Building from the Bottom Up and the Middle Out: Biden Speaks to the Nation on Opportunity, Equity and Growth
Matt Josephs, LISC senior vice president for policy, takes a look at the president’s State of the Union address and what it might mean for efforts to bridge gaps in health, wealth and opportunity throughout the country.
For those of us in community development, the annual State of the Union (SOTU) address is a checkpoint for key policy priorities. We listen for clues about new or changing federal efforts that impact economic opportunity and family well-being—especially for communities long scarred by discrimination and disinvestment.
Rarely, however, does the SOTU take place at a time so fraught with global risk. As he opened his remarks last night, President Biden spoke about the heart-breaking missives we have all seen from Kyiv and Kharkiv, as well as the unified international response to the invasion of Ukraine. In doing so, he connected the dots of an unwavering view of what America can and should be—both at home and around the world.
The president rightly reiterated the U.S.’s allegiance to the people of Ukraine along with a call for national unity at home that he hopes can also extend to his domestic priorities. His call for “Building a Better America” rebrands his administration’s domestic economic agenda in order to help families prosper during this challenging period.
I was particularly struck by a phrase he used to describe much of his domestic strategy: building our economy “from the bottom up and the middle out.” It seems an apt frame for describing the community development field as well. The simple truth is that there is a great deal of untapped talent and economic power in our communities. It is our job to promote the policies and programs that help unleash it.
Financial Stability
When the president spoke of jobs, he talked about hiring people “based on their skills, not degrees,” refuting the idea that four years of college is the only path to opportunity. We have seen the value of that comprehensive skills-based approach first-hand in LISC Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs), as they offer a range of education, training, financial coaching and wrap-around social services to 20,000 people each year.
Through various programs, like Bridges to Career Opportunities, FOCs connect workers to the skills they need to participate in growth industries. They prepare them for apprenticeships, certifications, and community college programs that directly connect to career pathways. And they coordinate with local employers so they can find the workers they need to succeed. It is a winning strategy that gives families the chance to build financial security, while also promoting local economic growth.
Public investments in these types of workforce development efforts are invaluable. Any economic agenda must include provisions to increase access to high-quality education, skill-building, and job-readiness programs so people are better prepared to succeed in our 21st century economy. Support for Registered Apprenticeships and other paid job-training programs, like a new Civilian Climate Corps at AmeriCorps, and initiatives to strengthen employer partnerships to place more workers into living wage jobs, are imperative.
Affordable Housing
The president rightly singled out affordable housing as a critical component to lowering costs for families in the midst of rising inflation. Rents have been outpacing income gains for years, and data indicates that the housing supply is at its lowest point in recorded history. Quality affordable housing ensures families have more disposable income, and it directly connects to key priorities like family wealth-building, community safety, racial equity and health. (Read more about this in Racial Equity and Affordable Housing Go Hand in Hand.)
We need to increase the supply of both affordable rental housing and homes for homeownership. LISC has been a strong supporter of the administration’s efforts to expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, which finances production of most affordable rental housing in the country, as well as the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, a new proposed tax credit which would spur the development and rehabilitation of for-sale homes in disinvested areas. NHIA would help revitalize both urban and rural communities, while also creating new wealth-building opportunities for minority and first-time homebuyers.
“Lower your costs, not your wages,” the president said of his twin goals of slowing inflation while helping people navigate recent price hikes. Expanding access to affordable housing is a key piece of that strategy.
Child Care and Early Learning
The president also identified childcare costs as a substantial burden on lower income families, as well as a significant factor in keeping people out of the workforce. We agree that early care and education programs are essential parts of every neighborhood – they prepare young children for success in school and life, support working parents, and improve the welfare of families. We also know that space is important: the quality of indoor and outdoor spaces profoundly impacts the health, safety and well-being of providers and children, and directly influences development. A facility’s layout, size, materials and design features can improve program quality and contribute positively to child development, while a poorly adapted and overcrowded environment undermines it.
We wholeheartedly support the president’s call to provide additional child care subsidies and his support for universal pre-k, but also believe that increasing access to affordable, quality child care and pre-k expansion cannot happen without an investment in child care facilities, which have no dedicated, stand-alone source of federal funding. We strongly encourage the federal government to commit to: 1) conducting a national child care facilities needs assessment; 2) providing a dedicated funding stream to support the development and rehabilitation of childcare centers; and 3) providing technical assistance and capacity- building services to childcare providers, including home-based providers.
Digital Inclusion
The president took a victory lap for enacting the bi-partisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which among its many critical provisions includes record amounts of funding to support broadband internet access in all communities —a top priority for LISC, especially in the thousands of rural counties where our community partners work. LISC is particularly pleased that the new law includes not just investments in the physical broadband infrastructure, but also provides new funding for digital equity programs that improve accessibility and affordability for lower income families, including digital navigators that can help families address home connectivity, learn digital skills, and find resources related to digital inclusion. (Read more in our comment to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.)
Community Safety and Justice
The president made very clear his approach to funding law enforcement: “Fund the police with the resources they need to protect our communities.” The president then called for more resources to support proven safety strategies like community policing, and working with community violence interrupters and other “trusted messengers” to break the cycle of violence and trauma that afflict many of our communities. These tools have been a critical part of the LISC playbook for years, as we work with community organizations, law enforcement, the Department of Justice and other stakeholders to make residents safer and keep young people for being unnecessarily caught in the criminal justice system. (Read more in Federal Violence Intervention Policies Need to Put Communities at the Center.)
Climate Resiliency
Finally, I was encouraged by the president’s comments on climate resiliency, which is vital to the well-being of our economy and our communities. It is impossible to divorce racial justice, economic justice and environmental justice from each other. They are all connected, whether we are talking about clean drinking water or alternative energy sources or toxic cleanups. We are fully supportive of the administration’s efforts to promote green banks, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and fuel efforts by community investors to make development projects energy efficient. They are investments in a healthier, more equitable future.
Many of these proposals have bi-partisan support because they directly connect to a broadly shared prosperity--one that breaks down barriers based on race, class, gender and geography so that people have the chance to reach their full potential. They also reflect the nation’s hope for recovery from the pandemic, one in which no community is left behind as we move forward.
“We are the only nation on earth that has always turned every crisis we have faced into an opportunity,” the president said, “the only nation that can be defined by a single word: possibilities.” Let’s call on Congress to help turn these possibilities into reality.
Additional information about LISC’s policy priorities can be found here.
Matt Josephs, Senior Vice President, LISC Policy
Matt manages the team that is responsible for developing LISC’s federal policy agenda; communicating this agenda to LISC employees, board members, funders and other stakeholders; and pursuing this agenda through engagement with members of Congress and other federal officials.
@LISC_policy