Join us in demanding that President Joe Biden fights for real policy changes that will uplift and empower Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian and Latinx communities unlike ever before and hold all elected officials accountable for a fair and equitable government.
Add your name to the People’s Transition Memo!
This is Biden’s mandate and what his administration must do to salvage our country. To overcome the harms of the past four years, we need transformative policies that address our systemic inequities, create opportunities for all people and keep us healthy and safe.
Our nation is at an inflection point. The past four years of the Trump administration have been consumed by inhumane, harsh policies, utter disregard for democratic principles and disastrous responses to every crisis we have faced. Our communities came together not only to repudiate the atrocities of the Trump administration but to implement an entirely new vision for our country. We cannot go back to business as usual. This is our opportunity to shape the future we know is possible.
Our communities voted in historic numbers. Biden was elected with a mandate: for access to health care, for humane immigration policies, for transformation of our justice system, for meaningful change.
Over the past four years, we marched for justice, protected one another since the start of the pandemic and rejected every attempt to divide us. We are now fighting for a better future and we begin this fight by ensuring that Biden has our back.
We demand:
that every person is guaranteed a voice in our democracy and that the government represents the will of the people.
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A guaranteed people-powered democracy. Put an end to racial discrimination in voting. End the disenfranchisement of the millions of people impacted by the criminal legal system. Tighten lobbying laws and require disclosure of dark money in elections to expose and regulate the corporations and special interests that are distorting our democracy. Create electoral districts that actually represent the voters. Remove all barriers to voting, including for people with disabilities.
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An end to broken government policies and institutions. End the use of procedural practices, like the filibuster, that prevent Congress from making even common sense progress through legislation. Enact reforms that ensure our federal courts are fair, diverse and responsive, including structural reforms to the highest court.
decisive and immediate action to dismantle structural racism, end police violence against Black and Brown people and create equal opportunities in all aspects of life for communities of color.
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A transformed criminal legal system. End all federal revenue streams for state and local law enforcement including the militarization of local police forces. End all federal funding for police, surveillance, and criminalizing infrastructure in schools. Invest in counseling, mental and physical health care, and restorative justice programs instead of criminalizing Black and Brown young people. Commit significant federal resources to support safety initiatives outside of policing, including violence interruption, non-police 911 emergency response and mental health outreach. Enact provisions ensure the release of those in civil immigration detention, decarceration of federal prisons, and incentives to states and localities to reduce jail and prison populations and admissions.
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Significant investments in equity and repairing historic wealth stripping. Enact reparations to correct for centuries of domination, exclusion and a history of structural racism for Black and Indigenous communities.
adequate and equitable education for all:
- Adequate and equitable education. Provide sufficient and equitable funding for states and school districts. Continue the prohibition on the use of stimulus funding for private schools and for-profit charters and charter expansion. End all federal funding for police in schools. Invest in teachers, school nurses, school counselors and restorative justice. Investment in the expansion of schools that are based on a partnership between school staff, families, youth and the community.
respect and dignity for all immigrant communities.
- Secure fundamental human rights for immigrants. Provide an inclusive and swift pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants. End U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, detentions and deportations, and ultimately abolish ICE. Create a supportive system that immigrants can navigate with dignity. Include all immigrants in COVID-19 relief measures and any other health and economic relief policies.
equal access to quality healthcare.
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Guaranteed healthcare for everyone. Ensure every person has access to healthcare and can afford the medication they need, with targeted relief for communities that need healthcare the most. Repeal and repair all harmful actions taken to weaken the Affordable Care Act. Provide free COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccines. Fully fund healthcare services for communities that continue to be denied them, including immigrants and Indigenous communities. Ensure full and fair access to services for people with disabilities. Support policies to end the opioid epidemic, like the CARE Act.
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Long-term care assistance. President Biden made a bold commitment to CPD staff member, Ady Barkan, to finally provide everyone with long term care to people in their homes or wherever they want to receive it. We pledge to make this a reality.
economic justice during the pandemic and beyond.
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Protection for all workers. Secure unemployment insurance and paycheck guarantee throughout the pandemic for all who lose income, regardless of immigration status. Raise the federal minimum wage to a level that enables people to actually support themselves and their families. Ensure workers never have to choose between earning a paycheck and caring for a child or sick family member. Protect workers who speak out against abuses and guarantee their ability to stand up against violations. Create jobs that combat environmental injustice.
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Put people before profits. Repeal corporate giveaways and tax cuts to the wealthy. Regulate private equity firms and hedge funds. Break up corporate monopolies like Amazon to protect workers and communities and implement community control over platforms that function as economic infrastructure. Ban the surveillance of workers and community members by platform corporations for profit.
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Safe and affordable housing for all. For the duration of the pandemic, extend eviction and foreclosure moratoriums and forgive rent and mortgage payments for all, regardless of immigration status. Prevent abuse of tenants by increasing their protections and regulating corporate landlords. Build affordable green homes. Enact reparations for Black families related to racist housing policies, including the racially predatory policies that led to the 2008 foreclosure crisis.
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A just recovery for Puerto Rico. Provide the resources to ensure a just recovery for Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria and other disasters. Cancel the debt and hold vulture funds accountable for their predatory tactics. Initiate a process of decolonization and self-determination that allows the people of Puerto Rico to pave their own future.
