Weekly Newsletter 9.5.2023
I hope you had a Happy Labor Day! Prior to the holiday weekend, I celebrated National Black Business Month, toured the Port of Virginia’s Richmond Marine Terminal, met with the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond to discuss my work in Congress and their priorities, joined Faithful Politics Podcast to talk about my first five months in Congress, attended a reception at the Vice President’s residence celebrating Black women in elected office, and more.
THIS WEEK IN THE DISTRICT
Celebrating National Black Business Month
August was National Black Business Month, which highlights the contributions of Black-owned businesses to the U.S. economy and in promoting diversity and equity. According to the Pew Research Center, about 3% of American businesses are Black-owned and nearly 58% of Black adults believe supporting Black businesses is a highly effective way to advance equality for Black individuals in the United States.
To celebrate Black Business Month, I visited Virginia State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship at the Reginald F. Lewis College of Business, an education, research, networking, and business planning hub for entrepreneurs in the Richmond MSA. I met with several entrepreneurs who have benefitted from the Center’s programs and learned more about how the Center helps the region's large minority, military and veteran, and student populations launch and operate successful, socially-responsible ventures. I also spoke with business students and answered their questions about my work in Congress. You can read more about my visit in this Progress-Index article.
I also hosted a roundtable discussion last week with the Metropolitan Business League, U.S. Small Business Administration District Director Carl Knoblock, and several Black business owners to discuss the challenges Black business owners face, resources available from the SBA, and pending Congressional action that could impact both. A consistent theme I hear from Black and small business owners is the lack of access to capital. The SBA has created a Lender Match tool to connect small businesses to local lenders, and a look-up tool for SBA-backed non-profit organizations with the authority to issue microloans up to $50,000 to help small businesses and certain not-for-profit childcare centers start up and expand.
Unfortunately, House Republicans advanced out of committee a FY2024 Financial Services funding bill that deprioritizes the SBA, cutting $163.5 million from the Biden-Harris Administration's funding request and $72.4 million below 2023 funding levels. The bill cuts the SBA’s Entrepreneurial Development Programs $34.8 million from the Administration's request and $20.8 million below 2023 funding levels. Additionally, the bill prohibits the SBA from further funding or transferring funds to the COVID-19–era Community Navigators program, which was authorized under American Rescue Plan Act to reduce barriers that underrepresented and underserved entrepreneurs often face in accessing the programs they need to recover, grow, or start their businesses. The bill also prohibits the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from using funds to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the collection of data on lending to women and minority-owned businesses. I oppose these cuts and hope they can be reversed when the House addresses the bill on the floor.
Richmond Marine Terminal Tour
Last week I toured the Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT), formerly known as the Port of Richmond, to learn more about its critical role in the Virginia economy and America’s supply chain. Owned by the City of Richmond and managed by the Port of Virginia, RMT is the westernmost commercial maritime port in the eastern United States and handles a wide variety of shipping. It is a key facility to the Port of Virginia’s role as the largest transport hub for military support equipment and supplies, and the primary domestic and international freight and distribution gateway for Central Virginia. Its weekly container-on-barge service from Hampton Roads to Richmond provides a maritime alternative to I-64 for transporting goods, relieving congestion and emissions by removing container traffic from local roads and highways.
THIS WEEK IN WASHINGTON
60th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Justice and Freedom
Last Monday marked the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Most famous for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech, the March was organized by A. Phillip Randolph and a coalition of civil rights organizations under the umbrella Council for United Civil Rights Leadership. The March’s goals were:
- Passage of meaningful civil rights legislation;
- Immediate elimination of school segregation;
- A program of public works, including job training, for the unemployed;
- A Federal law prohibiting discrimination in public or private hiring;
- A $2-an-hour minimum wage nationwide (equivalent to nearly $20 today);
- Withholding Federal funds from programs that tolerate discrimination;
- Enforcement of the 14th Amendment by reducing congressional representation from States that disenfranchise citizens;
- A Fair Labor Standards Act broadened to include employment areas then excluded; and
- Authority for the Attorney General to institute injunctive suits when constitutional rights of citizens are violated.
Thousands of people gathered in Washington last weekend to commemorate the 60th anniversary and highlight how far we have come－and still have to go－to achieve the goals of the march. Today, Black Americans and other historically marginalized communities continue to face immense challenges, including a lack of access to comprehensive, culturally competent health care, which results in alarming health disparities; widespread efforts to disenfranchise voters and limit access to the ballot box; and a rise in physical violence spurred by social and racial prejudice.
Unfortunately, the most famous passage of Dr. King’s speech from the March is used by MAGA Republicans to justify attacks on the very work he called for that day to redress the inequity resulting from over 300 years of slavery and Jim Crow. I reflected in a Richmond Free Press op-ed that they should read the entire speech, and we must all recommit to redeeming the promissory note of the Declaration of Independence and make Dr. King’s entire dream as articulated 60 years ago a reality for every American.
Voting Rights Legislation
To coincide with the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, I joined Representative Nikema Williams (GA-05) and House and Senate Democrats to introduce a package of eight bills to safeguard voting rights and protect American democracy. They include:
- Expanding the VOTE Act: (passed the Judiciary Committee via bipartisan markup in 117th Congress) This bill gives jurisdictions the resources to provide more translations of election materials and ensure everyone, regardless of their level of English language proficiency, can equitably participate in our democracy.
- Sustaining Our Democracy Act: This provides grant funding for states and local jurisdictions to improve and innovate their election administration procedures.
- Voters on the Move Registration Act(included in Freedom to Vote Act): This provides voters with information on how to register to vote and their voting rights under law as they move residences.
- Unhoused Voter Opportunity Through Elections (VOTE) Act: This provides protections and minimum standards for accessibility to voting for unhoused people and provides resources for efforts to expand access to the ballot for unhoused people.
- Election Mail Act: This improves the delivery and processing of election mail by setting minimum standards and improving USPS processes.
- People Over Long Lines (POLL) Act: This sets minimum standards for how long people may wait in line to vote and provides resources to reduce voter wait times.
- Youth Voting Rights Act:This bill enforces the bipartisan passed Twenty-Sixth Amendment and ensures eligible youth voters can access the ballot box.
- Time Off to Vote Act: This bill mandates that all workers receive protected time off in order to vote.
As I’ve repeatedly said, voting rights are personal to me, as my parents’, grandparents’, and great grandparents’ experience with voter discrimination during the Jim Crow era have motivated me to ensure that in our government by, of, and for the people, the right to vote is sacred. My very first bill passed in the Virginia General Assembly made absentee voting easier, and in 2021, I worked with Delegate Marcia Price to pass TheVoting Rights Act of Virginia, making Virginia the first state in the South with its own comprehensive voting rights act. Now in Congress, I am proud to be a member of theTask Force on Strengthening Democracyand cosponsor the slate of bills introduced last week. Since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the federal Voting Rights Act in Shelby v. Holder, conservative state legislatures across the country have passed legislation restricting access to the ballot. This slate of bills will reverse these alarming trends by protecting and expanding access to the ballot box and strengthening the nation’s physical and human election infrastructure.
UPCOMING EVENTS
In-person Town Hall - TOMORROW – September 6th!
Tomorrow is my first in-person town hall at the Parham Road Campus of Reynolds Community College in the Lipman Auditorium. I look forward to discussing my work in Congress and hearing your priorities. You can RSVPhere.Hope to see you there!