Page 2 The Skanner March 15, 2017
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
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Opinion
Speak Out to Protect Your Health Care Access
F
or six years, Republicans
have repeated the same
phrase in every conver-
sation about healthcare:
“repeal and replace” the Af-
fordable Care Act (ACA).
Now that Republicans con-
trol all levers of government,
they are preparing legislation
to strip 30 million Americans
of the everyday security of
health insurance.
The impact of any repeal
would be massive and disas-
trous. Experts estimate that
repealing the ACA will kill
43,000 Americans every year.
A disproportionate number
of deaths will be from the Af-
rican American community.
The ACA is the most signif-
icant piece of health equity
legislation we’ve had in a gen-
eration. It reduced the num-
ber of African Americans liv-
ing without health insurance
by more than half.
We know that increased
coverage has decreased the
number of Americans dying
from cancer.
A recent report by the
American Cancer Society
showed that cancer deaths
have declined by 25 percent
since peaking in 1991.
In their report, the Ameri-
can Cancer Society specifical-
ly notes that the ACA is driv-
ing “these shifts [that] should
help to expedite progress in
Robin
Kelly
Congress
Rep. Illinois
Dist. 2
reducing socioeconomic dis-
parities in cancer, as well as
other health conditions.”
The report also lauded the
ACA for helping to decrease
the “excess risk of cancer
death” facing African Ameri-
cans.
The ACA has also signifi-
“
ing the care they need to live
healthy, productive lives.
We know that the ACA sav-
ing lives, so why are President
Trump and Congressional Re-
publicans so determined to
repeal it?
This question is truly vex-
ing when you consider the
fact that, in addition to the
tens of thousands of Ameri-
cans who will die every year,
we will also add trillions to
the national debt and increase
taxes.
According to the GOP’s bud-
get resolution, repealing the
ACA would add $29.1 trillion
are skeptical of this proposal.
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.),
said: “It sounds like we are go-
ing to be raising taxes on the
middle class in order to pay
for these new credits.”
Now that we know the fact,
we have a choice.
Do we allow President
Trump and Congressional
Republicans to undo Presi-
dent Obama’s legacy, imperil-
ing and killing thousands of
Americans by ripping away
their health insurance or
fight back.
To me, there is only one op-
tion. We fight back for our-
Thanks to the ACA, we are starting to see the mental
healthcare gap between Blacks and Whites, close and
more people are receiving the care they need to live
healthy, productive lives
cantly expanded mental and
behavioral treatment access,
especially to community hos-
pitals and schools. The Office
of Minority Health notes that
African Americans are 20
percent more likely to expe-
rience “serious mental health
problems.” Yet, only a quarter
of African Americans seek
mental healthcare, compared
to 40 percent of white Amer-
icans.
Thanks to the ACA, we are
starting to see that gap close
and more people are receiv-
to the national debt over the
next 10 years. That’s more
than $90,000 for every Amer-
ican citizen.
But the fiscal pain doesn’t
end there.
A GOP Senate bill and re-
cently leaked audio from the
Republican retreat confirms
that Congressional Republi-
cans are plotting a tax hike.
If you, like the majority of
Americans, get health insur-
ance through work, Republi-
cans plan to give you a bigger
tax bill. Even Republicans
selves, our families and our
community.
Here’s how to fight back:
Add your Senators and Con-
gressperson’s phone num-
bers to your speed dial or call
the Congressional switch-
board at 202.224.3121.
Remember, we work for you
and Congress needs to hear
from you!
Together, we can stop the
repeal of the Affordable Care
Act and stand up for our fel-
low Americans’ right to live a
long, healthy life.
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COMING IN APRIL:
THE WAKE OF
VANPORT MOVIE
SCREENING AT
THE HOLLYWOOD
THEATRE
Will Federal Lawmakers Turn Back the Clock on Housing?
W
hen future genera-
tions read the his-
tory of the nation’s
first Black Presi-
dent, I believe there will be
greater acknowledgement of
his administration’s signif-
icant accomplishments. For
now, however, an undeniable
strategic war is underway to
dismantle the very progress
President Obama achieved.
General market media out-
lets have extensively report-
ed on reforms or repeals of
the Affordable Care Act, Wall
Street reform and the future
of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau. It is equal-
ly important to share that a
key Obama regulation that
spoke to the future of fair
housing is again under as-
sault on Capitol Hill.
A 2015 U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Devel-
opment (HUD) rule finally
delivered on the promises
first made with the 1968 en-
actment of the Fair Housing
Act. While the Act outlawed
housing discrimination, it
also included another import-
ant legal requirement. To ad-
vance the purposes of the Act,
federal agencies and federal
grantees were also to forge
inclusive and diverse commu-
nities as a means to reverse
America’s housing history of
segregation and Jim Crow.
Known as “Affirmatively
Charlene
Crowell
NNPA
Columnist
Furthering Fair Housing”
(AFFH), the HUD rule re-
quires that cities, counties
and states receiving funds
for housing and communi-
ty development engage in
“
nities for Persons with AIDS
(HOPWA).
From its beginning, HUD’s
AFFH rule was met with at-
tack and multiple legislative
attempts to repeal it. The lat-
est attempt is The Local Zon-
ing Decisions Protection Act
of 2017. If enacted, it would
nullify the HUD rule. The bill
would also ban federal funds
from being used for any fed-
eral database that contains
geospatial information on
community racial disparities
A key Obama regulation, known
as “Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing,” is again under assault
on Capitol Hill
a planning process to help
them take meaningful and de-
liberate actions to overcome
historic segregation patterns,
promote fair housing choice
and create inclusive commu-
nities free from discrimina-
tion. Two HUD tools were
shared to assist communities
in the planning process, Data
and Mapping and an Assess-
ment of Fair Housing.
AFFH affects all public
housing authorities and
three other popular HUD
programs: Community Devel-
opment Block Grants CDBG),
Emergency Solution Grants
(ESG), and Housing Opportu-
and disparities in access to af-
fordable housing.
In the U.S. House of Repre-
sentatives, the bill has already
attracted 24 co-sponsors from
14 states. Half of the lawmak-
ers’ support for the repeal
comes from only four states:
California, Florida, Tennes-
see and Texas. A companion
bill was also introduced in the
Senate with one co-sponsor.
Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona,
the bill lead sponsor in the
lower chamber, shared why
he feels so strongly about ap-
pealing the rule:
“The AFFH rule marks
President Obama’s most ag-
gressive attempt yet to force
his utopian ideology on
American communities dis-
guised under the banner of
‘fairness’. This overreaching
mandate is an attempt to ex-
tort communities into giving
up local zoning decisions and
reengineer the makeup of our
neighborhoods.”
For civil rights, housing
and consumer advocates, the
unique Black American expe-
rience was deliberately engi-
neered—but from a different
perspective: to deny housing
opportunity, voting rights,
economic mobility and even
quality employment or edu-
cation.
“AFFH is central to fulfill-
ing the purposes of the Fair
Housing Act,” said Wade Hen-
derson, President and CEO on
the Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights. “It’s
based on a simple and perfect-
ly fair premise: if a city or lo-
cality seeks taxpayer funding
for HUD projects, they should
actively work to ensure that
all taxpayers can enjoy the
benefits without the prospect
of unlawful discrimination.
Indeed, the rule provides lo-
cal jurisdictions with broad
discretion to decide which
issues to prioritize and ad-
dress.”
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com