Dear friends,
The United States has thrown its support behind efforts to waive the international property protections of coronavirus vaccines for as long as the pandemic continues. This is a reversal; last year, the US helped block a similar proposal in the World Trade Organization.
Common sense public health policy is something we should be able to rely on, but of course, we are surprised every time. Biden reopened enrollment in the healthcare.gov marketplace shortly after his inauguration. There have been 940,000 new enrollments in the 36 states that use the national website (because 14 states and DC do not!?). This has brought premiums down for participants and made health care more accessible during the pandemic. You can easily see why the last administration refused to do it.
The looming dangers of Trumpism at the national level make state action imperative. We can pass single-payer health care in NYS if we keep the pressure on.
The New York Health Act [A6058/S5474] will provide comprehensive, universal health coverage — including long-term care — for every resident of New York.
Contact your NYS Senator and Assembly rep with this ready-made action to get the New York Health Act passed.
When NYS passed the budget, legislators created a fund for excluded workers who have not been able to partake of federal unemployment or relief benefits. But thousands of undocumented New Yorkers are unable to access funds because they lack tax identification numbers.
One of the few ways undocumented immigrants can file taxes in a verifiable manner is by using so-called Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers — and the IRS is currently taking upward of 17 weeks to process applications for ITINs due to a nationwide backlog of more than 74,000 claims, according to data provided by Schumer’s office.
That’s precious time wasted for the roughly 4,000 pending ITIN applicants in New York who are seeking to obtain the identifications so they can report taxes for 2020 and apply for benefits from the $2.1 billion fund, the lawmakers said.
Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa joined US Senator Schumer in calling on Charles Rettig, the IRS Commissioner to
allocate additional funding and staff to expedite ITIN processing, extend opening hours at the agency’s Taxpayer Assistance Centers and set up satellite offices in New York City to streamline the ITIN application process.
Call IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig at 800-829-1040 to urge him to speed up the processing of ITIN applications so that excluded workers can access state aid.
Next week is the first Democratic mayoral debate. The City, which is co-hosting the debate with NY1, is soliciting questions for the candidates.
Use this form to submit a question by the end of the day (today!) for the mayoral debate.
If you need another reason not to vote for an ‘empty vessel’, read this.
Last night, Teens Take Charge held a speak-out about discrimination in the admissions policies of NYC’s specialized high schools. The event was held in response to the 9 percent of this year’s admissions offers that were extended to Black and Latinx students. I missed the event, unfortunately. The issue reflects larger problems of segregation and discrimination in the public schools. It also requires a change to current NYS law, which requires that the SHSAT is used as the sole criterion for admissions to the three largest specialized high schools.
Call on your state senator to support S3087, which would give the city control over admissions policies for all specialized high schools.
We're not letting up on ending fracking in NYS. Please write your letter today:
Please write to the governor and energy regulators to reject fracked gas and demand a new plan. This is a ready-made action.
Have a great weekend!
with love,
L