Promoting Economic Mobility Among Low and Moderate Income Individuals and Families
Adopted at the 88th Annual Meeting in 2020
WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors is committed to closing America's rapidly growing wealth gap, and particularly addressing racial wealth disparities; and
WHEREAS, In some instances the impact of fines and fees may be excessive or disproportionately fall upon low and moderate-income individuals and families, impacting their ability to advance economically; and
WHEREAS, In some instances the suspension of driver's licenses is used as a penalty for failure to pay certain fines and fees imposed at the State or local level, thereby inhibiting individuals the ability to drive to work and provide transportation for their families; and
WHEREAS, As the COVID-19 Pandemic continues, low-income Americans will be particularly impacted financially. According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Board, thirty-nine percent of people working in February, 2020 - with a household income below $40,000 - reported a job loss in March due to COVID-19; with no end to the COVID-19 Pandemic in sight, low and moderate-income families require public programming that financially supports them and removes barriers to economic mobility; and
WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors supports proactive measures to promote economic mobility including: the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, as well as increased flexibility in terms of who qualifies; the establishment of a national child savings account matching program or "baby bonds" to build financial wealth for low and moderate-income families; additional support for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) and minority-owned businesses, expanded homeownership assistance programs, and expanded student loan forgiveness and federal grant programs for higher education; and
WHEREAS, Over the last four decades, key city programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant program, the HOME Block program, the Community Services Block Grant program, and workforce development programs have been significantly reduced and not grown by inflation-adjusted dollars, with CDBG alone having been underfunded a cumulative $133 billion, according to IHS and The United States Conference of Mayors' Council on Metro Economies and the New American City; and
WHEREAS, Recent tax laws passed by Congress have disproportionately benefited high-income individuals, and as such resulted in the disinvestment in programs benefiting low and moderate income neighborhoods, leading to less opportunity for economic mobility for many residents within our cities,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the President and Congress to "fully fund" federal urban domestic programs (defined as inflation adjusted dollars over the last several decades) that assist low and moderate income communities which have suffered decades-long disinvestment, by creating a more fair and progressive federal tax system that generates sufficient resources for such programs as opposed to tax expenditures that favor the wealthy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors encourages cities to review their fines and fees to assess their impact on low and moderate-income individuals and families, and work with appropriate state and local authorities to restore drivers licenses, where appropriate, to individuals in order to encourage entry into the job market.