Post by the Scribe on Aug 31, 2020 1:35:13 GMT
Passed historic criminal justice reform, prison reform, opportunity zones and long-term funding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and before the China virus came in, produced the best unemployment numbers for African-Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans ever recorded.
Passed as a part of the 2017 tax-cut law, the “opportunity zones” program allows investors to defer and lower their capital gains taxes if they invest in certain low-income communities. The impact of the policy is difficult to measure because the government is not collecting detailed data on the investments. Critics have charged that it has benefited wealthy investors more than poor residents.
On criminal justice reform, President Trump signed the First Step Act into law in 2018. The law had bipartisan support. It reduced prison sentences for certain offenses and offered incentives for prisoners to participate in training and rehabilitation programs to help prepare them for life after incarceration.
www.npr.org/2019/04/01/708326846/3-months-into-new-criminal-justice-law-success-for-some-and-snafus-for-others
Ayesha Rascoe
NPR White House Reporter
African American, Asian American and Hispanic unemployment did indeed hit their lowest points on record prior to the coronavirus pandemic, continuing a fall that began in the Obama administration.
That said, long-standing racial and ethnic discrepancies have remained. For example, prior to the pandemic, the Black unemployment rate was regularly roughly twice the white unemployment rate. That trend has held for decades. In addition, the jobless rate for white Americans has so far fallen from its pandemic peak more quickly than the rate for Black Americans.
One additional caveat is that presidents generally do not deserve a lot of credit for a booming economy.
www.npr.org/2018/01/08/576552028/fact-check-trump-touts-low-unemployment-rates-for-african-americans-hispanics
Danielle Kurtzleben
NPR Political Reporter
Passed as a part of the 2017 tax-cut law, the “opportunity zones” program allows investors to defer and lower their capital gains taxes if they invest in certain low-income communities. The impact of the policy is difficult to measure because the government is not collecting detailed data on the investments. Critics have charged that it has benefited wealthy investors more than poor residents.
On criminal justice reform, President Trump signed the First Step Act into law in 2018. The law had bipartisan support. It reduced prison sentences for certain offenses and offered incentives for prisoners to participate in training and rehabilitation programs to help prepare them for life after incarceration.
www.npr.org/2019/04/01/708326846/3-months-into-new-criminal-justice-law-success-for-some-and-snafus-for-others
Ayesha Rascoe
NPR White House Reporter
African American, Asian American and Hispanic unemployment did indeed hit their lowest points on record prior to the coronavirus pandemic, continuing a fall that began in the Obama administration.
That said, long-standing racial and ethnic discrepancies have remained. For example, prior to the pandemic, the Black unemployment rate was regularly roughly twice the white unemployment rate. That trend has held for decades. In addition, the jobless rate for white Americans has so far fallen from its pandemic peak more quickly than the rate for Black Americans.
One additional caveat is that presidents generally do not deserve a lot of credit for a booming economy.
www.npr.org/2018/01/08/576552028/fact-check-trump-touts-low-unemployment-rates-for-african-americans-hispanics
Danielle Kurtzleben
NPR Political Reporter