Archive by Author

NYC panel approves 5 percent rent hike for stabilized apartments

New York City’s rent-regulated apartment dwellers will now have to cough up more money to live in their homes.  

On Tuesday, the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, which sets rent adjustments for the Big Apple’s roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments, voted to increase rents by 3.25 percent for one-year leases and 5 percent for two-year leases.  

The panel voted 5-4 to approve the rent hike, the largest increase in rent for stabilized units since 2013, in keeping with what the board approved in a preliminary vote last month, according to Bloomberg.  

America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.

The board voted for the rent increase as a means of helping landlords facing higher property taxes and rising cost of managing buildings as inflation reaches a 40-year high.  

Millions of New Yorkers will be impacted by the vote since nearly 2.3 million housing units across the five boroughs are rentals, 44 percent of which are rent stabilized, according to the RGB’s 2022 Housing Supply Report.  

The vote took place during a meeting at Cooper Union where members of different tenant organizations called for a rent freeze or rollback, The New York Times reported.  

New York City dethroned San Francisco as the most expensive city in the country last year, after the pandemic caused rental prices to soar after an initial drop.  Now, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city is $3,590 a month, according to the real estate website Zumper.  

The panel votes every year, but this week’s meeting was more rowdy than in years past given the thousands of New Yorkers who struggled to pay for rent amid the pandemic and who recently lost potential protection from evictions during this year’s legislative session.  

Tuesday’s vote marks a shift from former mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, who kept one-year rent increases to a maximum of 1.5 percent and froze rent on stabilized apartments for four out of his eight-year tenure.  

Current Mayor Eric Adams, a landlord himself, has expressed support for small landlords in the past and has defended rent increases.  

“While we raised our voices and were successful in pushing the increases lower, the determination made by the Rent Guidelines Board today will unfortunately be a burden to tenants at this difficult time — and that is disappointing. At the same time, small landlords are at risk of bankruptcy because of years of no increases at all, putting building owners of modest means at risk while threatening the quality of life for tenants who deserve to live in well-maintained, modern buildings,” said Adams in a statement.   

“This system is broken, and we cannot pit landlords against tenants as winners and losers every year.”  

READ MORE STORIES FROM CHANGING AMERICA

WHY ELON MUSK IS MOVING TESLA FROM CALIFORNIA TO TEXAS

BIDEN TO INVEST $100B ON INTERNET FOR ALL AMERICANS

NEW AMTRAK MAP SHOWS US RAIL NETWORK IT CAN BUILD WITH BIDEN’S INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN

WHAT EXACTLY IS IN BIDEN’S BOLD NEW INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL?

Source: TEST FEED1

Haaland lays out next steps on Native American boarding schools investigation, legislation

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday outlined the next steps her department has planned to address the legacy of abuses at government-run schools for indigenous children and legislation to examine the matter. 

Haaland, the first indigenous Cabinet secretary in U.S. history, testified Wednesday afternoon before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the first volume of Interior’s investigative report into the schools. At these institutions, indigenous children had their hair cut and were forbidden from speaking their native languages, among other efforts to extinguish their heritage and assimilate them into the broader American culture. 

The first Interior report, released in May, found that over a 50-year period, more than 500 children died across 19 schools. 

The hearing also served as a chance to examine S. 2907, a bill to establish a Truth and Healing Commission to address the school system’s legacy. The legislation, which Haaland had sponsored during her time representing New Mexico in the House, would require the commission to develop recommendations for protecting unmarked graves and how to identify the original tribal areas from which the children were taken. It would also create legislative guardrails to keep present-day governmental institutions such as social service agencies from forcibly assimilating native children. 

“Some of the most influential decisions by the department on the lives of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children involve those related to federal Indian boarding schools,” Haaland said. “That is part of America’s story that we must tell. While we cannot change that history, I believe that our nation will benefit from a full understanding of the truth of what took place and a focus on healing the wounds of the past.” 

While Committee Chair Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) vowed to ensure the bill passes the Senate, he asked Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Brian Newland for further recommendations for amendments. Newland recommended that institutions like the National Archives and the Bureau of Indian Affairs’s Trust Fund Administration be included in the commission. 

However, Haaland emphasized that “we support the bill as it is written.”

“We’re going to pass this thing, certainly out of committee and hopefully out of the whole Senate, hut we want to make sure it’s aligned with what you’re already doing and we’re not tripping over a new statute… and then we need to resource it,” Schatz responded. 

Ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) asked Haaland for details on what resources the department needs to properly repatriate remains in connection with the investigation, including whether assistance would be provided to individual families. 

“We are there to make sure the tribes’ wishes and the families’ wishes are met,” Haaland replied, adding that “we would welcome the opportunity to help” in individual cases. She conceded “it’s hard to know a budget” for every possible case that will arise. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Census: 1 in 5 people who had COVID-19 report having long COVID

New data collected by the U.S. government found that nearly one out of five adults who previously had COVID-19 now report having symptoms of long COVID.

The information was sourced through the “Household Pulse Survey” conducted by the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The NCHS began asking about the presence of long COVID at the start of June.

Out of the more than 62,000 adults surveyed, 40 percent said they had had a previous COVID-19 infection. From this group, 19 percent said they were currently experiencing symptoms of long COVID.

Overall, 14 percent of adults with prior infections said they had had post-COVID symptoms at some point.

Of the general population, one out of 13 or 7.5 percent of U.S. adults reported having symptoms of long COVID that lasted three or more months after their initial infection.

Women were found to have a higher rate of long COVID than men, with 9.4 percent reporting the condition compared to 5.5 percent of men.

The rate at which long COVID occurred also varied across states, with Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee ranking among the states with the highest rates. Hawaii, Maryland and Virginia were found to have some of the lowest rates of long COVID.

Early research into the rate at which long COVID occurs has been varied, with some estimates indicating that a majority of people infected with COVID experience the perplexing condition while others found that only a small minority had the corresponding symptoms.

The wide variety of symptoms as well as the unclear definition of long COVID have complicated efforts to study the condition’s prevalence. Symptoms can include fatigue, bodily pain or changes in mental condition.

Source: TEST FEED1

UN ambassador tests positive for COVID-19

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms. 

U.S. mission to the U.N. acting spokesperson Melissa Quartell said in a release that Thomas-Greenfield tested positive Wednesday after taking a PCR test and tested negative as recently as Tuesday. Quartell said Thomas-Greenfield has not recently seen President Biden, who is not considered a close contact, and she is isolating in her home in accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Quartell said Thomas-Greenfield is fully vaccinated and has received a booster shot. 

“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is grateful to the doctors, nurses, and medical staff who provide her and the State Department workforce with exemplary health services and encourages all Americans who are eligible to get fully vaccinated and boosted in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from developing severe COVID-19 illness,” Quartell said. 

Thomas-Greenfield is the latest top Biden administration official to test positive for COVID-19. A majority of the members of Biden’s Cabinet have tested positive for COVID-19 at some point in the pandemic, but Biden has not yet.

Source: TEST FEED1

Rising food and fuel costs increase urgency for Africa's bioeconomy transition

Just as large parts of the world were starting to glimpse the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine set off further shockwaves across the globe, including the largest price increase in food commodities in almost 15 years and the biggest two-year increase in energy prices in nearly five decades. To aggravate the situation, fertilizer prices have multiplied nearly three times in a year.

While the reverberations of these events are felt worldwide, they are set to disproportionately hurt the vulnerable. The Ukraine conflict and COVID-19 have slowed down two decades of economic recovery for Africa. Its agricultural sector is also particularly at risk: threatening recent steady gains in agricultural productivity and a rapidly growing processing sector for staple foods. These twin crises are exacerbating the need to redouble efforts to sustain and deepen Africa’s economic recovery, especially by fostering growth and resilience of the continent’s food systems.

Harnessing the potential and the opportunities of a viable bioeconomy would allow African countries to expand and diversify their food supply, add value to their production, and create well-paying jobs. A recent report published by the Malabo Montpellier Panel, explores how a vibrant bioeconomy can accelerate Africa’s achievement of its development goals.

Broadly speaking, a bioeconomy refers to the production and use of biological resources, as well as how science can help propel innovation toward more sustainable and value-added uses.

In the face of challenges like climate change and population growth, biosolutions have already been gaining traction. The bioeconomy is figuratively, and sometimes literally, the fertile soil for sustainable growth in Africa — including food and nutrition, human and planetary health, as well as the economy as a whole.

Applications within food and agriculture are widespread, ranging from scaling cultivation of underutilized crops to enhancing nutrition through biofortification, or — as in Ghana — targeting investments into market linkages for biomass production. The latter, involving a national program of partnerships between agribusinesses and farmer-based organizations, helped increase farmers’ agricultural productivity by more than 70 percent. For a continent already combatting pests, land degradation and malnutrition, bio-based solutions represent a valuable key to unlocking further food systems resilience.

Another notable area of bioeconomic focus is the nexus cutting across environmental and human health. As climate change is predicted to destabilize agricultural markets all over the African continent, it is crucial for its smallholder farmers to learn to adapt. Nature-based solutions can benefit the planet as well as human health, as is demonstrated by the case of bananas — one of the most produced and consumed fruits in the world. While providing nutrients to millions, bananas are also estimated to generate 114 metric tons of biomass each year. By using this biowaste, it is possible to create a range of products such as biodegradable packaging to protect soft fruits during transport, eliminating the need for plastics made from fossil fuels.

Even more broadly, a robust economic case can be made for widely scaling biosolutions. Through being anchored in nature, biomass products and processes constitute a compelling solution for not only stronger, but also greener, regional economies. Despite how interconnected the world already is, recent shocks have illuminated the need for livelihoods and incomes that can withstand the turbulence — and failures — of global supply chains.

By incorporating areas such as biopharmaceuticals, biochemicals, and agriculture, bioeconomies hold the potential to generate diverse, lucrative livelihoods across the continent. In South Africa alone, it is estimated that the bioeconomy made up eight percent of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product between 2007 and 2020 – a contribution that produced as many as 16 million jobs.

Africa stands before an incredible opportunity. By making use of the momentum of current crises, it can create pathways towards vibrant bioeconomies, with early leadership being shown by countries such as Ghana, Namibia, South Africa and Uganda.

But to do this effectively, governments must take deliberate steps in the right direction. African countries can start by identifying certain “gateway” sectors for their bioeconomy development. These industries can help galvanize action aligning with broader national development goals, which can then expand links to research institutions and markets alike.

In doing this, it is also imperative to raise the demand for bioproducts, as well as to create an enabling policy environment, including the setting up of independent national advisory boards.

Rising food and fuel costs present a major challenge, but Africa can take this as an opportunity to accelerate its move towards a bioeconomy and establish itself as a trailblazer in sustainable growth.

Ousmane Badiane, Ph.D. is the executive chairperson of Africa-based non-profit research organization AKADEMIYA2063. He is also co-chair of Malabo Montpellier Panel, a group of international agriculture experts who guide policy choices that accelerate progress toward food and nutritional security in Africa.

Source: TEST FEED1

Rand Paul vows to introduce amendments to gun safety bill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday condemned parts of the recently announced bipartisan gun safety deal, describing some provisions as “constitutional deficiencies” and vowing to introduce amendments as it comes to the Senate floor.

“Unfortunately, this legislation was assembled as many are – in secret, absent well placed leaks to journalists,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “There doesn’t appear to be a willingness or time provided to read, understand, debate or amend this bill.”

“I will try anyway,” he continued. “To this end, I will introduce amendments to correct the constitutional deficiencies of this bill and hope my colleagues and the Senate leadership will do the same.”

Senate negotiators on Tuesday released the text of a long-awaited deal on gun safety that would take firearms away from dangerous people and provide billions of dollars in new mental health funding, among other measures.     

The Senate quickly voted 64-34 on Tuesday evening to advance the legislation, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and 13 other GOP senators supporting the measure.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he expects the bill to pass the Senate by the end of the week. 

Schumer’s timeline aims to get ahead of the Senate’s upcoming two-week recess. But a quick passage of the legislation requires an agreement from all 100 senators, so Paul could delay the final vote if he doesn’t give way.

Paul said he supports some of the bill’s provisions, like a section that includes juvenile records in background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21.

“Looking at the recent criminal past of anyone is a good idea before assessing gun ownership,” Paul said. “However, that idea was paired with many questionable or bad ones in this legislation.”

He specifically raised concerns over a proposed $750 million funding for states to implement crisis intervention orders, including red flag laws in which a court confiscates a firearm from someone deemed to be a significant danger to themselves or others.

Paul raised due process concerns over some states’ existing red flag laws, explicitly referencing those implemented in New York, Washington and Washington, D.C.

He also criticized a prohibition on using the funds to train or equip school personnel with firearms.

“In fact, we should be doing the opposite, encouraging schools to train and arm proper personnel as desired and needed in their schools,” Paul said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Manufacturers, transportation groups push back on Biden gas tax proposal

Lobbying groups representing manufacturers, construction contractors and civil engineers on Wednesday criticized President Biden’s proposal to suspend the federal gas tax to combat sky-high fuel prices.

The business groups argued that the effort won’t bring relief to consumers at the pump and could derail major transportation projects paid for by the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by the gas tax.

“Our nation achieved historic progress with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but this move is likely to derail its implementation by suddenly disrupting its funding, delaying critical projects that Americans desperately need and that are vital to manufacturers’ competitiveness,” National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement. 

Biden called on Congress to pass a three-month pause on the gas tax, which charges customers 18.4 cents per gallon for gas and 24.4 cents for diesel. He also called on states to suspend their gas taxes. 

The White House aims to offset the loss of tax revenue with other federal funds to ensure that transportation projects continue. 

“With the tax revenues up this year and our deficit down over $1.6 trillion this year alone, we’ll still be able to fix our highways and bring down prices of gas,” Biden said Wednesday. “We can do both at the same time.” 

Still, transportation groups say that ending gas taxes could create uncertainty for highway and public transit projects by taking away a consistent source of revenue. 

The American Public Transportation Association, American Trucking Associations and dozens of other groups sent a letter to Biden Wednesday arguing that the gas tax holiday jeopardizes “the certainty necessary for our state and local partners to plan long-term projects and the association hiring and equipment purchasing required.”

Industry opposition to the gas tax holiday could worsen its chances on Capitol Hill, where Republicans and some prominent Democrats have dismissed the idea. 

While gas prices remain sky-high at around $5 a gallon nationally, the gas tax proposal would likely only bring modest relief. 

A study from the University of Pennsylvania found that suspending the gas tax from March to December would reduce per capita gasoline spending between $16 and $47. The university also found that when states suspended their gas tax, only a portion of the savings were passed down to consumers as retailers pocketed the extra profits. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Fed chief says recession 'a possibility' as bank hikes rates

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Wednesday that the central bank’s battle against high inflation could tip a so-far resilient U.S. economy into a recession.

Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, the Fed chief ceded that the bank’s ongoing series of interest rate hikes could slow the economy enough to halt job gains and economic growth — the two signs of an economy in retreat.

Inducing a recession is “not our intended outcome, but certainly a possibility,” Powell said when asked by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) if the Fed could trigger a downturn.

“And frankly, the events of the last few months around the world have made it more difficult for us to achieve what we want,” he added.

Powell’s appearance before the committee comes amid growing concern over the outlook for the U.S. economy and the rising chances of a recession hitting the nation sometime within the next two years. The Fed last week issued a 0.75 percentage point interest rate hike — the largest since 1994 — after Labor Department data showed inflation continuing to surge in May. 

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials in control of interest rates, was expected to hike rates by 0.5 percentage points at the conclusion of its previously scheduled meeting last month. 

But the FOMC moved faster than Powell and many of his colleagues signaled before the May surge of inflation triggered alarm at the Fed and in financial markets. A sharp rebound in oil prices and shocks to food, fertilizer and other key commodity supplies have also pushed prices higher across the world.

When the Fed hikes interest rates, economic activity tends to slow as consumers and businesses feel the weight of higher borrowing costs. As spending declines, firms are often forced to keep prices stable or cut them, which throws cold water on inflation.

Powell said Wednesday the Fed will likely need to raise rates above a “neutral” level — one that neither stimulates nor constrains the economy — and to a “moderately restrictive” point. Fed officials expect to raise their baseline interest rate to a midpoint of roughly 3 percent by the end of the year, according to projections released last week.

The Fed’s goal is to slow the economy enough to reduce inflation without forcing Americans out of their jobs or stalling the growth altogether. But inflation has continued to surge despite several rapid rate hikes and economists fear it may not come down until the Fed raises rates to a high enough level to slow the economy into recession.

“The other risk, though, is that we would not manage to restore price stability, and then we would allow this high inflation to get entrenched in our economy,” Powell said.

“We know from history that it will hurt the people and we’d like to help—the people on the lower end of the income spectrum who suffer now from high inflation. That will hurt them more than anyone so that we can’t fail on that task.”

Both Democrats and Republicans agreed with Powell’s desire to bring inflation down as quickly as possible, but took vastly different views on how the Fed—and Congress—should tackle rising prices.

Democrats warned Powell against boosting interest rates to bring down inflation caused by forces the Fed chair acknowledged were beyond the bank’s control. When pressed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Powell said higher Fed interest rates could not boost the production of oil, lift Russian blockades on Ukrainian wheat exports, or end other supply shocks driving prices higher.

“Inflation is like an illness and the medicine needs to be tailored to the specific problem. Otherwise, you can make things a lot worse and right now, the Fed has no control over the main drivers of rising prices,” said Warren, who opposed Powell’s recent reconfirmation.

‘You know what’s worse than high inflation and low unemployment? It’s high inflation and a recession with millions of people out of work. And I hope you reconsider that before you drive this economy off a cliff.”

Republicans, meanwhile, criticized Powell and the Fed for not heeding their calls to raise rates as inflation began to rise last year. The Fed held off, expecting inflation to fall as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages driven by the pandemic eased, but was foiled by the delta and omicron variants.

Several GOP senators questioned whether the Fed had the will to induce a recession if necessary. A downturn could be ruinous for millions of Americans, but would give Republicans a clear path to winning back control of Congress in 2022 and possibly the White House in 2024.

“As inflation continues to run rampant. I believe the Federal Reserve and this administration failed the American people,” said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)

“The Federal Reserve still has a long way to go.”

Source: TEST FEED1

How a rulebook for transgender student athletes might look

New state policies about transgender students in school sports may come into direct conflict with federal standards. Supporters both for inclusion and exclusion of transgender athletes say they’re looking for rules that are fair, although not on the same point.

Lauren Smith, Associate Professor of Sports Media at Indiana University, gives a brief introduction to this controversy over who’s allowed to play.

Source: TEST FEED1