To combat that, New York created its own measure - called the NYCgov Poverty Measure - but “it still calculates public assistance as income,” which skews the economic picture, says the report The RJC advocated for this change, it said, because it concluded that current poverty measures are not accurate for New York City’s needs or policy decisions.Ī commonly used federal poverty measure developed decades ago does not take regional costs into consideration, it said. This measure would mandate that the city government use a new method to calculate the “true cost of living” in the city without taking into account public, private or informal assistance a person or household may receive. “We heard that without a clear focus on racial equity, we cannot get to our goal of a city where race is no longer determinative of economic, political, social, or psychological outcomes,” the report says. In its report, the RJC said it heard input from “dozens of speakers” as it took public testimony “about the need for a centralized body within city government tasked with ensuring that the city intentionally works toward undoing the legacy of structural racism.” That commission would identify and propose priorities for racial equity planning, and review the racial equity plans for each city agency. This measure would bring three new requirements to the city charter: mandating that all city agencies create “racial equity plans” every two years, establishing a new Office of Racial Equity to coordinate racial equity planning across city government and creating a Commission on Racial Equity. Proposal 3: Racial Equity Plans and Office “The first step towards accountability and healing is telling the truth,” the commission wrote. In the RJC’s final report, it recommended a preamble that “acknowledges and speaks to historical wrongs” in order to “reconstruct, revise and reimagine our city’s foundations, structures, institutions, and laws to promote justice and equity for all New Yorkers.” The mayor convened the RJC in 2021 following the widespread protests of systemic racism and police violence in 2020. The proposal, like proposals three and four, was born from former mayor Bill de Blasio’s Racial Justice Commission. This measure would create a mission statement of sorts for New York’s government by adding a preamble to the city charter that includes a statement of “values and vision,” the ballot proposal says, that aims to create a “just and equitable city for all.” Proposal 2: Statement of Values for City Government The state legislature approved the measure as part of this year’s budget package, sending it to voters as a November ballot proposal. Kathy Hochul revived the concept last fall, adding another $1.2 billion to the total. It might have gone to voters that year, but was ultimately cut from the state government priority list due to overlapping financial concerns as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded. The idea for the Bond Act has been around for several years, but first took form when then-governor Andrew Cuomo introduced it in his 2020 State of the State address as a $3 billion bond issuance. This would be the first environmental bond act enacted for 26 years in New York, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. But we know that a lot more is going to be needed,” Moran said. The state will get a boost from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. “We would get a boost should voters approve this. That includes $250 million for improving stormwater systems, $200 million for wastewater infrastructure, $500 million for zero-emissions school buses and $1.5 billion for climate mitigation such as wetland protection and renewable energy projects.Įlizabeth Moran, an Albany-based policy advocate at EarthJustice, said the bond act is a good start, but the state will “need to invest far more when it comes to addressing the climate crisis.” This proposal would allow New York State to borrow $4.2 billion through a bond issuance for specific environment-related projects and policy efforts. Members and sponsors make THE CITY possible.
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