Dear ,

The General Assembly reconvened today (June 1) to approve the Conference Committee budget. I am grateful to the conferees for their tireless work in developing a budget. 

Good news: The biennium (two-year) budget has a good deal more money for affordable housing. This additional money is in two forms. The budget includes $150 million for the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, which is an additional $40 million increase over the past allocation. It also increases the annual cap on housing tax credits from $15 million to $60 million. Thus, over the next two years, there could be $120 million in tax credits spent on building affordable housing. Tax credits are used by developers to get more money for building affordable housing. So even though the General Assembly did not allocate the full amount we had hoped for the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, they allocated a great deal more than anticipated in the Housing Tax Credits, which is good for expanding affordable housing. In addition, language was included to create a workgroup for the Virginia Housing Stability Fund (a rental assistance program). More is needed for affordable housing, but this budget is an important good start.

More budget good news – Here are other budget items we are pleased with: 

• Partially refundable EITC. The federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most direct ways to support low-income working families. Some families have such low incomes that a tax credit doesn’t help them unless the credit is “refundable,” meaning they get it even though they don’t owe taxes. The decision to make the credit partially refundable will put more than $300 million dollars into the hands of families with low incomes. Although reducing the sales tax on food and raising the standard deduction help all families with tax burdens, the EITC is the most targeted assistance to working families with low incomes. Special thanks to The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis for its leadership on this issue.  
  
  
• Medicaid reimbursement rates. The budget includes increases in Medicaid reimbursement rates for home and community-based services, dental services, developmental disability waiver services, personal care services, and other services. Increasing these rates will help ensure that there are adequate providers for those eligible for Medicaid.  
  
  
• Behavioral/mental health. The budget allocates significant amounts of money to improve behavioral and mental health services, including money to help people who are incarcerated and recently released from incarceration.  
  
  
• TANF benefits. Benefits and income eligibility for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) were increased by 5 percent.  
  
  
• Resettlement. $2 million was allocated to support resettlement agencies in Virginia that have been struggling to help resettle refugees.  
  
  
• Prison staff salaries. As we’ve been advocating reducing the use of solitary confinement, the issue of the shortage of correctional officers, due in large part to low pay and difficult working conditions, has been raised repeatedly. We support increasing staff salaries and limiting the use of solitary confinement. We also believe that we must find ways to divert people with drug addictions and mental health challenges to more appropriate facilities, thus reducing Virginia’s mass incarceration.   

 
Religious accommodations bill signed into law. Delegate Shin’s bill, HB 1063, was signed into law by the Governor without any of the proposed amendments that we were concerned about. The bill clarifies that in terms of religious discrimination, the term “'religion' includes any outward expression of religious faith, including adherence to religious dressing and grooming practices and the carrying or display of religious items or symbols.”  

This last week has been another tragic moment for the nation as we mourn the deaths of the students and teachers in Uvalde, Texas. My sons are grown, so I did not have to talk with them about this tragedy, but I know many parents of school-aged children and teachers who struggled to discern what to say. Too many Americans pride themselves on “American exceptionalism.” Unfortunately, we are exceptional in the frequency of mass shootings. And our polarization on how to address the crisis of mass shootings seems exceptional, as well. I wish there were simple solutions that we could all readily agree to that could stop these mass shootings. I give thanks for the religious leaders and community leaders, like Lori Haas, who’ve provided leadership challenging this crisis.  

Prayerfully, 

Kim Bobo 
Executive Director 

Please join us virtually next Tuesday for the Zoom event, "Sowing Seeds of Justice as We Build the Beloved Community," hosted by our James River Chapter. 

We will be joined by special guest speakers including Delegate Amanda Batten (96th district), VICPP Executive Director Kim Bobo, and Mike Martin, who is the author of “Beating Guns” and founder of RAWtools, Inc. (RAWtools, Inc. turns guns into garden tools, and teaches conflict resolution methods that use relationship, dialogue, and alternative means of justice as opposed to violence). We look forward to e-seeing you! Click the button below to register! 

What and when are VICPP's Living Wage Canvass Days? How can one host a canvass event? What is statewide certification and how does one get it? How can one partner up with local organizations?

In case you missed our recent info session, you can find answers to the above questions and more by watching a video on our YouTube channel. Click the graphic above or CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

Then click the button below or CLICK HERE TO REGISTER to be a part of our Living Wage Canvass Days!

A living wage is the wage needed for an individual or family to thrive and is inclusive of necessary costs like transportation, food, and health care. You can read more about living wages on our website: livingwagevirginia.org

On June 25 and July 30, Virginia Living Wage chapters will be hosting Canvass Days encouraging local businesses to join the Living Wage program. Join one of our four teams in Richmond, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg-Rockingham, or Northern Virginia, or convene a new team to participate in the work Statewide. (Click the underlined city names in blue font in the previous sentence to read more about the Living Wage certification programs in those particular areas.)  

All materials will be provided. We especially encourage folks to join with a group or bring a friend. Click the button below to register for the June 25 Canvass Day (which takes place from 10 am to 1 pm) and more information will be provided to you closer to the event day! 

VICPP Executive Director, Kim Bobo, quoted in:

A look at some of the budget proposals lawmakers will take up next week

Radio IQ/WVTF/NPR, May 27, 2022

By Michael Pope

Article Excerpt:

"Housing advocates were pushing for a $300 million investment in the Affordable Housing Trust fund, and the proposed deal has half of that. But Kim Bobo at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy says the proposal also has an incentive for developers to build more affordable housing.

"'They've added $140 million in low-income housing tax credits that will match some of the federal low-income housing tax credits,' Bobo says."

Buffalo's Poet Laureate Calls for Change, Says #BuffaloStrong needs to be changed to #BuffaloHonest

NPR, May 17, 2022

By Raquel Maria Dillon

Excerpt:

"'What we’re not going to do, is pretend like Buffalo New York is not one of the most racially segregated cities in the entire country. The city was designed this way and no one did anything to protect us from it….' [Jillian Hanesworth's Twitter]"

"'We don't need right now to be told that we're strong. We need to be told that we're right,' [Hanesworth] said, explaining that the hashtag doesn't sit right with many Black people in Buffalo.

"'Black people in this country have lived through so much. So many people hate us just because we exist and we experience that at different levels on a daily basis. So we're strong. We know that,' she said. 'My main objective right now is to validate emotions. This is real. We can't let society gaslight us into thinking that there's no racism. People need that right now.'"

How Systemic Racism Shaped George Floyd's Life -- New George Floyd biography paints a picture of being a Black man in America

NPR Radio, May 18, 2022

Dave Davies interviews authors Robert Samuels & Tolu Olorunnipa

Excerpt:

"[Author Robert Samuels:] "We wanted readers to understand that the battle for George Floyd to breathe in America started long before he ever even encountered Derek Chauvin...

"[So] we talked to everyone we could possibly talk to ... to get a sense of not just who George Floyd was, but all of the systems that he interacted with and how the legacy of institutional racism shaped his life and, in a lot of cases, hindered that ambition, [and to] get a sense of who we are as a society. And we can begin to explore the questions about what race and racism can not just do to a person, but to all of those folks who are moved and had questions about George Floyd after he died."