Jay Johnson on Why We Need A National Movement at Populism 2015

Every speaker from throughout the country at Populism 2015 last weekend in Washington, D.C. was inspiring. Among them, Virginia Organizing Treasurer Jay Johnson especially nailed it, rallying the crowd during a Saturday plenary session.

“We need a national movement like we’re trying to build here,” said Jay. “It needs to be grounded in and owned by community organizations that are committed to building power within their states.”

Watch the full clip of Jay Johnson here , or watch the full opening plenary video at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDnTzgoNUMc.

Progressive Leaders Unveil Shared Populist Agenda

MEDIA ADVISORY CONTACTS:   Populism2015 logo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jacob Swenson-Lengyel (jacob@npa-us.org), 312-316-3973

PROGRESSIVE LEADERS UNVEIL SHARED POPULIST AGENDA

Populism2015 Conference Will Bring 1,000 People From Across the Country Together in Washington, D.C. this Weekend

Washington, D.C. – Progressive leaders today unveiled a new shared populist agenda on a media conference call in advance of the Populism2015 conference. This agenda is galvanizing the progressive populist community and defining the debate going into the 2016 elections.

“There is a bottom-up progressive populist sentiment building in this country,” said George Goehl, Executive Director of National People’s Action, “It’s no secret that we are looking for political leadership, but we are also not waiting for that leadership. Populism2015 and the agenda we are organizing is one sign of that. The ideas in our agenda create a clear line in the sand for all candidates. At the end of the day the question is simple: do you stand with everyday people or do you stand with big-monied corporate interests?”

“This platform has been shaped by the key issues that determine the direction of our communities and our national economy,” said Roger Hickey of the Campaign for America’s Future. “We are taking the questions raised by our platform to the national political debate and to communities across the country.”

“In 18 months, we will go to the polls and choose a new president. Those candidates and all the others on the ballot in 2016 will have choices to make,” said Fred Azcarate, Executive Director of US Action, “Will they stand with working families and advance bold ideas that create an economy and a democracy that works for us all? Or will they side with the rich and Wall Street?”

“When you organize, you can win. Our power is in our numbers,” said LeeAnn Hall, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Just Society. “Our organizations have worked together on many issues to put the powerful on notice and to demand accountability from corporations ­– and from Congress.  We will use that strength to wrest our nation back from the corporate class, from the bankers and billionaires who put profits ahead of people.”

“Collectively we bring together a team of 600 organizers who will fight to move these ideas into the national conversation,” said Goehl. “They will be working in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and beyond to make sure candidates of both parties have to articulate where they stand on these issues.”

Populism2015 is sponsored by National People’s Action, Campaign for America’s Future, USAction, and Alliance for a Just Society, four organizations that collectively employ more than 600 professional organizers, with on the ground operations in 32 states, and a network of more than two million activists. For more information visit https://populism2015.org/

What:         POPULISM2015: BUILDING A MOVEMENT FOR PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

Who:        National People’s Action, Campaign for America’s Future, USAction, Alliance for a Just Society

When:     Saturday, April 18 – Monday, April 20, 2015 Registration 3 p.m. April 18 | First session: 6 p.m.

Where:     Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington D.C.

Highlights:
Plenary: Sun. April 19, 1:30 pm with Rep. Keith Ellison and Vien Truong of the Greenlining Institute
Rally: “Don’t Trade Away Our Future,” Mon. April 20, 12pm at 600 17th Street NW, Office of the US Trade Representative, Opposing Fast Track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership featuring Senator Bernie Sanders, CWA President Larry Cohen, National Radio Commentator Jim Hightower

Website:     populism2015.org

Social Media:  #Populism2015, #PeoplePlanet1st

Leaders Available for Interviews Before Conference

  • Robert Borosage, Campaign for America’s Future

  • George Goehl, National People’s Action

  • LeeAnn Hall, Alliance for A Just Society

  • Fred Azcarate, USAction

    To arrange interviews with the conference leaders and grassroots activists contact Isaiah J. Poole (ipoole@ourfuture.org), 202-641-1414 or Jacob Swenson-Lengyel (jacob@npa-us.org), 312-316-3973.

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CHIP’s Two-Year Reprieve

This week, Congress passed legislation funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program for an additional two years. The bill passed with strong majorities and bipartisan support.

There’s the good news in that legislative development: the bill included none of the attacks on CHIP – including provisions specifically targeting immigrant children – that had surfaced in previous proposals. CHIP will remain strong as one of the country’s most important health coverage programs, thanks to a vigorous defense from community groups across the country.

But Congress has still put CHIP on a two-year deadline. With this kind of short-term funding, kids and their families – including kids with ongoing courses of treatment – can’t feel secure about their health care. Two years isn’t enough – no one’s health care follows that kind of legislative calendar, and kids’ health care shouldn’t be expected to.

“Breaking Barriers” Research Uncovers Disparities in Health Care Access

As more families get health insurance, it’s becoming clear that despite the many advances of the Affordable Care Act, we must do more to fundamentally change our health care system. The doors of quality health care are still closed to many people of color, families in rural communities, the poor, and those with language and cultural barriers. 

“Breaking Barriers: Improving health insurance enrollment and access to health care,” is a year-long study that includes a survey of nearly 1,200 low-income people in 10 states in Spanish, Cantonese, and English. They were contacted at food pantries, health clinics, homeless centers, and other locations.

“The Alliance for a Just Society works with partners nationwide who have low income members directly impacted by our health care system, “ said LeeAnn Hall, executive director of the Alliance for a Just Society, which released the report today. “We will continue to fight to see that disparities are addressed and that these recommendations are put in place.”

Report author Gary Delgado is a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Social Change and a longtime civil and human rights leader.

The report details continuing barriers to enrollment and the glaring racial disparities in receiving health care that are magnified as more people gain health insurance. Significant changes need to be made to the system. “Breaking Barriers” includes 20 specific recommendations.

“The Affordable Care Act is a big, new house built on the old foundation,” said Delgado. “We’re still not serving people of color. We need to build a more inclusive health care system.”

While failure to expand Medicaid in 22 states is the biggest barrier to ending disparities in health care, it’s not the only obstacle. For many, cost, lack of technology, language access, and the complexities of health insurance make both enrolling and getting care difficult.

Of those surveyed, 45 percent said they live with a chronic condition. In addition, 54 percent of people of color said they use the hospital or clinic for their primary care.

“One woman told me it sometimes comes down to deciding between medication and food. Her credit is bad because of her high prescription costs,” said Adriann Barboa, of Strong Families New Mexico.

Especially in communities of color and in rural towns, a lack of Internet service is a significant barrier, to signing up for coverage, receiving updates and notices about plans, and paying premiums.

In the “Breaking Barriers” survey, 41.6 percent of Latinos and 47.7 percent of African Americans said they have Internet at home, compared to 77.5 percent of white people asked.

Antron McKay-West, with Upgrade Mississippi, grew up in the Mississippi Delta.

“It is so rural, most people can’t imagine life there. Most people don’t have Internet, if they do, it is very slow, it’s not the technology most are used to,” he said.

“During enrollment, some people were told to just go to the library and use the Internet. In the neighborhood where I grew up, the library is 15 miles away,” said McKay-West.

Nearly 200 organizations from around the country have joined with the Alliance for a Just Society in endorsing recommendations in the report for making sure everyone has access to quality health care.

Recommendations include:

  • Expand Medicaid in the 22 states that have refused to accept federal funding, leaving millions of low-income workers with out health insurance.
  • Expand the role of navigators to help people move from coverage to care.Navigators will teach those with coverage about personal doctors, routine tests, annual checkups and other aspects of health care.
  • Measure results: Require plans to track health outcomes, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, primary language, gender, disability, and sexual orientation.
  • Strengthen community-based health care. Expand school-based health centers in medically under-served communities. Support community providers including clinics, individual physicians, and small community practices.
  • Expand medical-legal partnerships to address issues that lead to poor health in low-income communities such as mold in housing, contamination, and industrial pollutants.
  • Enforce access to preventive care. Ensure that all health plans cover yearly check-ups, immunizations, and screenings at no out-of-pocket cost.

Alliance for a Just Society is a national organizing and research network that has produced pivotal reports for 20 years on state and national health issues including Medicaid, prescription drugs, and insurance industry practices.