadvantage in education quality.72 Furthermore, using property taxes to fund schools can be risky, as economic downturns and annual fluctuations in property assessments affect the amount of funds raised each year. In Arizona, for example, schools in predominantly white districts receive around USD 19,000 per student in funding, compared to USD 8,000 per student in predominantly non-white districts.73 One solution, if property valuation is to remain the basis for raising school funding, is to set a minimum property valuation in the calculation of education taxes. This will ensure that, in case property values drop dramatically, adequate school funding can still be maintained. The minimum valuation could be tiered, depending on the economic situation of the district in question; thus, the reduction in property value in the more affluent communities will not be as large as in lower and mid income areas. Moreover, increasing the size of school districts could help balance funding between predominantly white schools and predominantly non-white schools. By extending the boundaries of school districts to include a mix of high-, middle-, and low-income areas, the taxes collected in higher-poverty and lower- poverty areas are averaged out, thus resulting in more equal funding for schools.
Increasing federal funding for jump-starters such as the Promise Neighborhoods project, a federal initiative which strives to provide youth with education and family support programs, can improve the daily lives of struggling low-income families.74 A nationwide project, however, needs substantial funding and ongoing coordination between state, local, and the federal governments to operate, thus adding to the deficit of the United States. Although, it should be noted though that the federal government pays for around 10% of K-12 funding nationwide—a rate which has been in place since the increase from 5.7% in 1990-91 and is therefore due for a review.75 76
72 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unequal-opportunity-race-and-education/ 73 https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/696794821/why-white-school-districts-have-so-much-more-money 74 https://www2.ed.gov/programs/promiseneighborhoods/index.html 75 Ibid. 76 https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html
Zoning Reform
Addressing zoning in high-poverty areas can also increase the amount of affordable and available housing. For example, the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, adopted the Minneapolis 2040 plan, which changes zoning laws to allow duplexes, quads, and townhomes in single- family zones.77 In practice, this allows for more available housing in higher-poverty neighbourhoods, as areas that had only allowed for single-family homes can now house multiple families. As such, hundreds or thousands of housing units will be freed up and can be designated as affordable housing. In addition, in 2019, the state of Oregon eliminated single- family zoning for mid to large cities (cities with a population of above 100,000) statewide,78 allowing for more affordable housing to be built in previously-designated single-family zones. These examples show that reforms to zoning can work on a citywide and statewide basis, but the question as to whether this can be achieved on a nationwide scale is open to debate.
Another solution is to adopt inclusionary zoning policies, which require developers to designate a certain amount of new housing units for affordable housing. As an incentive, developers are rewarded with a “density bonus,” which allows developers to construct more units than the area allows for.79 This policy is seen in Montgomery County, Maryland, where developers who build an excess of units must designate 12.5-15% of the units as affordable housing.80 The states most committed to inclusionary zoning policies are New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, and California;81 however, inclusionary zoning policies have only been practiced in municipalities and counties, so it is still to be seen whether these policies can work on a state and nationwide scale.
Transportation Reform Massive funding in the nation’s highways and suburbs and the lack of such funding for highways in urbanized areas create poor transportation conditions for black communities. Firstly, equal funding, accessibility, and amenities must be considered for both local buses and “Park and Ride buses.” Park and Ride buses have around 60% white occupancy, whereas local buses have around 60% Black occupancy;82 the fare on Park and Ride buses is also much higher than that of local buses, demonstrating why most low-income residents use the local bus system. Making these fares and amenities equal is the first step to a reliable and equitable
77 https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article243494126.html 78 https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/12/most-livable-and-affordable-mid-sized-cities-of- 2019.html#:~:text=To%20be%20deemed%20%22mid%2Dsized,226%20places%20made%20the%20list. 79 https://tcf.org/content/report/attacking-black-white-opportunity-gap-comes-residential-segregation/?agreed=1 80 Ibid. 81 Ibid. 82 Ibid.
public transportation system. Additionally, ensuring equal funding for highway construction and maintenance in urban and less urban areas will directly improve the transportation challenges that lower-income citizens and many African-Americans disproportionately face. Finally, most states’ transportation development is currently based on “choice” versus “dependent” ridership.83 Choice riders are typically higher-income individuals, whereas dependent riders typically reside in high-poverty, high-density areas. Thus, this method of categorization places many black communities in the “dependent” rider category. Choice riders are generally provided with better service, a more comfortable experience, and newer public transportation vehicles, while dependent riders tend to be given transportation infrastructure of variable condition.84 Discontinuing this manner of transportation development will be a step towards equitable public transportation in African-American communities.
Bloc Positions
Keep in mind that these are generalized opinions of each caucus. To identify individual Senator’s opinions on each issue, delegates are encouraged to research public statements made by Senators, as well as past actions such as voting records.
Republican Senatorial Caucus
Housing
The Republican Party's platform in 2021 carries over the platform from the 2016 Republican Convention.85 The party’s platform espouses declining homeownership and therefore supports incentives for homeownership; however, because the party does not have a current platform, their stance does not incorporate adverse impacts on housing brought on by COVID-19, nor does it address inequities in the housing experience of low-income and black Americans.86 Their platform reinforces fiscal responsibility in both lenders and borrowers in order to avoid abuses that could lead to a housing collapse and federal bailouts as was
83 Ibid. 84 Ibid. 85 https://nlihc.org/resource/democratic-party-and-republican-party-platforms-address-affordable-housing 86 Ibid.
experienced in 2008.87 In line with the party's policies of small government, the party promotes zoning to remain under local or state control.88 Throughout his term, former president Donald J. Trump (R) continuously attacked fair housing regulations. In the last year of his term, HUD radically changed a fair housing regulation that promotes fair housing, thereby promoting discrimination for coloured people when it comes to housing policies and practices.89 The former President does not have a comprehensive policy plan to address racial inequity and has repeatedly questioned whether systemic racism in the U.S. even exists.90 With the majority of Republican senators being aligned with Trump's political views, and in the absence of any strong opposition from Republican senators to the Trump platform, one can assume that Trump's stance on housing is supported by a majority of Republican Senators.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is a moderate Republican with right leaning views who served as Senate Majority Leader from January 2015 to January 2021. Like the rest of the country, the state that Mitch McConnell represents—Kentucky—experiences a housing shortage. Although many constituents of Kentucky urged Sen. McConnell to support the YIMBY Act in the Senate, the bill was not passed and has since lapsed.91 As Sen. McConnell is the leader of the Republican Caucus in the Senate, other Republican Senators would most likely follow the sentiments that Sen. McConnell expresses.
Education
The Republican party does not believe that more funding is the answer to improving the educational system in the U.S., or that more money means better education. In fact, they hint that the current high levels of spending in the K-12 program does not equate to the overall performance levels of students.92 Instead of higher education budgets, they believe in experiential learnings from teachers, families and other persons of influence.93 Their platform does not address systemic racism in education, whether in funding, accessibility or in opportunity. They support tuition tax credits, vouchers for private education and Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).94
87 Ibid. 88 Ibid. 89 https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/07/31/racial-bias-housing-discrimination-mayor-martin-j-walsh 90 https://www.npr.org/2020/10/16/916741084/trumps-and-biden-s-plans-for-racial-equality 91 https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr4351 92 https://inservice.ascd.org/what-the-democrats-and-republicans-stand-for-on-education-excerpts-from-party- platforms/ 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid.
For example, the NCLB passed with a bipartisan vote in 2001 under the George W. Bush (R) administration and was replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015, also on a bipartisan basis.95 Republicans supported the NCLB in 2001 even if federal influence extended over local schools.96 In 2015, the ESSA returned education control back to individual states, an action which is more in line with the Republican Party’s limited government stance.
Zoning
The Republican Party will generally be against any zoning reforms and restrictions. Former President Donald J. Trump has stated that eliminating single-family zones in places such as Minneapolis and Oregon are destroying the value of houses and communities that have already been built.97 He further added by saying that zoning reform will destroy the suburbs.98 Many Republicans have not made zoning reform a prioritized issue, but will most likely follow Trump’s rhetoric and reject any form of zoning restrictions and continue to support the maintenance of single family zones.
For example, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act in 2017, which would prohibit federal funding from being used to enforce the HUD’s AFFH.99 It must be noted, however, that there is growing consensus that zoning—exclusionary zoning in particular—greatly contributes to the housing crisis in low income areas.100
Transportation
The Republican Party is decisively against public transit, especially those within urban cities, believing that mass transit in urban areas is up to local governments instead of the federal government.101 They would also end all federal funding for high-speed rail, ferries, bike-share programs, sidewalks, recreational trails, landscaping, and historical renovations.102 Instead, the Republican Caucus pushes for large-scale investments in the nation’s highway infrastructure. This is because the Republican Party holds many of its key supporters in the suburbs of the
95 https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/12/09/congress-replaces-no-child-left-behind-shifts-power-to-states 96 Ibid. 97 https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2020/7/16/partisan-battle-lines-on-housing-are-clear 98 Ibid. 99 https://www.lee.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/1/lee-introduces-local-zoning-decisions-protection-act 100 https://www.city-journal.org/republican-yimby-movement 101 https://grist.org/election-2016/the-republican-party-makes-its-hatred-of-mass-transit-official/ 102 Ibid.
United States, in counties and municipalities with a majority-white population, whereas the Democrats have most of its supporters in urbanized cities with large black populations.103 For example, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) cosponsored the Transportation Empowerment Act in 2018, which imposes a funding limitation on transportation programs.104 At the same time, however, the act also provides funding for core highway programs such as the federal-aid highway program and the highway research and development program.105 This act would see complete support from the Republican Party, as it fully aligns with their wishes of massive highway funding and a decrease in urban public transportation funding.
Democratic Senatorial Caucus
Housing
Those in the Democratic Senatorial Caucus believe that the U.S. is in the middle of an affordable housing crisis. With the White House now in Democratic control, the party's platform includes substantial investment in the construction of affordable and stable housing for all Americans. They support rent subsidies through the Housing Choice Voucher Program and public housing.106 Their platform also addresses the impact of COVID-19 on housing, evictions, and the systemic racism in housing policies that have been especially highlighted by the pandemic.107 Furthermore, the Democratic platform includes widening accessibility to housing as it relates to renting and home ownership, especially for minority groups and low-income families. This stance is supported by these measures: an end to unfair lending practices that discriminate against homeownership or home improvement to minority groups, providing financial assistance for rent and home mortgages, increasing housing supply that will lower housing costs, resulting in more affordable homes for low- income families, and addressing homelessness.108
103 https://usa.streetsblog.org/2011/01/25/republican-opposition-to-transit-a-geographic-explanation/ 104 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3190?s=1&r=9 105 Ibid. 106 https://nlihc.org/resource/democratic-party-and-republican-party-platforms-address-affordable-housing 107 Ibid. 108 https://joebiden.com/housing/
Education
The Democratic Party recognizes the disparity in school funding, totalling about USD 23 billion, between predominantly white, affluent districts compared to non-white districts.109 They propose tripling Title I funding, the largest federally-funded educational program that provides supplemental funds to school districts to assist schools and educational goals in the lowest income districts.110 Furthermore, they want to work with and provide incentives to states to implement school funding that will equalize the level of education in low-income communities.111 They also are looking to increase funding for English schools and to provide full funding to those with disabilities.112
The Democratic platform supports funding students of colour and those from low income situations, and hopes to remove the hurdles that these students encounter with enrollment and reaching their goals.113 They want to prioritize STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) and to promote environmental education and will roll back cuts to the National Environmental Education Act made by the Trump administration.114 Democrats believe that the education of American children should prepare them with life skills that they need to meet the challenges of the 21st century, like leadership, decision making and critical/creative ways of thinking.
Zoning
The Democratic Party would most likely be in favour of sweeping zoning reforms across the country, supporting policies such as reducing single-family zones, especially in large urban areas—as was done in Oregon. President Joseph R. Biden (D) has outlined several goals to incentivize states to reform exclusionary zoning laws, including requiring states that receive grants from the federal government to develop a strategy for inclusionary zoning.115 Additionally, President Biden stated that he would direct the HUD and the Department of Transportation to amend grant programs by adding zoning reform as an entry requirement to qualify.116 Those who advocate for zoning reform have championed the idea of tying grant
109 https://inservice.ascd.org/what-the-democrats-and-republicans-stand-for-on-education-excerpts-from-party- platforms/ 110 Ibid. 111 Ibid. 112 Ibid. 113 https://inservice.ascd.org/what-the-democrats-and-republicans-stand-for-on-education-excerpts-from-party- platforms/ 114 Ibid. 115 https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/biden-100-days-housing-plan/ 116 Ibid.
money to liberal policies. For example, if a local government would refuse to allow multi- family homes to replace single-family homes, the grant would be taken away.117 Democrats would most likely support the President in pushing for the ratification of a bill that would include these goals.
Transportation
The Democratic Party is in favour of massive investments in public transit and infrastructure in urban cities. President Joseph R. Biden has pledged that his administration would provide people living in municipalities of over 100,000 people with accessible and affordable transportation by 2030.118 In addition, he aims to allocate federal investments with strong protections to help cities and towns install rail networks and improve existing infrastructure, transit, and bus lines.119 Senate Democrats would look to fund investments in local and regional transportation strategies to prevent a shortage of accessible and affordable transportation options in urban and high-poverty areas.120 Democrats, unlike the Republicans, would look to transfer funds from highway projects to invest in urban infrastructure and transportation.
Independent/Minority Party Senators
Other than the Democratic and Republican parties, there are currently only two Independent Senators, both of whom caucus with the Democaratic Party. Of the two, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) offers a more aggressive view on housing, education, zoning and transportation. These include ambitious funding to increase affordable housing availability, federal housing assistance, rent control, rent caps, fair zoning and tenant protection. They promote inclusionary zoning that would make housing more affordable and accessible to all and believe that education should be provided to all Americans and that there should be equitable funding for schools. Again, they support funding for school infrastructure programs and pay increases for educators. Transportation should be affordable, fast and efficient; improvements to transportation infrastructure should therefore include investments in public mass transportation systems that link communities to schools, hospitals and other vital community services. Centrist Senators
117 https://citymonitor.ai/government/what-can-the-biden-administration-do-to-reform-zoning 118 https://joebiden.com/racial-economic-equity/ 119 Ibid. 120 Ibid.
Some Senators, though aligning themselves with one of the two political parties, tend to reach across the aisle when it comes to particular issues. These centrist senators play a crucial role in the 117th Senate that has a 50-50 split with only the Vice President able to cast a tie-breaking vote. The very slim majority held by the Democratic Party can be broken when one of its centrist senators chooses not to vote with the rest of the party. A good example of this is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a conservative Democrat whose vote may very well be the deciding factor on legislation that supports President Biden's initiatives. In 2018, Sen. Manchin voted more frequently for Trump-backed legislations, rather than against them.121 On the Republican side, Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), though a devout conservative, is known to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. He has joined many bipartisan bills, the eighth most out of all Senators, and has co-sponsored various bipartisan bills, the tenth most among all Republicans. If a party wishes to sway any Senator to their side of the aisle, these would be the Senators to target.
Discussion Questions
1. How can the Senate address the infrastructure issue on the state-level while being mindful of reducing federal government overreach?
2. How can the Senate amend current legislation with implications in minority community infrastructure to address the issue instead of immediately implementing new programs?
3. What areas of clash can be compromised on by the various blocs, which still achieve desired racial justice?
4. Which of the various forms of public infrastructure such as education, housing, transportation, etc. should the Senate prioritize in addressing?
5. What existing executive mechanisms in the federal government such as the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, and Health and Human Services, etc. can the Senate use to address the infrastructure issue?
121 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/11/16/who-will-hold-the-most-power-in-the-next-senate/
6. How should the Senate plan to establish sustainable, long-term solutions to the infrastructure issue with executive actors such as agencies, departments, or independent regulatory agencies with quasi-legislative powers?
7. Should infrastructure development efforts be focused equally across the nation or in designated states, localities, and communities based on specific variables?
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