The Roosevelt Institution
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New Haven City Council—Living Wage in New Haven: April 2005
In April of 2005, Alex Bartik of the Roosevelt Center for Economic Policy at Yale presented to an alderman of the New Haven City Council a proposed change to the New Haven Living Wage ordinance. The amendment proposed an increase to $12,60/hr for employees without health coverage, an allowance for union neutrality, and an increase in the numbers of employers covered by the Living Wage Act.
DC City Council— Payday Lending: June 2007
In June of 2007, members of Roosevelt’s national legislative staff met with the Center for Responsible Lending. In the course of discussing Roosevelt’s 25 Ideas, particularly an Idea for capping payday loans at 23% interest (as opposed to fiercely predatory rates of 400% or more), the CRL invited the Roosevelt Institution to send a representative to a hearing before the D.C. City Council. A few days later, co-author and Yale sophomore Ben Lazarus testified in front of the City Council and gave his recommendation. A preliminary vote, in which only one council member abstained, passed an anti-payday lending measure; the final vote has yet to take place.
Payday lending laws that place significant caps on interest rates have been gaining traction in more and more cities. Most existing legislation is designed to protect members of the armed services who, along with low-income communities, have been the targets of predatory lending franchises for years. Lazarus’s recommendations and the D.C. City Council’s measure would extend protection against predatory lending practices to all District residents.
Wisconsin State Legislature—Healthcare Reform: May 2007
On May 1, 2007, Syd Terry III and Rub Huston, both Roosevelt members from the University of Wisconsin, presented to the Wisconsin State Senate’s Committee on Aging And Long Term Care a healthcare proposal that encouraged wider and more affordable coverage for Wisconsinites. The proposal received good feedback from the committee, and the Democratic budget proposal for the coming year included a “universal healthcare” amendment that included some of the recommendations of these Roosevelt members. The Wisconsin Congress is currently reviewing the budget proposal.