The three main anti-LGBT hate groups that conspired to push through North Carolina’s hate law are demanding that state legislators sign a pledge vowing to oppose the repeal of any portion of the law. The Charlotte News & Observerreports:
The Keep N.C. Safe Coalition includes three conservative religious organizations: Tami Fitzgerald’s N.C. Values Coalition, Mark Creech’s Christian Action League and John Rustin’s Family Policy Council. They distributed the pledge to legislators this week; it was posted online Tuesday night by Rep. Darren Jackson, a Knightdale Democrat who opposes House Bill 2.
By signing the pledge, lawmakers promise to “not vote for or support any bills in the N.C. General Assembly that would allow men to use women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, changing rooms, etc. or that would force private persons and businesses to participate in events, engage in speech, or promote ideas that violate their sincerely held beliefs.”
The pledge also says the legislator won’t vote to repeal aspects of House Bill 2 addressing “protections of rights in employment and public accommodations.”
That part puts the pledge at odds with McCrory’s request in an executive order last week. He called on legislators to restore state residents’ ability to sue employers in state court when alleging discrimination. HB2 requires those lawsuits to be filed only in federal court, a more difficult process.
Lastly, the pledge includes a promise not to add sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression to any state law or nondiscrimination policy. All three conservative religious groups have opposed the section of McCrory’s executive order that banned discrimination in state government employment related to those categories.
VIDEO: Here’s a flashback to these hate groups in 2012 when they celebrated the passage of North Carolina’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
A coalition of religious groups that pressed the General Assembly to pass House Bill 2 last month quickly scrapped a plan Wednesday to have state lawmakers sign a pledge to support it. Rep. Darren Walker, D-Wake, said the pledge erases any doubts that House Bill 2 is discriminatory legislation.
“It says it right here and makes it very clear they want to be able to put signs up on businesses that say ‘No Gays Allowed,'” Jackson said. “I imagine these are the same type of things they had legislators in the ’50s and ’60s trying to get them to sign, saying they wouldn’t support (civil) rights. It’s no different. It’s just 50 years later.”
John Rustin, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council, sent the pledge to all members of the House and the Senate. By mid-afternoon Wednesday, he had emailed lawmakers, saying the pledge was circulated “inadvertently” and should be ignored.
“We had considered providing a means, prior to the convening of the 2016 Legislative Session, by which we could continue to encourage North Carolina lawmakers to stay strong in your leadership defending the privacy and safety of all North Carolinians, and clarifying that there is no patchwork of confusing local laws in the state that are harmful to commerce, labor, and trade,” Rustin said in the email. “However, we decided not to move forward with this pledge and respectfully ask that you disregard yesterday’s e-mail.”
McCrory is very unhappy about this “major, major change in social norms.” NC Capitol reports on Facebook:
Gov. Pat McCrory spoke to reporters today after getting word about the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on the Virginia transgender student case. The ruling could directly affect North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2. The governor says he will abide by the ruling but is seeking input from lawyers regarding how the state should respond. McCrory’s administration submitted an amicus brief in the case.
The North Carolina Democratic Party today launched a website to highlight how Gov. Pat McCrory’s job-killing discrimination law, HB2, is hurting North Carolina’s economy. The site lists the more than 400 businesses and organizations that oppose HB2 and spotlights the many good-paying jobs put at risk by this bill.
“Governor McCrory’s decision is costing our state good-paying new jobs – it’s as simple as that. More than 400 employers have expressed opposition to HB2 and North Carolina’s economy has already lost tens of millions of dollars thanks to Governor McCrory,” said Kimberly Reynolds, Executive Director of the North Carolina Democratic Party. “In November, middle-class families are going to ask which candidate for governor is really going to bring good jobs home to North Carolina. We’re committed to making sure every family in the state knows that Pat McCrory put political wedge issues ahead of their paychecks.”
In addition to the more than 400 businesses and organizations who have denounced HB2, North Carolina has lost hundreds of jobs from companies such as PayPal and Deustche Bank who are now looking elsewhere for expansion. The state has also lost more than a dozen festivals and conventions, costing the hospitality industry millions of dollars in revenue. The Center for American Progress recently reported that HB2 could cost North Carolina more than half a billion dollars in economic activity, and that number is expected to rise as more companies look to do business elsewhere.
Companies, organizations, convention groups and performance artists have reacted so negatively to HB2 because it legalized discrimination in North Carolina, removing rights for LGBT people and making it impossible for anyone to bring discrimination charges against an employer in state court on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or disability.
NCDP’s new website also encourages people to take action and sign a petition calling for the repeal of HB2. In light of the bill’s sizable and ongoing damage to North Carolina’s economy and reputation, employers, political leaders and local chambers of commerce have called on Gov. McCrory to repeal HB2 during the upcoming legislative session beginning April 25th.
Lambda Legal says this is a “game changer.” Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Department of Education’s interpretation of existing federal civil rights laws to protect transgender people against discrimination in education.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the department’s interpretation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to include protections in the law’s ban on sex discrimination that allow transgender people to use a restroom in accordance with their gender identity.
The appeals court first held that the language of regulations implementing Title IX were ambiguous as to transgender restroom use and then finding that the department’s interpretation of those regulations — allowing transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity — was a legitimate interpretation.
“We conclude that the Department’s interpretation of its own regulation … as it relates to restroom access by transgender individuals, is entitled to … deference and is to be accorded controlling weight
Wowie, yowie, zowie!!! The Fourth Circuit just ruled that Title IX obligates schools that receive federal financial assistance to allow transgender students to use the restroom that matches their gender identity. This is a game changer. Congratulations to Josh Block at the ACLU, who argued the appeal, and to everyone who worked on this case (including Tara Borelli and Kyle Palazzolo, who authored Lambda Legal’s amicus brief on appeal). For those of you who don’t know, North Carolina is within the Fourth Circuit and governed by this decision. Bye, bye H.B. 2.
UPDATE: The ACLU reacts.
A federal court of appeals today ruled in favor of transgender male student Gavin Grimm in his challenge to Gloucester High School’s discriminatory restroom policy that segregates transgender students from their peers by requiring them to use “alternative, private” facilities.
The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit marks the first time that a federal appeals court has determined that Title IX protects the rights of transgender students to use sex segregated facilities that are consistent with their gender identity. The Fourth Circuit remanded the case for the district court to reevaluate Gavin’s request for a preliminary injunction under the proper legal standard.
“I feel so relieved and vindicated by the court’s ruling.” said Grimm. “Today’s decision gives me hope that my fight will help other kids avoid discriminatory treatment at school.”
“Today’s Fourth Circuit decision is a vindication for Gavin and a reinforcement of the Department of Education’s policy.” said Joshua Block, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Project. “With this decision, we hope that schools and legislators will finally get the message that excluding transgender kids from the restrooms is unlawful sex discrimination.”
“Gavin’s fight has been a beacon of hope in the face of increasingly hostile rhetoric against transgender people in Virginia, and across the nation,” said Gail Deady, The Secular Society Women’s Rights Legal Fellow at the ACLU of Virginia. “The court’s ruling sends a strong message to schools and lawmakers that discriminatory restroom policies don’t just harm transgender students, they put Title IX funding at risk.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia brought the case in June 2015 seeking a preliminary injunction so that Gavin may use the boys’ restroom when school resumed for his junior year. In September, U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar ruled against Gavin by dismissing his Title IX claim but allowed his case, under the Equal Protection claim, to proceed.
Attorney General Roy Cooper has a growing lead over Gov. Pat McCrory in their race for governor, a new poll shows. While previous surveys have shown the candidates neck-and-neck within a margin of error, the new Elon University Poll gives Cooper a 48-42 percent lead. The margin of error in this survey was just under 4 percent. Cooper had a 3-point advantage in an average of the three most recent polls.
According to the Elon poll, McCrory’s job approval rating was 37 percent, compared to 49 percent who said they disapprove of the job he is doing. Close to 14 percent said they didn’t know or were unsure. Nearly 43 percent of registered voters said they approved of the job Cooper is doing, while 27 percent disapprove, and 30 percent said they didn’t know or were unsure. Elon pollsters say that is McCrory’s lowest approval rating since first polled two years ago.
Pollsters also asked about HB2:
On the controversial LGBT ordinance known as HB2, the survey found 49 percent of respondents said the state should prohibit cities from passing ordinances like Charlotte did, allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of the sex the identify with. Thirty-nine percent said cities should be allowed to enact policies like that, and 11 percent said they don’t know.
Nearly two-thirds of those who said they were born-again Christians support state prohibitions on “bathroom bill” ordinances; 49 percent of Catholics feel that way, and 46 percent identified as “other Christians” do also. Sixty-three percent of those who said they were not religious think cities should be able to enact their own ordinances.
See the full polling results here. Last month Cooper declared that he will refuse to defend the state against the lawsuit which seeks to overturn HB2.
Hours after Pearl Jam announced they were canceling their Raleigh, North Carolina concert to protest the state’s controversial “bathroom bill,” Eddie Vedder delivered a powerful speech in front of Pearl Jam’s Hampton, Virginia crowd Monday explaining the decision.
“We thought we could take the money and give it to them and still play the show, but the reality is there is nothing like the immense power of boycotting and putting a strain,” Vedder said, “and it’s a shame because people are going to affected that don’t deserve it but it could be the way that ultimately is gonna affect change, so again, we just couldn’t find it in ourselves in good conscience to cross a picket line when there was a movement so…”
Pearl Jam dedicated the first song of the encore, a cover of Steven Van Zandt’s “I Am a Patriot,” to the “soldiers in the LGBT community.” Van Zandt, along with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, similarly canceled their Greensboro, North Carolina concert earlier this month to protest HB2.
Tonight, Mumford & Sons will perform before a capacity crowd at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. The band recently announced they will donate all of their profits from the show to a new charitable fund “to support those who have made it their mission to pursue love and justice.”
A donation from the fund will be made to a local LGTBQ as a way of taking “a stand with the people of North Carolina who this week are shouting loudly against intolerance, fear and discrimination.”
Mumford & Sons are the latest act to weigh in after North Carolina officials recently passed the HB2 Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, a law which dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Bruce Springsteen canceled a show in the state as did Ringo Starr, while Gregg Allman issued a statement condemning the law.
The House sponsor of a controversial bill that would require students in public school grades K-12 and higher education institutions to use the restroom that corresponds with their sex at birth is delaying action on the bill until next year.
Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, told The Tennessean on Monday that she plans on effectively killing her own bill with the purpose of studying the issue further.
“I have learned that our school districts are largely following what the bill says,” she said. “I am still absolutely 100 percent in support of maintaining the privacy of all students. But I’m going to roll the bill over until next year so we can work on those issues.”
The announcement comes as competing groups descended on Capitol Hill on Monday to continue the battle over the bill, while a panel of senators delayed taking action on the controversial legislation
On Monday about 30 pastors from the conservative Tennessee Pastors Network joined the head of the Family Action Council of Tennessee at the state Capitol to show support for the controversial bill.
Around the same time, two transgender high school students — Henry Seaton and Jennifer Guenst — headed to Gov. Bill Haslam’s office to deliver more than 67,000 signatures from Tennesseans, including nearly 6,000 people who identified as clergy or people of faith, who are opposed to the measure.
One of the bill’s main backers is Alliance Defending Freedom. (Tipped by JMG reader Rick)
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory appeared on Meet The Press this morning, where he claimed that he was recently congratulated by black residents for protecting them from evil LGBTs. McCrory also stumbled over the name of the Human Rights Campaign, calling them the “Human Relations, uh, Rights Council.” McCrory then exclaimed, “My God, they are more powerful than the NRA!” More from Josh Israel at ThinkProgress:
[Chuck] Todd began by highlighting how much the law has already hurt the Tar Heel state economically, noting that 160 companies have called for the law’s repeal. “Bloomberg, Capital One, United Airlines, Williams-Sonoma — that’s just on Friday,” he observed, adding that the law has cost state that at least $39.7 million in lost revenue already. He asked McCrory if he has any regrets about signing the law.
McCrory responded that he would “always call out government overreach,” like Charlotte’s law, blaming “the left” for passing a mandate on “every private sector employer” in the city. He then boasted that while the business community has criticized him, people at “an African American buffet restaurant” in the small city of Hamlet, NC had thanked him protecting them.
CEOs from hundreds of companies including Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s had planned to meet in North Carolina this October to talk about using business for social good. Now, they’re not coming.
In response to a controversial new state law aimed at gay and transgender people, a group of firms designated as “Certified B” ethical corporations say they are canceling an annual CEO retreat, a street fair, and related meetings.
Jay Coen Gilbert, who represents the non-profit group that certifies so-called “B Corp” companies (which also include online marketplace Etsy and web retailer Seventh Generation) said the law, which restricts bathroom use and permits some forms of discrimination against gay people, goes against the group’s commitment to building a more inclusive economy.
According to an internal estimate, the group’s week-long event planned for Durham would have brought in $1 million for North Carolina. That figure is based on 1,340 hotel room nights, and contracts with a variety of vendors.
Protesters increased the level of noise surrounding the state’s new LGBT law Wednesday evening by setting off dozens of air horns at the governor’s mansion.
About 100 opponents of House Bill 2 gathered, many of them wearing black T-shirts that said “Can you hear us now, Pat?” They stood on two sides of Gov. Pat McCrory’s home and set off a cacophony for about 10 minutes before the air horns ran out of steam.
While most protesters brought air horns, one man played a trumpet and another played a penny whistle. A single supporter of the law stood silently in the middle of the ruckus holding a sign that criticized gay people.
Organizers Grayson Haver Currin and Tina Haver Currin, writers who live in the adjacent Oakwood neighborhood, said they came up with the idea as “performance art.”
The Raleigh News & Observer has produced a great video in which transgender residents speak out against North Carolina’s HB 2. Watch below as these people express shock, confusion, regret, and dismay over being stereotyped as sexual predators. Huge props to the paper for doing this.
If you're poor, you might want to consider moving to a place where your life expectancy will be reasonably high. In many parts of America, there is only a minor gap between the life expectancies of the wealthy and the poor.
But in some other parts of the country, adults with the lowest incomes die on average as young as people in much poorer nations like Rwanda, and their life spans are getting shorter.
A group of North Carolina craft breweries is teaming up to make a special beer that will be sold to raise money to fight the state’s new House Bill 2 law. The News and Observer reports more than 30 breweries are taking part.
They’re calling the project the Don’t Be Mean to People: A Golden Rule Saison and have set up a fundraising page on generosity by Indiegogo. Critics say the law unfairly discriminates against LGBT people.
The North Carolina law overrules LGBT anti-discrimination measures passed by local governments. It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from the state’s anti-discrimination policy and prevents people from filing employment discrimination lawsuits in state courts.
When Keil and I talked shortly after the passage of North Carolina’s now infamous HB2, we were angry. We didn’t feel like the law that was passed represented us as constituents, entrepreneurs, or business owners. We wanted to do something in response. But what? What do two brewers talk about doing when faced with a world in which they want to make a change?
They talk about making beer. So, “Don’t Be Mean to People: a golden rule (saison)” was born: A bright farmhouse ale made with 100% North Carolina grown and malted grain, and North Carolina sorghum molasses.
We see this beer as a means to an end and a social statement. We’ve seen businesses, municipalities, and even rock legends from around the country punish North Carolina for passing this law. We’ve seen business expansions and job opportunities pull out of the state. We see that our communities are being harmed by this action.
But we can’t do that with our businesses. This is our home, where we’re trying to establish roots and grow. We can’t leave; we are left to deal with the consequences created by our General Assembly. But we can do this: empower.
Donations go to Equality North Carolina and a group that supports LGBT youth. $20 gets you a four-pack of the beer. $25 gets you a t-shirt bearing the new beer’s logo. I’m going for the shirt since I don’t care for craft beer.
UPDATE: They can only ship the beer to North Carolina residents.
North Carolina Rep. Bill Richardson was one of the 11 Democrats to vote for his state’s anti-LGBT hate law. In an op-ed published today, Richardson says he is “haunted” by his vote and will now work for the law’s repeal. He writes:
By enacting House Bill 2, the legislature did the wrong thing. I made the wrong vote and we must now make it right.
My parents raised me to avoid any rush to judgment and to consider the consequences of my decisions. They stressed to me that I will make mistakes but, when made, never, never compound a mistake by sitting silent and failing to own up to the error.
Upon prayer and reflection, I have come to realize that I need to take action now. I will not be silent and allow North Carolina’s values to be undermined by the travesty that is HB2.
As a lawyer, I have stood with the defenseless because our Constitution says – actually demands – that all Americans have basic rights and, by protecting those rights, we can all truly share in the blessings of being an American.
Since our hasty vote on HB2, I have been haunted by the fact that in one rushed action, I undermined a lifetime of fighting against those who would demonize a group of citizens to gain political advantage and to advance an unjust agenda.
Instead of recognizing the right to be free of discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation, HB2 gives green light to this discrimination in housing, employment and other areas. To paraphrase Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, we must never make any group of citizens a stranger to the laws of their own state.
Richardson first served a single term in the North Carolina House from 1992-1996. In October he was appointed to his current seat by the Cumberland County Democratic Party to replace a longtime rep who stepped down to work for the liberal NC Justice Center.
N.C. NAACP president William Barber says his group will hold a “mass sit-in” at the legislature if a controversial LGBT law isn’t repealed by April 21. Barber, whose Forward Together Moral Movement has organized numerous Moral Monday protests and acts of civil disobedience, plans to announce more details about the event at a news conference Saturday morning.
“We cannot be silent in the face of this race-based, class-based, homophobic and transphobic attack on wage earners, civil rights, and the LGBTQ community,” Barber said in a news release. “Together with our many allies, we will coordinate a campaign of nonviolent direct action along with other forms of nonviolent protest that will instruct our legislators with respect to the rights of all people.”
The N.C. General Assembly isn’t scheduled to return until April 25, so it would have to hold a special session if it wanted to repeal House Bill 2 earlier. Republican leaders have said they aren’t willing to repeal the law, which replaces local ordinances with a statewide nondiscrimination law that doesn’t include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories.
RELATED: A couple of years ago Barber delivered a stirring address to the LGBT journalists meeting in Philadelphia. Many of us agreed that he was among the best we’d heard at one of those events.
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday that a proposed law to limit the bathrooms that transgender people can use is not needed. Haley said her office has not received any complaints about the issue, adding South Carolinians are respectful to people of different backgrounds. “I don’t believe it’s necessary,” the Lexington Republican told reporters. “There’s not one instance that I’m aware of.
“When we look at our situation, we’re not hearing of anybody’s religious liberties that are being violated, and we’re again not hearing any citizens that are being violated in terms of freedoms,” she said. “Like it or not, South Carolina is doing really well when it comes to respect and when it comes to kindness and when it comes to acceptance. For people to imply it’s not, I beg to differ.”
Meanwhile the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce declared yesterday that they will campaign against the reelection of the bill’s chief sponsor, crackpot state Sen. Lee Bright. The bill was introduced on Wednesday.
Due to his sexual orientation, Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis never landed the major endorsement deals bestowed on many world class athletes, but today he does finally get his Wheaties box. From the General Mills corporate blog:
They are three remarkable athletes who won multiple gold medals while competing against the world’s best. Their accomplishments certainly put them into consideration for the cover of a Wheaties box at the time, along with several outstanding world champion athletes who were selected by the brand team in their era. But today … there’s no time like the present for Janet Evans, Greg Louganis and Edwin Moses.
Wheaties has announced that they are the newest champions to be honored in the Wheaties Legends series. Evans is a four-time gold medal winner who broke seven world records. She’s considered the greatest female distance swimmer. Louganis also is a four-time gold medalist and is widely viewed as the greatest diver in the history of the sport. And, Moses won two gold medals and set a world record for the 400m hurdles in 1976. He also holds a world record for a decade-long streak of 122 victories.
“This is an opportunity for Wheaties to highlight past champions who haven’t yet received the honor of being on a Wheaties box for their past athletic achievements,” says Jenna Lynch, senior associate marketing manager for Wheaties. “Janet, Greg and Edwin are all world-class athletes both for the medals they won, and everything they accomplished during their careers.”
Louganis reacts: “It’s so iconic, everybody looks at the Wheaties box and it’s such an honor. I can’t wait to see Janet’s and Edwin’s boxes too. I’m excited for them as much as myself. What great company to be in. Edwin’s always been a hero to me. It’s such an honor to be in this group.”
It’s a pity the haters are already boycotting General Mills, innit?
This one could ultimately mean thousands of lost jobs. From Charlotte’s Fox affiliate:
Red Ventures is also considering pulling out of their 500 person expansion in 2016 after HB2 was passed. “HB2 does not reflect the values of our people, our state or our democratic process. The speed with which it was passed and lack of constituent input enabled a select group of North Carolina representatives to ignore their responsibility to represent the whole state and, instead, eviscerate the civil rights of North Carolinians,” the CEO of Red Ventures, Ric Elias said. Elias said, “As a CEO who is committed to expanding our Charlotte presence by 500 people in 2016 and thousands after that, I am forced to seriously reconsider adding more jobs in a state that tolerates discrimination.
Greensboro was one of the North Carolina cities whose LGBT rights ordinance was overturned by HB 2. The lone dissenting vote last night came from the council’s only Republican. Of course. From Greensboro’s Fox affiliate:
City council members voted 8-1 Tuesday in favor of a resolution opposing House Bill 2. HB2, or the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, is a new state law which says transgender individuals must use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex listed on their birth certificate. Council members called the bill an “overreach” by the state.
“This is one of the worst discrimination bills that we’ve seen in a long time,” said city council member, Sharon Hightower. “It’s not really about bathrooms, that’s to throw us off track.” The new law also prevents city and county governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances. Dozens of people attended the meeting, holding up signs that read “Say no to HB2.”
RELATED: Greensboro is home to Replacements LTD, whose gay founder and CEO Bob Page last week issued a passionate denouncement of HB2.
Nearly a third of people without health insurance, about 10 million, live in families that received a federal earned income tax credit (EITC) in 2014, according to a new study.
But the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t tell those tax filers that their low and moderate incomes likely mean their households qualify for Medicaid or subsidies to buy coverage on the insurance exchanges.
That’s a lost opportunity to identify people who are eligible but not receiving government assistance to gain health coverage, the researchers say.
About half of the uninsured people in families receiving the earned income tax credit are eligible for significant financial assistance — 4.1 million are eligible for Medicaid, and another 1.1 million are eligible for large subsidies on policies purchased on the federal health law’s insurance exchanges and cost sharing reductions because they have incomes below twice the federal poverty level, said Linda Blumberg, co-author of the study. It was released last week by the nonpartisan Urban Institute, a Washington-based research group.
While the Affordable Care Act has driven down uninsured rates to historic lows the past few years, about 33 million Americans remain uninsured, according to latest Census data.
This KHN story also ran on NPR. It can be republished for free (details).
Some local governments are making efforts to identify the uninsured. New Jersey and Maryland check state income tax filings to find those likely eligible for Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for poor. Louisiana and West Virginia, among several, have sent letters to food stamp recipients to invite them to sign up for Medicaid. All they had to do was check a box, sign a form and return it. The states verified their eligibility from information on file.
The Urban Institute said the federal government could do more to find the uninsured by tapping into data it collects from other assistance programs.
“The U.S. Treasury could explore notifying all individuals receiving the EITC in the past year that they may be eligible for substantial financial assistance for coverage,” the report said. “The Treasury could also provide an easy mechanism (such as text messaging) that allows individuals to request a navigator to contact them directly to provide additional information and application assistance.”
But the IRS said it does neither. Instead, its website suggests people go to www.healthcare.gov to look for health insurance options, and the agency advises tax preparers to tell people about their insurance options. But many people who receive the earned income tax credit don’t use tax preparers.
That credit offsets income and payroll taxes paid by low- to-moderate-income workers. To receive the credit, workers must file a tax return, even if they are otherwise exempt from doing so. The amount of the benefit depends on a recipient’s income and number of children.
The earned income tax credit is the most common government assistance benefit reported by the uninsured but there are others, the report said. About 23 percent of the uninsured live in households in which at least one child received subsidized lunch at school. Nearly 15 percent of the uninsured are in families receiving food stamps, the report said.
The Urban Institute’s Blumberg said the IRS’s data on the tax credit would help identify people eligible for help. In fact, since 2014 all tax filers must report whether they have health insurance on their annual tax forms, she said.
Blumberg cautioned that just sending a letter to tax filers about their health insurance options might not nudge them to sign up. But she said the IRS could invite interested filers to request a federal health law navigator contact and enroll them. “This is not an easy problem to solve, but identifying ways to reach out to uninsured EITC families is something we should be talking to the IRS about,” she said.
A difficulty involves uninsured people in the 20 states that did not expand Medicaid under Obamacare, said Tricia Brooks, senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. Many adults who get the credit in those states may not qualify for Medicaid, although some may qualify for premium subsidies on health plans sold on the exchanges.
A better course for the IRS is to target those who qualified for the earned income tax credit in the states that did expand Medicaid, she said.
With signs that read “Y’all means all” and “Bigotry is a bad business model,” more than 200 people marched down Jones Street in Raleigh, N.C., and protested House Bill 2 across from the Executive Mansion on Saturday afternoon.
“Triangle Families against HB2” was a peaceful event that lasted about two hours. HB2 overturned an expanded Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance and established statewide groups of people who are protected from discrimination. Gay, lesbian and transgender residents are not among those protected.
At the protest, dozens of children stood with their parents, dressed in rainbow colors and holding signs. Protesters sang songs such as “Let It Be” and another specifically written against HB2.
Motorists driving by honked in support. There were cries to vote out legislators who supported the new law and elect Attorney General Roy Cooper as governor. “Our legislators voted to legalize bigotry. They could have improved our schools or paid our teachers more or raised minimum wage, but they didn’t,” the protesters yelled in unison.
Louisiana soul-rockers Seratones will release their anticipated debut album Get Gone on May 6th via Fat Possum Records. Today they’ve shared the energetic and sun-soaked new single,”Sun.”
Imagine Alabama Shakes pissed off and playing the diviest bar imaginable. There’s an unshakable urgency to the main guitar riff of “Sun” that hits hard as all hell and doesn’t look back for even a second. Those who claim that rock and roll are dead clearly just need to look a little bit harder.
Stream “Sun” below and check up Seratones upcoming tour dates, which include supporting dates for The Dandy Warhols in New York later this month.
Seratones Tour Dates:
4/1/16 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex^
4/2/16 Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater^
4/3/16 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room^
4/5/16 Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag^
4/6/16 Akron, OH @ Musica^
4/8/16 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre^
4/9/16 Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre^
4/10/16 Montreal, QC @ L’Astral^
4/12/16 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom^
4/13/16 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom^
4/15/16 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair^
4/16/16 Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade^
4/17/16 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club^
4/18/16 Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre^
4/19/16 Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom^
4/20/16 Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *
4/21/16 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks *
4/22/16 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live (Studio) *
4/23/16 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk *
4/24/16 Dallas, TX @ Trees *
4/26/16 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad *
4/27/16 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
4/28/16 Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern *
4/29/16 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater *
4/30/16 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
5/2/16 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
5/3/16 Seattle, WA @ Barboza
5/6/16 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
5/7/16 Chicago, IL @ Hideout
5/8/16 Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR Pub
5/10/16 Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar
5/11/16 Columbus, OH @ Big Room Bar
5/13/16 Nashville, TN @ The Basement
05/14/16 Little Rock, AR @ White Water Tavern
06/03/16 Richmond, VA @ Friday Cheers+
7/15-7/16 Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
7/15-7/16 Birmingham, AL @ Sloss Music & Arts Festival
8/22/16 Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
8/23/16 Berlin, Germany @ Berghain Kantine
8/24/16 Cologne, Germany @ Blue Shell
8/25/16 Charleville-Mézières, France @ Cabaret Vert
8/26/16 Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
8/28/16 Reading, UK @ Reading Festival
9/1/16 London, UK @ Lexington
9/3/16 Dorset, UK @ End Of The Road Festival
* w/ Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
^ w/ The Dandy Warhols
+ w/The Revivalists
Yesterday was the International Day of Transgender Visibility and in support Wells Fargo lit its 48-story Duke Energy Center tower in Charlotte in pink, white, and blue, which are the colors of the transgender pride flag. Also yesterday Wells Fargo joined the 80+ major corporations who have called from the repeal of North Carolina’s hate law. From the Charlotte Observer:
“As a reflection of our company’s vision and values, Wells Fargo has a long history of support against discrimination of any kind and for LGBT rights overall. This is fundamental to who we are as a company and what we stand for in terms of equality and basic human rights,” the company said in a statement. The statement also says Wells Fargo “opposes laws that would allow people or businesses to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members or individuals.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is issuing an executive order banning official city travel to North Carolina.
And, seeking to gain from a flap over the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people there, Emanuel says he’ll be contacting North Carolina companies that might be interested in relocating to a “more inclusive” Chicago.
In comments after an unrelated event, Emanuel first announced that he would immediately halt any travel by Chicago employees to North Carolina on city business.
Aides said the order is being drafted and will be issued within a day or two. Officials did not immediately indicate how often City Hall sends people to North Carolina to talk to government officials there or for other formal purposes.
Emanuel also indicated he hopes to use the controversy over a new North Carolina law that bans local GLBT-rights laws in that state.
“North Carolina’s values are of exclusion and intolerance, versus tolerance and inclusion,” Emanuel said. “I have already been on the phone and asked my staff to develop a list of companies . . . that would be interested in (being) in a different environment from one of exclusion.”
Minutes ago Buzzfeed News reported that Democratic North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will not defend the constitutionality of his state’s newly-enacted anti-LGBT law. Cooper is running for governor against incumbent Pat McCrory, who has issued lie-filled statements in support of the law, which excludes LGBT citizens statewide from all discrimination protections. Story developing. See the tweets below from Buzzfeed’s Dominic Holden.
NC AG Cooper: “House Bill 2 is unconstitutional; therefore our office will not represent defendants in this lawsuit pic.twitter.com/zLuxl9mlxc
North Carolina AG Cooper says he will encourage the state to hire outside lawyers to defend anti-LGBT law. — Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) March 29, 2016
It’s official: LGBT rights is among biggest — if not biggest — issues in one of top governor’s races in the country.#northcarolina#hb2
VIDEO: Last week Cooper released a clip in which he denounced the bill.
UPDATE: The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and Equality North Carolina react.
“North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, the state’s top law enforcement official, has concluded House Bill 2 is unconstitutional and harms North Carolinians without justification. As our lawsuit highlighted yesterday, House Bill 2 singles out the LGBT community for discrimination. That’s not only incompatible with the state’s constitutional and legal obligations but also our shared values as North Carolinians. We’re grateful the Attorney General stands on the on the right side of history with the many cities, states, businesses and individuals who have come out against this harmful measure.”
“wholly wanting and misleading in its practical applications...” lol
Any high school geometry student worth his or her protractor knows that pi is an irrational number, but if you’ve got to approximate the famed ratio, 3.14 will work in a pinch. That wasn’t so much the case in late-19th-century Indiana, though.
