“The state’s creation of anti-poverty programs, including tax credits and stimulus packages, while allowing the collections program to continue is like attempting to “plug a bleed on one end while another end is still an open wound,” said Courtney McKinney, spokesperson for the Western Center on Law & Poverty.”
New California law expands tax credit for immigrants
“Things like the earned income tax credit put real money in people’s pocket,” said Mike Herald, director of policy advoasscacy at the Western Center on Law and Poverty.”
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Western Center’s 2019 Budget & Legislative Victories
16 Western Center bills were signed by Governor Gavin Newsom this year, marking huge wins for California. Of note are two renter protection bills, AB 1482, now one of the nation’s most expansive anti-rent gouging and just cause for eviction laws, and SB 329, which prohibits discrimination against housing voucher holders.
For health care, SB 464 will require perinatal health providers to undergo implicit bias training to address the maternal mortality rate for black women in California, which is 4-5 times higher than it is for white women. For financial security, SB 616 outlaws the ability of debt collectors to drain people’s bank accounts, leaving them without funds for necessary day-to-day expenses. These legislative victories are in addition to big wins achieved in the state budget earlier this year.
See the full suite of Western Center’s 2019 budget and legislative victories below!
