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Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions bringing us closer to economic, environmental and social justice.
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Chicago To Establish Reparations Task Force
Chicago became the latest city to launch a reparations task force on Monday. Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order establishing a task force that will study “all policies that have harmed Black Chicagoans from the slavery era to present day” and determine how to redress harms, according to a public statement from the mayor’s office. The executive order comes after the mayor added $500,000 to the latest city budget to study the issue. It also comes as a new study from The New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy revealed that the median net wealth for Black families in Chicago was $0, compared to $210,000 for white families. The gap is the result of consumer debt as well as disparities in homeownership, according to the report. An article by Ta-Nahisi Coates published 10 years ago looked at reparations through the example of redlining in Chicago, and played a role in reinvigorating the contemporary conversation on reparations.
Minimum Wage Law For Ride Hail Drivers Passes in Minnesota Despite Lobbying
Interviews with drivers and documents show that Uber heavily lobbied the state of Minnesota to drop a minimum wage law, NPR reports. The law eventually passed after Governor Tim Walz vetoed previous versions of it, and after Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a citywide version. Documents viewed by NPR show that the companies made claims that fares would jump by 70% without providing evidence and they threatened to leave the state in response to the law. In the Twin Cities area, the median take-home pay for drivers was below the minimum wage before the law. In other states where minimum wage laws were proposed, the companies successfully lobbied to keep classifying drivers as independent contractors.
Kansas Promises Bond-Backed Stadiums Despite Previous Pledges
The state of Kansas is attempting to lure the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals away from Missouri, the AP reports. Kansas officials approved new bonds to build stadiums for both teams, months after voters in Missouri had refused to continue a sales tax for both teams’ stadiums. Decades of research has found that taxpayer-funded stadiums for sports teams almost never return the public’s investment. The state’s stance seemingly contradicts the previous conciliatory posture of Kansas leaders: in 2019, Missouri Governor Mike Parson and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly agreed to end the economic competition between the two states, specifically the practice of using tax incentives to bring new companies over state lines unless the move would produce net new jobs. Both leaders acknowledged at the time that tax giveaways to companies had wasted millions of dollars and brought few jobs.
New York City Raises The Rent, Again
The New York City Rent Guidelines Board, which determines rent increases for the city’s one million rent-stabilized apartments, voted on Monday to allow rent increases of 2.75% on one-year leases and 5.25% on two-year leases beginning in October. This was despite the fact that a study produced by the Rent Guidelines Board in March found that, “Revenues exceed operating costs in nearly all buildings, yielding funds that can be used for mortgage payments, improvements and/or pretax profit.” Adjusted for inflation, net operating income (revenue after operation costs) for rent-regulated units has increased almost 50% since 1990. While landlord groups claimed that they are unable to make repairs without increasing rents, the March report also noted that only 9.8% of buildings are distressed, or have operating costs that exceed rent revenue. The nine-person Rent Guidelines Board meets once annually and the mayor appoints all members. Several demonstrators, including Assembly members Zohran Mamdani and Marcela Mitaynes, were arrested while protesting outside Hunter College, where the vote was held.
New Rule Will Limit Attempted Bank Withdrawals by Payday Lenders
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will implement new guidelines limiting the ability of payday loan companies to withdraw funds from bank accounts, the agency announced. The agency said it had found payday loan companies were making repeated withdrawal requests from empty bank accounts, in one case noting 11 in one day. Each attempted withdrawal would create a new overdraft fee for borrowers, leaving them in debt several times over because of the lender’s repeated attempts to access nonexistent funds. A 2017 regulation by the agency established that lenders can only make two attempts to withdraw funds, after which it would need authorization from the borrower. The rule was held up in court for years before a lawsuit from the lenders was shot down by the Supreme Court last month.
Curated by Deonna Anderson and Roshan Abraham
MORE NEWS
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At least a dozen colleges and universities have made it more difficult to protest the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In These Times reports
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Several bills in California’s legislature could provide restitution for Black and Latino families whose homes were destroyed or seized by the state through eminent domain. LA Times
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HUD is considering experimenting with cash payouts instead of Section 8 vouchers as a way to curb rampant discrimination against voucher holders. Vox
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An audit of New York City’s surveillance tech on shootings found that it gives false alarms 87% of the time. CityLab
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Poughkeepsie just voted to opt into the New York state’s rent stabilization law. Times Union
OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES
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The Urban Design Forum is accepting applications for its 2024 Forefront Fellowship, Lifelong, during which cohort members will “imagine a New York City where older adults can thrive with support and dignity.” UDF is hosting an info session on June 27 and apps are due on July 15. Learn more here.
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The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies released its 2024 State of the Nation’s Housing report. Access it here.
EVENTS
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June 20th at 2 p.m. Eastern: Nonprofit Quarterly and Shelterforce are hosting a panel about policies across the U.S. that help tenants purchase their homes. Speakers include people who have been reporting on, fighting for, and using these policies will offer their perspectives on this powerful tool. Register today.
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June 24 at 2 p.m. Eastern: The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City is hosting a webinar about racial equity in America’s new industrial transformation. Register here.
Roshan Abraham is Next City’s housing correspondent and a former Equitable Cities fellow. He is based in Queens. Follow him on Twitter at @roshantone.