Campaign News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 19, 2021

CONTACT: press@populardemocracy.org

NEW YORK - In response to Sen. Manchin (D-WV) saying today that he won’t support the Build Back Better bill, Ana María Archila, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy, issued the following statement:

“We are devastated that Sen. Manchin has chosen to work with Republicans to kill a lifesaving bill that would provide working families support they desperately need, especially during a pandemic. CPD Action has worked tirelessly for months to pass BBB because we believe it’s our best chance to address the critical, interconnected challenges facing our communities: healthcare, housing, climate change, paid leave, economic justice and immigration. 

“And with a single Fox News appearance, that lifeline may be gone — for tens of millions across America, and for the one in 5 children in West Virginia who live in poverty, the 170,000 West Virginia children who benefit from the expanded Child Tax Credit, and the 26% of adults in his state who have lost their natural teeth because of lack of dental coverage. 

“Sen. Manchin could have stood with his Democratic colleagues to endorse vision, hearing and dental coverage for our seniors through expanded Medicaid. He could have worked to bring 17,000 new jobs to West Virginia each year, including employment in a growing, sustainable 21st century energy industry. Instead, he’s chosen to side with his billionaire friends and those in the coal industry.

“We work for ‘popular democracy’ — the idea that all voices in a thriving democracy should be heard — so we find it especially galling that one Senator from a small state can single-handedly undermine the agenda that millions of voters, especially from our Black, brown, low-income and immigrant communities, turned out to support in 2020. 

“This outcome is undemocratic and unacceptable. Our people deserve elected officials who put their interests first, and our communities deserve bold, transformational policies that replace broken systems with something better.

“We will continue to fight for safe, secure and affordable housing, expanded healthcare access, a pathway to citizenship and a plan to address climate change that is ambitious enough to match this moment of existential crisis. We will continue to fight to Build Back Better.”

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ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY

The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 9, 2021

CONTACT: press@populardemocracy.org

Washington, DC -- Today, the Unrig the Courts Coalition released the following statement on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States:

“While we deeply appreciate the efforts of some of the commissioners to try to issue a report that actually wrestled with the solutions to the existential crises facing the Supreme Court, we are disappointed to see that this final report is little more than a pros and cons list. Based on the Commission’s report, you’d hardly know there was anything wrong with the Court, let alone that the six conservative extremist justices are casually preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade and 50 years of precedent on abortion rights, not because there’s a constitutional reason to do so, but because their loyalty to Republican politics and power demands it. 

“This is a Court that has fallen irretrievably into partisanship. Not only are they poised to gut reproductive rights, they’ve already destroyed workers’ rights, torn up the Voting Rights Act twice, granted personhood to corporations, and allowed a flood of money to corrupt our democracy. This is not a Court whose conservative membership can be redeemed. If the Commission won’t say it, then we will: the only solution now is to expand the Supreme Court.

“We call on Congress to pass the Judiciary Act immediately, and add four seats to the Supreme Court, so we can restore balance and integrity to this damaged institution.”

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The Unrig the Courts Coalition is a coalition dedicated to structural court reforms, the most important of which is expanding the Supreme Court. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 19, 2021

CONTACT: press@populardemocracy.org

NEW YORK - In response to the U.S. House of Representatives passing the Build Back Better bill, Jennifer Epps Addison of the Center for Popular Democracy, issued the following statement:

“The passage of the Build Back Better bill by the House is a historic achievement. It is a victory for the community organizations who worked tirelessly to elect progressive champions and put Biden in the White House and have kept the pressure on Democratic leaders to push for transformational change. The Build Back Better bill passing the House is the first step towards creating a more resilient and equitable country. It now rests on the Senate to pass the full bill.

“Real, lasting change requires replacing broken systems with something better. It requires investing in and supporting our Black, brown, low-income and immigrant communities with bold, transformational policies. 

“The Build Back Better bill addresses many of the critical, interconnected challenges facing our communities: healthcare, housing, climate change, paid leave, economic justice and immigration. We thank our progressive leaders for demanding a big, bold package for our communities, and we are proud to continue to stand with them.

“But despite the significant victories won in this bill, it still falls short of what our communities desperately need and short of the original promises of the Build Back Better agenda. Corporate interests, unwilling to pay their fair share in taxes and determined to continue gouging working families, successfully lobbied for a narrower bill.

“In particular, the temporary immigration protections in the House bill fall significantly short of what our communities need, expect and deserve. The Senate can and must pass a pathway to citizenship, which begins with green cards. Immigrants have been on the frontlines of pandemic response, and we cannot ‘build back better’ without the protections of permanent residency. Seventy percent of the American public supports creating a pathway to citizenship, and we will not accept any excuses for broken promises. We urge the Senate to pass the full Build Back Better bill with a pathway to citizenship.

“We will continue to fight for safe, secure and affordable housing, expanded healthcare access, a pathway to citizenship and a plan to address climate change that is ambitious enough to match this moment of existential crisis.”

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ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY

The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 15, 2021 CONTACT: press@populardemocracy.org

NEW YORK – In response to President Biden signing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework today, Jennifer Epps Addison of the Center for Popular Democracy, issued the following statement:

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework includes billions of dollars of investment in infrastructure that our communities need to thrive, including:

$55 billion to provide safe drinking water to millions of children at home and at school;

$90 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility for millions of US workers through a historic investment in public transit;

And $65 billion to update the nation’s power grid, facilitating the expansion of a sustainable energy industry based on renewables.

“These provisions represent important victories for CPD/A Network members like Flint Rising, which has been fighting for serious federal action to protect children from lead poisoning for years.

“Still, this bill falls far short of the investment needed to meet the challenges we all face. A strong, equitable economy requires that we invest not just in roads and bridges but also in programs that ensure that the people who use them are able to live with dignity.

“As Veronica Coptis, Executive Director of the Center for Coalfield Justice explained, 

“‘For generations, our community has been dependent on the coal industry while simultaneously having our health compromised by the terrible environmental effects on our air and water. The bill passed in the House includes billions to begin to clean up some of this damage while also offering our communities much-needed jobs. But it doesn’t change the system that left us so vulnerable in the first place. For that, we need more than clean-up — we need significant investments in our health, our families and our children.’

“The Build Back Better bill provides this missing piece, strengthening communities like Veronica’s through investments in healthcare, housing, climate change, paid leave, economic justice and immigration--which must come in the form of a pathway to citizenship. 

“Congress must work to deliver on the promise of President Biden’s full agenda, to begin to transform our society into one that values the health and vitality of communities over the profits of corporations. 

“The millions of people who have been demanding change from our leaders are not done. We will continue to fight for transformational change and for the well-being and dignity of all of us. We will continue to press the power of the people against the power of corporate interests. And we will win.”

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ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY

The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level.