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< PreviousFinally, the administration’s new income-driven repayment SAVE plan, launched after the Supreme Court’s disappointing decision, is expected to result in further relief. SAVE “calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size—not their loan balance—and forgives remaining balances after a certain number of years.” 90 Under SAVE, monthly payments for undergraduate loans are capped at 5% of discretionary income, and low-income borrowers will not have to make any payments, allowing them to focus on basic necessities. The Department estimates that 1 million borrowers will qualify for a zero monthly payment, and that the average Black borrower will see their payments cut in half. Free Pre-K and Community College President Biden proposed two other policies that would be transformative for Black Americans and the broader population: universal free pre-K and free community college. His pre-K proposal applied to all three- and four-year-olds. It would have benefited an estimated 5 million children and saved families an average of $13,000. His free college program would have covered two years of community college and benefited 5.5 million students. 91 Both programs fell away during congressional negotiations over his Build Back Better agenda. Nonetheless, President Biden has continued to seek significant funding for free pre-K and community college in his annual budget requests. Healthcare The Biden Administration brought Black and White COVID-19 vaccination rates to parity. It expanded health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), cutting the Black uninsured rate to a low of 9.9%, and locked in premium subsidies through 2025. The President secured historic measures to cut healthcare costs in the Inflation Reduction Act: limiting the price of insulin to $35/ month under Medicare, capping seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions at $2,000/year, winning Medicare the authority to negotiate drug prices with big pharmaceutical companies, and requiring companies that raises their drug prices faster than inflation to pay Medicare a rebate. 90 The White House, FACT SHEET: The Biden-Harris Administration Launches the SAVE Plan, the Most Affordable Student Loan Repayment Plan Ever to Lower Monthly Payments for Millions of Borrowers (Aug. 22, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/08/22/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-administration-launches-the-save-plan-the-most- affordable-student-loan-repayment-plan-ever-to-lower-monthly-payments-for-millions-of-borrowers/. 91 The White House, FACT SHEET: The American Families Plan (Apr. 28, 2021), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families- plan. 92 Darlene Superville, Biden Promotes Milestone of 300M Vaccine Shots in 150 Days, Associated Press (June 18, 2021), https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-ga-state-wire-coronavirus- pandemic-health-government-and-politics-c42a17452379abbb1b150e28b0adb2cb. 93 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Over 20 Million Selected Affordable Health Coverage in ACA Marketplace Since Start of Open Enrollment Period, a Record High (Jan. 10, 2024), https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/under-biden-harris-administration-over-20-million-selected-affordable-health-coverage-aca. 94 Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Health Policy, National Uninsured Rate Remained Unchanged in the Second Quarter of 2023 (Nov. 2023), https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/ default/files/documents/5129db54d1a5dbe394fa8632ead5299f/nhis-q2-2023-data-point.pdf (Black insured rate at 9.9%); Latoya Hill, Samantha Artiga & Anthony Damico, Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity, 2010-2022, KFF (Jan. 11, 2024), https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/health-coverage-by-race-and-ethnicity. Insurance rates focus on nonelderly people because health insurance is nearly universal over age 65 due to Medicare. 95 Peterson Foundation, The Share of Americans Without Health Insurance in 2022 Matched a Record Low (Nov. 9, 2023), https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/11/the-share-of-americans-without- health-insurance-in-2022-matched-a-record-low. 96 Andrew Sprung, ARP Puts More ‘Affordable’ in the Affordable Care Act, Healthinsurance.org (June 9, 2021), https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/the-arp-puts-more-affordable-in-the- affordable-care-act/. 97 The White House, FACT SHEET: How the Inflation Reduction Act Helps Black Communities (Aug. 16, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/16/fact- sheet-how-the-inflation-reduction-act-helps-black-communities. 98 The White House, Advancing Equity through the American Rescue Plan 247 (May 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ADVANCING-EQUITY-THROUGH-THE- AMERICAN-RESCUE-PLAN.pdf. COVID-19 Pandemic In January 2021, President Biden established a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. He secured $160 billion for vaccines, tests, personal protective equipment, and support for the public health workforce to fight the coronavirus emergency at the scale it required. Biden launched an unprecedented outreach effort to get the American public vaccinated, with equity at its core. In May 2021, people of color were disproportionately unvaccinated. Vaccination rates were 56% for Black Americans, 57% for Latinos, and 65% for White Americans. The administration made the vaccine available for free in convenient locations across the country, hitting 300 vaccinations in 150 days. 92 It dedicated resources to community vaccination centers and Community Health Centers, which served people of color at higher rates. By December 2022, vaccination rates had reached 90% for Black Americans, 88% for Latinos, and 86% for White Americans. Healthcare Coverage President Biden has protected and expanded Obamacare. A record more than 20 million people signed up for coverage through the ACA’s marketplace in the most recent enrollment period, including 3.7 million people new to the marketplace. 93 Black enrollment increased by 59%, or about 400,000 people, from 2020 to 2022. The insured rate for nonelderly Black people is now above 90%. 94 The overall uninsured rate recently hit a low of 7.9%. 95 This progress in health insurance coverage resulted from deliberate policy choices. The American Rescue Plan increased tax credits for people buying health insurance through the marketplace, reducing or zeroing out their premiums. 96 The White House calculates that “more than three quarters of uninsured Black Americans had access to a plan with a monthly premium of $50 or less and about two thirds could find a plan for $0-premium plan in 2021.” 97 The Inflation Reduction Act locked in these lower premiums through 2025, and President Biden has called on Congress to make them permanent. The administration also opened special enrollment periods, funded organizations to double the number of navigators who help people enroll, and worked with more than 1,000 local organizations to spread the word. 98 In addition, South Dakota and NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 10 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris AdministrationNorth Carolina both passed Medicaid expansion under the ACA during Biden’s presidency, leaving only 10 states that have not adopted the expanded coverage. 99 Prescription Drug Costs and Other Expenses In signing the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden capped the cost of insulin at $35/month—creating major savings for people with diabetes, which disproportionately affects Black Americans. This change applies only to those on Medicare, because Senate Republicans blocked an identical requirement that would have applied to the private market. 100 However, the administration has worked with several companies to announce that they are voluntarily capping the out-of-pocket price for insulin. 101 The IRA also capped the total amount that seniors will have to pay for prescription drugs at the pharmacy at $2,000 per year. Moreover, it empowered Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time and required drug manufacturers to pay Medicare a rebate whenever they raise prices faster than inflation. The administration is actively negotiating prices over the first 10 drugs under Medicare, 102 and it has identified 48 drugs whose manufacturers will have to pay rebates for raising prices too fast. 103 In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized a rule that made hearing aids available over the counter, saving buyers as much as $3,000 per pair. 104 The administration is also implementing the No Surprises Act to protect patients from being charged high out-of-network costs without warning. 105 Home and Community-Based Services Medicaid covers home and community-based services (HCBS) like home health care, coordination of medical services, meal delivery, and other support for elderly people and people with disabilities. Over 7 million people receive such services. The American Rescue Plan provided a historic $37 billion for HCBS in all 50 states. 106 President Biden proposed $150 billion in additional funding as part of his Build Back Better package; it passed the House, but did not 99 Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions: Interactive Map, KFF (Feb. 7, 2024), https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions- interactive-map. 100 Melissa Quinn, Senate Republicans Block $35 Cap on Price of Insulin from Democratic Bill, CBS News (Aug. 8, 2022), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/insulin-price-cap-senate-republicans- block-inflation-reduction-act. 101 Tami Luhby, More Americans Can Now Get Insulin for $35, CNN (Jan. 2, 2024) https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/01/politics/insulin-price-cap/index.html. 102 HHS, Biden-Harris Administration to Make First Offer for Drug Price Negotiation Program, Launches New Resource Hub to Help People Access Lower-Cost Drugs (Feb. 1, 2024), https://www. hhs.gov/about/news/2024/02/01/biden-harris-administration-make-first-offer-drug-price-negotiation-program-launches-new-resource-hub-help-people-access-lower-cost-drugs.html. 103 HHS, CMS Releases Revised Guidance for Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program (Dec. 14, 2023), https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-releases-revised- guidance-medicare-prescription-drug-inflation-rebate-program. 104 FDA, OTC Hearing Aids: What You Should Know, https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/hearing-aids/otc-hearing-aids-what-you-should-know. 105 HHS, Biden-Harris Administration Advances Efforts to Improve the Surprise Billing Payment Dispute Process (Oct. 27, 2023), https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/10/27/biden-harris- administration-advances-efforts-improve-surprise-billing-payment-dispute-process.html. 106 The White House, FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris Announces that American Rescue Plan Investments in Home and Community-Based Care Services for Millions of Seniors and Americans with Disabilities Reach About $37 Billion Across All 50 States (Dec. 11, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/12/11/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris- announces-that-american-rescue-plan-investments-in-home-and-community-based-care-services-for-millions-of-seniors-and-americans-with-disabilities-reach-about-37/. 107 Chanee D. Fabius, Racial Disparities in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Service Utilization and Expenditures Among Persons with Multiple Sclerosis, 18 BMC Health Serv Res. 773 (2018), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6186063. 108 CMS, CMS Releases First-Ever Home- and Community-Based Services Quality Measure Set (July 21, 2022), https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-releases-first-ever-home-and- community-based-services-quality-measure-set. 109 Jeff Diament & Besheer Mohamed, Pew Research Center, What the Data Says About Abortion in the U.S. (Jan. 11, 2023), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/11/what-the- data-says-about-abortion-in-the-u-s-2. 110 Michele W. Berger, Overturning Roe Disproportionately Burdens Marginalized Groups, Penn Today (June 30, 2022), https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/overturning-Roe-abortion-bans- disproportionately-burden-traditionally-marginalized-groups. 111 HHS, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Announces New Actions to Increase Contraceptive Care Coverage on 51st Anniversary of Roe v. Wade (Jan. 22, 2024), https://www.hhs.gov/about/ news/2024/01/22/hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-announces-new-actions-increase-contraceptive-care-coverage-51st-anniversary-roe-v-wade.html. survive negotiations in the Senate. Health equity is also an important part of HCBS. A recent study of HCBS users with multiple sclerosis found that Black people are less likely than White people to receive case management, nursing, and other important services. 107 In 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed a new quality measure to identify and address racial disparities in HCBS.108 Reproductive Health Reproductive rights are civil rights. Almost 40% of the women who had an abortion in 2021 were Black, 109 and Black women have a maternal mortality rate more than double that of White women. 110 Following the Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the President took a series of steps to protect reproductive rights. He established a Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, strengthened privacy protections for patients, and increased protections for oral contraceptives. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Javier Becerra recently issued a letter reminding insurance companies that they must cover contraception. 111 The administration is also defending reproductive rights in the courts. Anti-choice forces have sued to block the availability of mifepristone, a safe abortion medication approved by the FDA over 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the Justice Department sued Idaho to block its abortion ban, arguing that the ban is preempted by a federal law that requires physicians to provide abortion services if necessary to stabilize a pregnant woman having a medical emergency. The Supreme Court will decide both of these cases this year. Maternal Health Crisis President Biden’s American Rescue Plan expanded postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months under Medicaid. Forty-three states and DC have opted into the coverage. The FY2023 omnibus appropriations bill removed a five-year sunset on the expanded coverage option and made it permanent. These changes should help reduce Black maternal health issues and mortality, as 65% NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 11 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationof Black mothers rely on Medicaid (compared with 42% of all mothers).112 In addition, in June 2022 the White House released a Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis , setting out 50 specific actions agencies are taking to improve maternal health and health equity. 113 Mental Health New data suggests that Black children ages 5–13 are twice as likely to die by suicide as White children of the same ages.114 Under President Biden, HHS has created a new program to improve Black youth mental health. The administration has also launched 9-8-8, a national suicide and crisis lifeline, and invested $500 million in helping states prepare for the launch and increase their capacity to provide services. In addition, Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which provides $2 billion to create safer learning environments and hire more mental health professionals in schools. Kidney Failure Diagnosis Black people are 35% of the population that experiences kidney failure. Yet too often, they are denied disability benefits using on a race-based diagnostic tool that understates the severity of their kidney impairment. In 2022, the Social Security Administration abandoned the use of this tool and now uses the same diagnostic for all claimants. HIV/AIDS Although Black people are just 13% of the total population, they accounted for 40% of all HIV cases and 42% of new diagnoses in 2019. 115 In 2021, the Biden Administration released a new strategy to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. 116 Tobacco The FDA has proposed to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. According to researchers, menthol is more attractive to children, makes nicotine more addictive, and reduces the irritation of smoking and therefore makes cigarettes easier to use. Menthol cigarettes are by far the most popular cigarette among Black Americans, in no small part due to targeted marketing by the tobacco industry. Research indicates that banning menthol cigarettes could prevent 654,000 deaths—including 238,000 deaths of Black Americans—over the next 40 years. All other flavored cigarettes were banned in 2009. Meanwhile, the FDA’s goal in banning flavored cigars is to reduce their appeal to children. The administration recently paused finalization of the bans, reportedly 112 Annalies Winny & Rachel Bervell, Johns Hopkins, How Can We Solve the Black Maternal Health Crisis? (May 12, 2023), https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/solving-the-black-maternal-health-crisis. 113 White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis (June 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Maternal-Health-Blueprint.pdf. 114 Jocelyn I. Meza, Katie Patel & Eraka Bath, Black Youth Suicide Crisis: Prevalence Rates, Review of Risk and Protective Factors, and Current Evidence-Based Practices, Focus (Spring 2022), https:// focus.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.focus.20210034. 115 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV and African American People: HIV Diagnoses, https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/diagnoses.html (using 2019 data); CDC, HIV and Black/African American People in the U.S., https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/fact-sheets/hiv/black-african-american-factsheet.html (same). 116 The White House, National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, 2022–2025 (Nov. 2021), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/National-HIV-AIDS-Strategy.pdf. 117 FDA, FDA Proposes Rules Prohibiting Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars to Prevent Youth Initiation, Significantly Reduce Tobacco-Related Disease and Death (Apr. 28, 2022), https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-proposes-rules-prohibiting-menthol-cigarettes-and-flavored-cigars-prevent-youth-initiation. 118 Legal Defense Fund, School Nutrition & Racial Equity, https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/school-nutrition-racial-equity-the-need-for-universal-healthy-school-meals. 119 Kyle Ross, Arohi Pathak & Seth Hanlon, Center for America Progress, The ARP Grew the Economy, Reduced Poverty, and Eased Financial Hardship for Millions (Mar. 14, 2022), https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-arp-grew-the-economy-reduced-poverty-and-eased-financial-hardship-for-millions. 120 The White House, Biden-Harris Administration National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health 9 (Sept. 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/White-House- National-Strategy-on-Hunger-Nutrition-and-Health-FINAL.pdf. due to concerns from certain groups that the ban would lead to police harassment of Black Americans. The proposal only covers manufacturers, wholesalers, and other distributors, however; it does not prohibit individual possession or use. 117 Food and Nutrition Black children are three times more likely than White children to experience hunger.118 The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation for children whose only healthy meals were at school. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan invested more than $12 billion in food assistance programs. ARP extended a 15% increase to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, or food stamps, through September 2021. It funded the P-EBT program that gave families money that would have gone toward free and reduced-price meals, so they could access food when schools were closed. It also supported innovations to increase enrollment in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. 119 In 2021, USDA increased food benefits through its Thrifty Food Plan. In 2023, the agency launched Summer EBT, which provides grocery benefits to families so they can buy healthy food in the summer when kids are out of school. Summer EBT will occur again in 2024, providing families $40 per month for each eligible child. Finally, in 2022 the President hosted the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first of its kind in 50 years. At the conference, the White House launched a national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities by 2030, which includes ensuring free healthy meals for all. 120 Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform President Biden signed the most significant gun legislation in almost three decades, closing loopholes in the background check system and providing funding for community violence intervention, mental health treatment, and school safety. His administration banned bump stocks and ghost guns, and he repeatedly urged Congress to ban assault weapons. He signed two hate crime bills into law. After Republicans killed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Biden issued a landmark executive order on police reform. He pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana and initiated a process to reclassify marijuana as a less restricted drug. He has called for the end of the racist crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity. His Justice Department revoked a Trump Administration action that would have returned thousands of law- NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 12 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationabiding individuals to prison, and instituted a new policy to avoid mandatory minimum sentences for low-level defendants. Biden also moved to end the Justice Department’s use of private prisons and engaged every agency in the process of criminal justice reform. Gun Violence Murders and shootings spiked in 2020, likely resulting from disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Homicides dropped 15% in 2023, but gun violence remains a pressing issue.121 It is also a racial justice issue, as Black Americans are vastly overrepresented among shooting victims. President Biden has made reducing gun violence a top priority. He signed the most significant piece of gun legislation in 28 years, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 (BSCA). BSCA clarified which sellers must be federally licensed, mandated enhanced background checks for young adults ages 18–21, narrowed the dating partner loophole in the background check system, and created new federal criminal offenses for straw purchases and gun trafficking. It provided billions in new grant funding to support red flag laws, community violence intervention (CVI), mental health services, and school safety. 122 President Biden established the first-ever Office of Gun Crime Prevention in the White House. He has secured $100 million in annual appropriations for CVI programs like violence interrupters, and is seeking $5 billion over 10 years to scale promising and proven initiatives. The administration also pivoted 26 grant programs to support CVI and created the CVI Collaborative, a cohort of 16 cities that drew in philanthropic funding and built violence prevention capacity across the country. His Justice Department also stepped up enforcement against rogue gun dealers and gun traffickers. DOJ also issue a regulation banning “ghost guns,” which are unserialized and untraceable homemade firearms that increasingly have been showing up at crime scenes. 123 This rule and another rule banning bump stocks, devices that turn semi-automatic firearms into rapid-fire machine guns, are critical to saving lives.124 DOJ is defending both against legal challenges in federal court. 125 Biden has repeatedly called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and require universal background checks. Republicans have blocked any movement on the proposals. The President has continued to use the bully pulpit to push these commonsense reforms but will need a more cooperative Congress to achieve them. 121 See Eric Levenson & Mark Morales, Homicides Dropped by over 10% in America’s Biggest Cities in 2023, CNN (Jan. 5, 2024) https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/04/us/homicide-crime-declines- cities-2023/index.html (citing FBI statistics that violent crime dropped 8.2% and murders dropped 15.6% during January to September 2023, compared to the same period in 2022). 122 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Pub. L. 117-159 (2022), https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2938/text. 123 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Definition of “Frame or Receiver” and Identification of Firearms, 87 Fed. Reg. 24652 (Apr. 26, 2022), https://www.federalregister. gov/documents/2022/04/26/2022-08026/definition-of-frame-or-receiver-and-identification-of-firearms. 124 ATF, Bump-Stock-Type Devices, 83 Fed. Reg. 66514 (Dec. 26, 2018), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/12/26/2018-27763/bump-stock-type-devices. 125 Garland v. VanDerStock, No. 23-10718 (ghost guns, pending appeal in Fifth Circuit); Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976 (bump stocks, pending Supreme Court review). 126 The White House, FACT SHEET: President Biden’s Safer America Plan (Aug. 1, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/01/fact-sheet-president- bidens-safer-america-plan-2. 127 DOJ, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco Delivers Remarks Announcing New Nationwide Public Safety Commitments (Nov. 2, 2023), https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy- attorney-general-lisa-o-monaco-delivers-remarks-announcing-new-nationwide-public. 128 See https://unitedwestand.gov. 129 Executive Order 14074, Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices To Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety, 87 FR 32945 (May 25, 2022), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/05/31/2022-11810/advancing-effective-accountable-policing-and-criminal-justice-practices-to-enhance-public-trust-and. President Biden also released a comprehensive strategy to reduce crime called the Safer America Plan.126 In addition, in November 2023 DOJ granted $334 million to state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies, part of an overall investment in community safety of $5.6 billion. 127 Hate Crimes President Biden signed two hate crimes bills into law: the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which created new grants to combat hate- motivated offenses, and the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which fulfilled a 100-year effort by civil rights advocates to make lynching a federal crime. The President also designated the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi. After the White supremacist massacre of ten Black shoppers at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, the President hosted the United We Stand Summit against hate-fueled violence at the White House, featuring local leaders fighting back against hate and announcing dozens of new policy commitments. These included federal actions, such as the Justice Department’s launch of a “United Against Hate” community outreach and training program in all 94 federal districts as well as $1 billion in philanthropic commitments to promote bridge-building. 128 Police Accountability The President pressed hard for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, celebrating its passage in the House of Representatives and repeatedly calling for its passage in the Senate. When Republican Senators walked away from the negotiating table—even though Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey was making significant progress with national police organizations on a set of reforms— President Biden resolved to take executive action. After extensive consultation with the families of people killed at the hands of police, civil rights leaders, law enforcement groups, and other experts, President Biden issued a landmark police reform executive order.129 The order sought to advance as much of the George Floyd Act as possible through executive action. It mandated policy changes of all federal law enforcement agencies (137,000 officers), seeking to make them a model, and used available levers to promote change at the state and local levels. Among other measures, Biden’s policing executive order banned chokeholds, restricted no-knock warrants and entries, imposed stricter use-of-force policies, required anti-bias training, prohibited the transfer of military equipment to police departments, created a national Law Enforcement Accountability Database of police misconduct records, and required DOJ to use its grantmaking power NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 13 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationto incentivize reform around the country. In addition, DOJ recently awarded $43 million in grants for crisis intervention, de-escalation training, and community policing strategies. 130 The American Rescue Plan also included $15 million dollars for mobile crisis response, an initiative under which trained experts respond to mental health and substance use disorder episodes. 131 Marijuana and Drug Policy President Biden has taken three major steps to address what he has called “our failed approach to marijuana.” 132 First, he issued a categorical pardon to all persons ever convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal or District of Columbia law. This had the effect of lifting the legal consequences of likely tens of thousands of prior convictions—barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities that disproportionately fall on Black Americans due to a history of discriminatory policing and prosecution. The Justice Department created an online form for people to request documentary proof of their pardon to show employers and others. 133 Second, he called on all state governors to do the same, given that his pardon authority does not extend to convictions under state law. Third, he charged the Secretary of HHS and the Attorney General to reconsider how marijuana is scheduled. HHS has recommended moving marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (alongside heroin and ecstasy, and above cocaine and fentanyl) to Schedule III (alongside ketamine and Tylenol with codeine). 134 If the DEA agrees, this change will ease restrictions on marijuana research, potentially leading to the discovery of new medical uses. It could also allow to cannabis businesses to take part in the regular taxation and banking systems. 135 The President has also focused on the unjust crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, which continues to treat crack offenses much more harshly than powder offenses. Crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug. Crack defendants are disproportionately Black. The administration has called on Congress to pass the EQUAL Act, which would eliminate the disparity and make the change retroactive. This legislation would benefit 10,000 130 DOJ, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco Delivers Remarks Announcing New Nationwide Public Safety Commitments (Nov. 2, 2023), https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy- attorney-general-lisa-o-monaco-delivers-remarks-announcing-new-nationwide-public. 131 See Olivia Randi, National Academy for State Health Policy, American Rescue Plan Act Allows States to Expand Mobile Crisis Intervention Services for Children and Youth Through Medicaid (Aug. 2, 2021), https://nashp.org/american-rescue-plan-act-allows-states-to-expand-mobile-crisis-intervention-services-for-children-and-youth-through-medicaid. 132 See The White House, Statement of Joe Biden on Marijuana Reform (Oct. 6, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/06/statement-from-president- biden-on-marijuana-reform; The White House, Statement from President Joe Biden on Clemency Actions (Dec. 22, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements- releases/2023/12/22/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-clemency-actions. 133 DOJ, Application for Certificate of Pardon for Simple Possession, Attempted Possession, and Use of Marijuana, https://www.justice.gov/iqextranet/EForm.aspx?__cid=Pardon_prod&__fid=5. 134 Riley Griffin, Ike Swetlitz & Tiffany Kary, US Health Officials Urge Moving Pot to Lower-Risk Tier, Bloomberg News (Aug. 30, 2023), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-30/ hhs-calls-for-moving-marijuana-to-lower-risk-us-drug-category?srnd=premium&leadSource=uverify%20wall. 135 David Ovalle, Katie Shepherd & Laurie McGinley, Possible Easing of Marijuana Restrictions Could Have Major Implications, Wash. Post. (Aug. 31, 2023), https://www.washingtonpost.com/ health/2023/08/31/marijuana-reclassification-schedule-iii-hhs-dea. 136 Statement of the U.S. Department of Justice Before the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate 5 (June 22, 2021), https://sentencing.typepad.com/files/doj-equal-act-testimony--final.pdf. 137 Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Actions Taken by the Biden-Harris Administration to Address Addiction and the Overdose Epidemic (Aug. 31, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2022/08/31/actions-taken-by-the-biden-harris-administration-to-address-addiction-and-the-overdose-epidemic. 138 White House ONDCP Director Statement on Flattening Overdose Death Rate Over the Past Year (Aug. 17, 2023) https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2023/08/17/white-house- ondcp-director-statement-on-flattening-overdose-death-rate-over-the-past-year/; CDC, Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose- data.htm (last visited Feb. 16, 2024). 139 Attorney General Memo, General Department Policies Regarding Charging, Pleas, and Sentencing (Dec. 16, 2022), https://www.justice.gov/d9/2022-12/attorney_general_memorandum_-_ general_department_policies_regarding_charging_pleas_and_sentencing.pdf; Attorney General Memo, Additional Department Policies Regarding Charging, Pleas, and Sentencing in Drug Cases (Dec. 16, 2022), https://www.justice.gov/d9/2022-12/attorney_general_memorandum_-_additional_department_policies_regarding_charges_pleas_and_sentencing_in_drug_ cases.pdf. 140 Office of Legal Counsel, Discretion to Continue the Home-Confinement Placements of Federal Prisoners After the COVID-19 Emergency (Dec. 21, 2021), https://www.justice.gov/olc/ file/1457926/download. people—almost 90% of them Black—who are currently serving inflated prison sentences for crack cocaine offenses.136 With regard to illegal drug use, the President has invested heavily in harm reduction strategies, responding with treatment rather than incarceration while also prioritizing enforcement against transnational criminal organizations. This is the first administration to make harm reduction a core part of its strategy.137 The overdose epidemic remains a significant challenge. Driven by fentanyl, the number of drug overdoses rose sharply during the pandemic and surpassed 110,000 in the 12-month period ending March 2023. Since that time, the growth curve has flattened and begun to turn slightly downward.138 Mass Incarceration The Biden Administration has taken several steps to reduce unnecessary incarceration and racial disparities. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued new charging and sentencing guidance to all federal prosecutors, replacing overly punitive directives from the Trump Administration and encouraging line prosecutors not to seek mandatory minimum sentences against low-level and non-violent drug defendants. He directed them to use their discretion to treat crack cocaine offenses like powder cocaine offenses, to avoid the unwarranted sentencing disparities in federal law. 139 DOJ reversed a legal opinion issued in the waning days of the Trump, concluding that thousands of individuals who had been transferred to home confinement during the pandemic could remain there at the end of the national public health emergency. This group of people was already reintegrating into the community and had a recidivism rate of almost zero; they would have been reincarcerated under the prior administration’s misinterpretation of federal law. 140 The Federal Bureau of Prisons has also made important changes to implement a system of earned time credits under the First Step Act of 2018, incentivizing prisoners to complete rehabilitative programming to shorten their sentences. Finally, President Biden ordered DOJ to close its contracts with private prisons. DOJ has closed several contracts and transferred more than NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 14 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administration8,000 individuals our of private facilities.141 President Biden, meanwhile, has made greater use of the clemency power three years into his term than the last five presidents before him at the same point in their presidencies. 142 In addition to the categorical marijuana pardons, Biden has granted 12 pardons and 117 sentence commutations. 143 Finally, President Biden has proposed a $15 billion grant program to reduce excessive incarceration. To be eligible for the funds, jurisdictions would have to “repeal mandatory minimums for non- violent crimes and change other laws that contribute to increased incarceration rates without making our communities safer.” 144 Reentry The administration issued a whole-of-government strategy to reduce unnecessary criminal justice contact, improve prison conditions, and facilitate reentry for individuals leaving prison. 145 The strategy includes actions to ensure people have healthcare coverage, housing, educational opportunities, and job prospects upon returning to their communities. The administration has also implemented Second Chance Pell, the restoration of funding for incarcerated individuals to pursue a college education. As part of his Safer America Plan, President Biden has proposed to repeal almost all restrictions on eligibility for federal programs based on prior convictions, such as for SNAP benefits. Black Homeownership and Affordable Housing President Biden’s policies have helped over 250,000 Black Americans become homeowners. His quick response to the economic upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic helped 160,000 Black homeowners with FHA-backed loans avert foreclosure and deployed $10 billion in funding to 400,000 homeowners, 140,000 of them Black. The administration also prevented 1.36 million evictions, including through deployment of $46 billion in emergency assistance to renters, almost half of them Black. Its efforts helped stop a 4-year increase in homelessness and move 100,000 families and 40,000 veterans out of shelters and off the streets. The administration also advanced landmark anti-discrimination protections under the Fair Housing Act and took historic action to combat appraisal 141 Executive Order 14006, Reforming Our Incarceration System To Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities, 86 Fed. Reg. 7483 (Jan. 26, 2021), https://www. federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/29/2021-02070/reforming-our-incarceration-system-to-eliminate-the-use-of-privately-operated-criminal-detention; The White House, FACT SHEET: The Biden-Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Black Americans and Communities Across the Country (Feb. 27, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing- room/statements-releases/2023/02/27/fact-sheet-the-biden-%E2%81%A0harris-administration-advances-equity-and-opportunity-for-black-americans-and-communities-across-the- country/ (providing the 8,000 figure). 142 See Office of the Pardon Attorney, Clemency Statistics, https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-statistics. 143 These figures do not count pardons granted as part of prisoner swaps with Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. 144 The White House, FACT SHEET: President Biden’s Safer America Plan (Aug. 1, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/01/fact-sheet-president- bidens-safer-america-plan-2. 145 The White House Alternatives, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Strategic Plan (Apr. 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-White-House-Alternatives- Rehabilitation-and-Reentry-Strategic-Plan.pdf. 146 HUD Mortgagee Letter 2021–13 (June 17, 2021), https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/2021-13hsgml.pdf. 147 HUD Mortgagee Letter 2022–17 (Sept. 27, 2022), https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/2022-17hgnml.pdf. 148 HUD, FACT SHEET: Under the Leadership of Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has Delivered for Black People (Feb. 2, 2024), https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_24_020. 149 White House Announces New Actions on Homeownership (Oct. 16, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/16/white-house-announces-new- actions-on-homeownership/. 150 Id. bias. Its most ambitious homeownership and housing affordability programs have been stymied in Congress, but the President continues to press for these measures. Homeownership President Biden has taken several steps to increase Black homeownership. First, in 2021 the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) changed the way it considers student loan debt in mortgage applications, improving borrowers’ debt-to-income ratios and the likelihood that they will qualify for an FHA-backed mortgage at a manageable interest rate. 146 In 2022, FHA began considering a borrower’s positive history of consistently making rental payments, helping first-time home buyers qualify for their lower cost loans. 147 These systemic changes have helped Black homebuyers, who are overrepresented among both student debt holders and renters. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge recently announced that FHA has supported 250,000 Black people in buying a home since 2021. Further, over 83% of the 1.5 million people who bought a home with an FHA-backed loan were first-time homebuyers—the highest rate since 2000—and FHA “serves Black borrowers at triple the rate of the rest of the market” as a share of the loans it backs. 148 USDA has also promoted Black homeownership through its direct housing loan program. Approximately 22% of the 7,100 low-cost loans it issued in fiscal year 2023 went to Black borrowers.149 To close the racial homeownership gap and create opportunities for more Black and low-income people to build wealth, however, major new investments are required. President Biden proposed $150 billion in Build Back Better to create more homes and help new buyers, as well as to improve public housing, assist renters, and address homelessness. The $150 package passed the House in 2021 but did not advance in the Senate. President Biden continues to advance the following proposals: (a) $16 billion for a new “Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit” to build and rehabilitate 400,000 homes; (b) $10 billion in down payment assistance for 273,000 first-time, first-generation homebuyers; and (c) $100 million for a down payment assistance pilot program for 75,000 buyers to purchase low-cost homes. 150 Preventing Foreclosures Early action during President Biden’s term saved untold numbers from foreclosure. The CDC extended the foreclosure moratorium NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 15 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationthrough July 2021. HUD instituted foreclosure measures, including loan modifications, that kept 1.1 million FHA-backed homeowners in their homes, including 160,000 Black homeowners. 151 The ARP’s $10 billion Homeowner Assistance Fund helped 400,000 homeowners avert foreclosure. 152 Thirty-five percent of HAF- assisted homeowners were Black. 153 Preventing Evictions, Helping Renters Black Americans are 13% of the population but over 40% of renters. The Biden Administration’s eviction prevention initiatives were critical to keeping renters in their homes during the pandemic. CDC’s eviction moratorium stayed in place until August 2021. The administration disbursed $46 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance funds. Two-thirds of that money went to extremely low-income renters, and Black renters received almost half. 154 Many communities also used ERA money to create eviction diversion programs. Together, the administration’s policies helped prevent 1.36 million evictions.155 These policies helped prevent the predicted eviction wave. The administration has continued to advance renters’ interests. In January 2023, The White House released its Blueprint for a Renters’ Bill of Rights, a statement of principles with concrete policy announcements to bring them to life.156 Combating Housing Discrimination President Biden created the interagency Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) Task Force, chaired by the Domestic Policy Council and HUD, to combat rife discrimination in property appraisals. Too often, Black homeowners seeking to sell or refinance their homes see their appraisals come in below true value, undercutting their ability to build wealth. Stories abound of Black homeowners hiding their family pictures, asking a White friend to pose as the homeowner, and getting a second appraisal significantly above the first. The Task Force published a PAVE Action Plan in March 2022 and has been implementing it over the past two years. 157 For example, agencies issued guidance explaining that 151 HUD, FACT SHEET, supra note 148; HUD, New Report: HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge Delivers Unprecedented Homeownership Achievements (Dec. 8, 2023), https://www.hud.gov/press/ press_releases_media_advisories/hud_no_23_274. 152 Treasury, FACT SHEET: New Treasury Department Data Illustrates How American Rescue Plan Resources Are Expanding Access to Affordable Housing and Keeping Families in their Homes (Oct. 16, 2023), https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1812. 153 Treasury, Two Years In: The American Rescue Plan Act’s Historic Investments in a Stronger Economic Future at 17 (2022), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Two-Year-ARP- Anniversary-Report.pdf. 154 Id. at 16. 155 Id. at 15. 156 The White House Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights (Jan. 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/White-House-Blueprint-for-a-Renters-Bill-of-Rights.pdf. 157 PAVE Task Force, Action Plan to Advance Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (Mar. 2022), https://pave.hud.gov/sites/pave.hud.gov/files/documents/PAVEActionPlan.pdf. 158 Interagency Guidance on Reconsiderations of Value of Residential Real Estate Valuations, 88 Fed. Reg. 47071 (July 21, 2023), https://www.federalregister.gov/ documents/2023/07/21/2023-12609/interagency-guidance-on-reconsiderations-of-value-of-residential-real-estate-valuations; HUD Draft Mortgagee Letter: Borrower Request for Review of Appraisal Results, https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/SFH/documents/borrower_req_review_appraisal_results_draft.pdf. 159 HUD, Reinstatement of HUD’s Discriminatory Effects Standard, 88 Fed. Reg. 19450 (Mar. 31, 2023), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/31/2023-05836/reinstatement-of- huds-discriminatory-effects-standard. 160 D.C. District Court Upholds HUD’s Disparate Impact Rule, ABA Banking J. (Sept. 19, 2023), https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2023/10/d-c-district-court-upholds-huds-disparate-impact-rule. 161 HUD, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, 88 Fed. Reg. 8516 (Feb. 9, 2023), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/09/2023-00625/affirmatively-furthering-fair-housing. 162 HUD, FACT SHEET, supra note 148. 163 HUD, The 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress 2 (Dec. 2003), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf. 164 U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Biden Administration Helps 105 Communities End Homelessness for More Than 140,000 Americans (Jan. 26, 2023), https://www.usich.gov/ news-events/news/biden-administration-helps-105-communities-end-homelessness-more-140000-americans. 165 HUD, Biden-Harris Administration Awards $3.16 Billion in Homelessness Assistance Funding to Communities Nationwide (Jan. 29, 2024), https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_ advisories/hud_no_24_018. homeowners can request a reconsideration of value when they believe an appraisal is inaccurate or infected by bias.158 HUD has also advanced two antidiscrimination regulations under the Fair Housing Act. First, the agency issued a final rule on the “discriminatory effects” test, rescinding a Trump Administration rule and restoring a 2013 Obama Administration regulation that accorded with case law. This rule will help plaintiffs challenge housing policies that cause unnecessary harm based on race or another protected class and that are thus discriminatory, even if there is no evidence of intent to discriminate. 159 HUD recently prevailed in defending the rule in federal district court. 160 Second, HUD has proposed a rule on “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,” requiring that local housing agencies “proactively take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, eliminate disparities in housing-related opportunities, and foster inclusive communities that are free from discrimination.” 161 HUD supports fair housing organizations to help uncover discrimination and enforce the Fair Housing Act, as well. In 2023, HUD provided $30 million in grants to such organizations. 162 Homelessness Black Americans are disproportionately affected by homelessness. They are 37% of the total homeless population, including 50% of families with children experiencing homelessness. 163 The American Rescue Plan provided $10 billion combat this crisis, stopping an upward trend that started in 2016. The Biden Administration’s efforts helped move 100,000 homeless families into permanent housing and ended homelessness for 40,000 veterans. 164 The President sought historic funding in his Build Back Better package to continue these efforts, but it did not advance in Congress. With the end of COVID relief funding and the rise in housing costs, homelessness again began rising and in 2023 hit its highest level since 2007. In January 2024, the administration issued $3.16 billion in funding to 7,000 projects nationwide to connect people with housing. 165 The President is currently seeking more than $10 billion in appropriations for housing vouchers and other programs, and NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 16 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationhas released a strategy to cut homelessness by 25% by 2025.166 Environmental Justice President Biden’s economic relief, infrastructure, and climate investments provide billions of dollars to transition to a green economy and remedy the impact of environmental racism. His Justice40 initiative directs agencies to ensure that 40% of relevant funding streams go to disadvantaged communities. He is also implementing dedicated programs relevant to Black families who have suffered air, water, and land pollution. Key investments include more than $50 billion to improve drinking water and replace lead pipes, $5 billion to clean up contamination at toxic waste sites and abandoned commercial properties, and $3 billion in environmental justice grants for community-based organizations. Justice40 In his first week in office, President Biden signed an environmental justice executive order setting a goal that 40% of the benefits of certain federal funding streams will go to disadvantaged communities, those disproportionately burdened by pollution and underinvestment. 167 This “Justice40” commitment applies to funding related to climate change, clean energy, public transit, affordable housing, clean water, pollution remediation, and workforce development. Over 500 programs across 19 agencies are covered, including hundreds of billions of dollars under the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act. 168 The administration launched the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, a geospatial mapping tool to identify disadvantaged communities that should benefit. 169 The administration also created an Environmental Justice Scorecard, a public assessment of 24 agencies’ efforts to advance environmental justice. 170 This is the first time any president has made such an explicit commitment to environmental justice with concrete metrics, transparency commitments, and technical tools for public accountability. And these commitments are having an impact. For example, a recent MIT study found that 44.5% of clean energy investment is going to disadvantaged communities. 171 Lead Pipes 166 USICH, How the President’s FY 2024 Budget Would Prevent Homelessness (Apr. 6, 2023), https://www.usich.gov/news-events/news/how-presidents-fy-2024-budget-would-prevent- homelessness; USICH, ALL IN: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (Dec. 2022), https://www.usich.gov/sites/default/files/document/All_In.pdf. 167 Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, 86 Fed. Reg. 7619 (Jan. 27, 2021), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the- climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad; see also Executive Order 140996, Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, (Apr. 21, 2023), https://www.federalregister. gov/documents/2023/04/26/2023-08955/revitalizing-our-nations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all. 168 Justice40 Covered Programs List (Nov. 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Justice40-Initiative-Covered-Programs-List_v2.0_11.23_FINAL.pdf. 169 Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool, https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/#3/33.47/-97.5. 170 The Environmental Justice Scorecard, https://ejscorecard.geoplatform.gov/scorecard. 171 Lily Bermel et al., Clean Investment at the Community Level 2 (Nov. 15, 2023), https://assets-global.website-files.com/64e31ae6c5fd44b10ff405a7/6556f17c633d01d296ec6774_The%20 Clean%20Investment%20Monitor_Community%20Level%20Analysis.pdf. 172 EPA Fact Sheet, EPA’s Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (Nov. 2023), https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-11/lcri-fact-sheet-for-the-public_final.pdf. 173 EPA Fact Sheet, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: A Historic Investment in Water (Nov. 2021), https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-11/e-ow-bid-fact-sheet-final.508.pdf. 174 NAACP Clean Air Task Force, Fumes Across the Fence-Line: The Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Oil & Gas Facilities on African American Communities (Nov. 2017), https://www.catf.us/ wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CATF_Pub_FumesAcrossTheFenceLine.pdf. 175 See EPA announcements: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-plans-use-first-1b-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-funds-clear-out (Dec. 17, 2021); https://www.epa.gov/ newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-1b-bipartisan-infrastructure-law (Feb. 10, 2023). 176 The White House, FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Makes Historic Investments to Build Community Climate Resilience (June 19, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/ statements-releases/2023/06/19/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-makes-historic-investments-to-build-community-climate-resilience. Black Americans are disproportionately exposed to drinking water contaminated with lead, a dangerous neurotoxin that can cause brain damage, delayed learning, stunted growth, and reproductive problems. President Biden set a goal of replacing all 9 million lead service lines across the country over ten years. 172 The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides more than $50 billion to improve water quality, including $15 billion to replace lead pipes. 173 Cleaning Up Pollution Sites Due to years of discrimination in housing and environmental policy, Black Americans are 75% more likely than the average American to live near dangerous waste-producing facilities. 174 The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $5 billion for two remedial programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): $1.5 billion to cleanup and redevelop “Brownfields” like abandoned factories and gas stations, and $3.5 billion to cleanup and “Superfund” sites where hazardous waste has been dumped and left out in the open. EPA has already awarded $2 billion of this money to clean up Superfund sites, 60% of which are located in historically underserved communities. 175 The IRA also reinstated and modernized the Superfund petroleum tax, expected to raise almost $12 billion over the next decade to cover clean-up costs. Climate Resilience Extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, droughts, hurricanes, and other climate disasters hit communities of color disproportionately hard, and they are becoming more frequent. Together, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act provide more than $50 billion for climate resilience strategies, such as modernizing the electric grid, improving water storage and delivery, expanding wildfire firefighting forces, and expanding green space. 176 Empowering Communities In addition to providing billions in new funding across the nation, the Biden Administration is providing targeted assistance to help disadvantaged communities secure grants and deploy them toward environmental justice strategies. In 2023, EPA and the Department of Energy funded 17 “Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers” to help communities of color, low- NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 17 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationincome communities, and others overburdened by pollution to apply for and secure federal grants.177 In addition, the IRA provided $3 billion for innovative new Environmental Justice Block Grants. These are funds for community- based organizations in disadvantaged communities to conduct monitoring, prevention, and remediation activities, putting the power to advance environmental justice directly into community members’ hands.178 EPA has also created a new Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights to administer the grants and centralize civil rights protections within the agency. 179 Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws President Biden has pushed to expand and protect civil rights. He signed the Electoral Count Reform Act, a law that will help prevent attempts to stop the certification of presidential election results. He also championed bills to restore the Voting Rights Act and expand access to the ballot, calling to end the filibuster for this purpose, but two conservative Democrats and Republicans in the Senate blocked these efforts. His Justice Department has doubled its voting rights enforcement staff and sued states for voter suppression. It has also prioritized criminal accountability for police misconduct and hate crimes, including in cases related to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols, and Ahmaud Arbery. DOJ has also invigorated its investigation of systemic misconduct in police departments and prisons. And enforcement offices across the administration have prioritized emerging civil rights threats in the use of artificial intelligence. Voting Rights President Biden signed into law the Electoral Count Reform Act, clarifying the rules for the certification of electors for presidential elections to prevent another attempt to subvert the vote and prevent the lawful transfer of power as occurred on January 6, 2021. The President also advocated for passage of two critical voting rights bills. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would have restored anti-discrimination protections in the Voting Rights Act that were gutted by the Supreme Court. The Freedom to Vote Act would have expanded opportunities to register to vote and cast a ballot, and it would have prevented voter suppression through partisan gerrymandering and unlawful voter purges. President Biden gave a landmark address in January 2022 in Georgia, ground zero for voting rights, where he called for an end to the Senate filibuster to prevent a minority of senators from blocking these 177 EPA, Biden-Harris Administration Announces $177 Million for 17 New Technical Assistance Centers Across the Nation to Help Communities Access Historic Investments to Advance Environmental Justice (Apr. 13, 2023), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-177-million-17-new-technical-assistance-centers. 178 See Evergreen Action, What Are Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants? (Aug. 24, 2023), https://www.evergreenaction.com/blog/environmental-climate-justice-block-grants; see also EPA, Biden-Harris Administration Announces $2 Billion to Fund Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants as Part of Investing in America Agenda (Nov. 21, 2023), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-2-billion-fund-environmental-and-climate-justice. 179 EPA, EPA Launches New National Office Dedicated to Advancing Environmental Justice and Civil Rights (Sept. 24, 2022), https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-new-national- office-dedicated-advancing-environmental-justice-and-civil. 180 Alexandra Jaffe et al., Biden, Harris Deliver Remarks in Georgia on Protecting Voting Rights, Election Integrity, PBS.org (Jan. 11, 2022), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live- biden-harris-deliver-remarks-in-georgia-on-protecting-voting-rights-election-integrity. 181 Jordain Carney, Manchin, Sinema Join GOP to Sink Filibuster Change for Voting Bill, The Hill (Jan. 19, 2022), https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/590535-manchin-sinema-join-gop-to- sink-filibuster-change-for-voting-bill/. 182 Executive Order 14019, Promoting Access to Voting, 86 Fed. Reg. 13623 (Mar. 7, 2021), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/03/10/2021-05087/promoting-access-to-voting. 183 See DOJ, FACT SHEET: Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force (Aug. 31, 2023) (listing prosecutions), https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/1313366/dl?inline. 184 See Rachel Selzer, Democracy Docket, The DOJ Pledged to Relentlessly Protect Voting Rights. Is it Living Up to Its Promise? (May 4, 2023), https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/the- doj-pledged-to-relentlessly-protect-voting-rights-is-it-living-up-to-its-promise. bills.180 Filibuster reform can be accomplished by a simple majority in the Senate, which Democrats had. Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona refused to change the filibuster rule for voting rights, however, blocking both bills. 181 In the absence of legislation, President Biden has used his executive authority to expand access to the ballot. President Biden issued an executive order on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in 2021, charging federal agencies to provide election information to voters and to expand opportunities to register to vote through federal offices. 182 The Department of Justice has also increased its enforcement efforts. DOJ created an Election Threats Task Force to identify and prosecute threats of violence against election officials. 183 The Civil Rights Division doubled the number of its voting rights attorneys and filed suit against state and local governments for voter suppression laws, including a Georgia law that bans providing food and water to voters waiting in line and a Texas law that restricts mail-in voting and voter assistance. DOJ can and must bring more litigation, however, considering how rampant voter suppression has become. 184 Civil Rights Prosecutions The Justice Department successfully prosecuted former officer Derek Chauvin, securing a 21-year sentence, as well as three other officers involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. DOJ is currently prosecuting four officers in connection with the raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor’s death in Louisville, Kentucky, one of whom has pleaded guilty. DOJ has charged five Memphis Police Department officers in the killing of Tyre Nichols. DOJ also convicted the three men who killed Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia of hate crimes, securing sentences of life plus ten years, life plus seven years, and 35 years against them. DOJ is currently prosecuting the White supremacist gunman who killed 10 Black shoppers in a mass shooting at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Systemic Police & Prison Reform The Biden Administration has revitalized the use of federal pattern-or-practice investigations and consent decrees to reform systemic misconduct in police departments and prison systems. DOJ has opened and pursued 11 investigations of police departments for patterns of excessive force, discriminatory policing, and other legal violations: Minneapolis, MN; Louisville, KY; Phoenix, AZ; Mount Vernon, NY; Louisiana State Police; New York Police Department’s Special Victims Division; Worcester, MA; Oklahoma City, OK; Memphis, TN; Lexington, MS; and Trenton, NJ. The NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 18 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris Administrationdepartment issued public findings of widespread misconduct in Minneapolis and Louisville, with agreements in principle to enter into a consent decrees. It also negotiated a consent decree with the Springfield, Massachusetts, Police Department and issued findings of prosecutorial misconduct by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in California. DOJ has increased its investigations of abuse in prisons in jails, as well. For example, in 2021 DOJ launched a statewide investigation of Georgia prisons, where 44 people had been killed in less than two years. In 2022 DOJ found violent conditions and abusive solitary confinement at Mississippi State Penitentiary, where 70% of prisoners are Black, resulting in 10 homicides and 12 suicides since 2019. Algorithmic Bias Rapid advances in artificial intelligence and the use of algorithms decision-making threatens to cause racial discrimination where the technology’s underlying datasets are biased, from policing to employment to creditworthiness assessments. In October 2021, the Biden Administration released its Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights185 and a set of agency actions to prevent discrimination and other harms in the use of AI. 186 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a joint statement clarifying that their legal authorities apply to combating discrimination caused by the use of automated systems. 187 The EEOC issued guidance clarifying when the use of AI in employment decisions like hiring and promotion would be unlawful because they have a disparate impact based on race or another protected characteristic.188 The FTC recently banned Rite Aid from using facial recognition technology for five years, after the pharmacy chain deployed it to wrongly tag Black customers and other customers of colors as likely shoplifters. 189 In February 2023, President Biden issued an executive order instructing agencies to prioritize combating algorithmic discrimination and to involve their civil rights offices in any decisions about obtaining or using AI. 190 In October 2023, the President issued a comprehensive executive order on regulating artificial intelligence, with specific mandates to combat discrimination in the use of automated tenant screening systems, underwriting models, and appraisal systems.191 185 The White House, Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People (Oct. 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ Blueprint-for-an-AI-Bill-of-Rights.pdf. 186 The White House, FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Key Actions to Advance Tech Accountability and Protect the Rights of the American Public (Oct. 4, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/10/04/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-key-actions-to-advance-tech-accountability-and-protect-the-rights-of- the-american-public. 187 CFPB, DOJ, EEOC & FTC, Joint Statement on Enforcement Efforts Against Discrimination and Bias in Automated Systems (Apr. 25, 2023), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/ cfpb_joint-statement-enforcement-against-discrimination-bias-automated-systems_2023-04.pdf. 188 EEOC, Select Issues: Assessing Adverse Impact in Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence Used in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (May 18, 2023), https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/select-issues-assessing-adverse-impact-software-algorithms-and-artificial. 189 Eduardo Medina, Rite Aid’s A.I. Facial Recognition Wrongly Tagged People of Color as Shoplifters, N.Y. Times (Dec. 21, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/21/business/rite-aid-ai- facial-recognition.html. 190 Executive Order 14091, supra note 2. 191 Executive Order 14110, Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (Oct. 30, 2023), https://www.federalregister.gov/ documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence. NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE 19 Evaluation for Progress Report on the Biden-Harris AdministrationNext >