(NEW YORK) — The head of one of the country’s largest manufacturers of baby formula expressed remorse at his company’s role in the nationwide shortage — and announced a multimillion-dollar fund to help families that have suffered during the crisis — in an op-ed published over the weekend.
“The past few months have distressed us as they have you, and so I want to say: We’re sorry to every family we’ve let down since our voluntary recall exacerbated our nation’s baby formula shortage,” Abbott CEO Robert Ford wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post. “I have high expectations of this company, and we fell short of them.”
Abbott recalled formula and closed its manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan, in February over concerns about bacterial contamination after four infants fell ill. That compounded coronavirus-related supply chain issues already fueling a baby formula shortage.
Ford reiterated a two-week timeline for when Abbott’s shuttered Sturgis plant will reopen — saying he expects the company will be able to restart the facility “by the first week in June.”
Once that facility is back at full capacity, Ford said that Abbott plans to “more than double” its current domestic production.
“By the end of June, we will be supplying more formula to Americans than we were in January before the recall,” Ford wrote, adding that Abbott will be “making significant investments to ensure this never happens again.”
Once the plant restarts production, it will take six to eight weeks before product is available on shelves, according to Ford.
Abbott’s specialized formula, EleCare, was included in its recall, leaving families with limited nutrition options particularly scrambling to find formula. There have been reports of several children hospitalized due to the lack of EleCare.
In his op-ed, Ford said the company will “invest in upgrading our safety and quality processes and equipment” and “create the redundancy we need to never have to stop production of critical products” like the specialized formulas for children who can’t digest other formulas and milks.
Ford called the hospitalizations due to a lack of EleCare “tragic and heartbreaking” and added that Abbott is “working to identify ways” to get sick kids across the country what they need.
Once manufacturing resumes, Abbott will “prioritize EleCare … and get that out the door first,” Ford wrote.
As the company further works to help ease the shortage, Abbott’s Ohio plant’s lines have also been converted from adult nutrition products to make more ready-to-feed infant formula, and the company is airfreighting in more powdered formula from its Ireland facility, Ford noted.
While families wait for formula to hit shelves, Ford announced in his op-ed that Abbott is establishing a $5 million fund “to help these families with medical and living expenses as they weather this storm.”
“These steps we’re taking won’t end the struggles of families today,” Ford wrote. “Some solutions will take weeks, others will take longer, but we will not rest until it is done. I will not rest. I want everyone to trust us to do what is right, and I know that must be earned back.”
In response to the crisis, this week President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to get ingredients to manufacturers to help speed up production. He also directed Department of Defense commercial aircraft to pick up infant formula overseas to get on U.S. shelves faster while U.S. manufacturers ramp up production.
The first batch of imported baby formula arrived Sunday in the United States.
The shipment includes hypoallergenic formulas for children with cow’s milk protein allergies.
(NEW YORK) — In the coming weeks, thousands of graduates will walk across a stage to receive their college diploma.
When they leave the stage, they will have not only a degree but also, in most cases, a mountain of bills, joining the more than 40 million Americans who owe a collective $1.76 trillion in student debt, according to the Education Data Initiative, a nonprofit organization.
Corazon Eaton of Columbus, Ohio, is among that group. The 35-year-old graduated with a master’s degree in public health in 2014, earning a diploma that cost her more than $100,000 in student loans.
“The only thing that I was really taught as an immigrant in the United States is the importance of an education and that I needed to obtain that in order to further and advance my professional and personal life,” Eaton, who was born in Kenya, told Good Morning America. “And so, that’s what I did.”
Over the next decade, Eaton said interest on her loans grew, eventually accruing $30,000 on top of what she owed at graduation.
“Thinking through the long-term impact of this was not something that I was aware of when I took out all these student loans,” she said. “Maybe I would have done things differently.”
In less than two decades, student debt in the United States has increased by 144%, growing from just over $640 billion in 2007 to more than $1.5 trillion today, according to a report released last year by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
The rise, experts say, is attributable to many factors, including policy decisions that made student loans both easier to obtain and harder to pay back, economic recessions and the shift in payment burden to families.
Another factor is the rising cost of college — a 103% increase over the past three decades — compared to a much slower increase in household income, which increased by only 14% in that same time period, according to the American Association of University Women, a nonprofit focused on advancing gender equity.
“We have seen a shift in who is paying for college,” Fenaba R. Addo, associate professor of public policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, who studies student debt and wealth inequality, told GMA. “That burden has shifted to families who are facing stagnant wages and income over time, and loans became the solution.”
Student debt burden falls on women from the start
The bulk of student loan debt in the U.S. has fallen on women, who today hold nearly two-thirds of all outstanding student debt, an amount that totals more than $900 billion, according to the American Association of University Women.
More female undergraduates take on student loans upon entering college than men. Upon graduation, a female graduate owes, on average, nearly $22,000 in debt, while a male graduate owes, on average, around $18,000, the group found.
“It is a significant burden on women when it comes to the ways in which it impacts every aspect of their careers and their lives moving forward,” Gloria Blackwell, the group’s CEO, told GMA.
One reason for the divide is that, on top of taking out more student loans, women outpace men when it comes to earning both their four-year college degrees and their graduate degrees, according to the Pew Research Center and the National Center for Education Statistics.
“If you take on a student loan for your bachelor’s degree, and you take on a student loan for your graduate degree, the compilation of those two is going to put you in a space where you’re going to owe more,” said Nicole Smith, research professor and chief economist at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “So women are disproportionately holders of more education and therefore more likely to hold higher amounts of debt associated with having achieved that.”
Experts also pointed to for-profit colleges as a cause of rising student debt for women, who make up 63% of the for-profit student population, according to the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment.
For-profit colleges are designed with flexibility in mind, and also have higher fees and tuition than both community colleges and public universities, according to the organization.
“The way that they’re modeled, the flexibility in being able to work and also go to school, has overwhelmingly attracted women, especially Black women who did not complete their degrees the first time or did not go straight from high school or are looking to change careers,” Addo said. “They’re a vehicle for women not only to return to college and get their degrees, but also to do so at a high cost.”
Women are also more impacted by student debt if they have children, as they may borrow more to ease the burden of other household costs, such as child care. Women with children may also lack the ability to work while attending school, and having a child may also extend the length of time they’re in college, Blackwell said.
A disproportionate burden on Black women
Black women are the most likely of any gender group to have student loans. According to the Census Bureau, around 1 in 4 Black women report having some student debt.
Black women graduate with an average of $37,558 in student debt, according to research by the American Association of University Women research.
“Black women take on more debt than anyone, and so they graduate with more student loan debt than any other category,” Blackwell said. “That’s a combination of racism and sexism and those intersecting pieces that put a disproportionate burden on Black women.”
As Black women and other minority women enter college, they often are forced to take on more student loans due to what Blackwell calls the racial wealth gap. They are also more often to be first-generation college students, which may mean having less knowledge of the financial aid system than their peers.
“Knowing that the typical white family has at least eight times the wealth of a Black family and five times that of a Latino family, it really shows that the student debt crisis is really about the racial wealth gap,” said Blackwell. “They have less support from their families. There is no generational wealth that is there to pick up whatever the gap is.”
Kristin McGuire, 40, who is Black, said she had to borrow more than $20,000 to attend a four-year public college in California. In the years since, she said her debt was compounded by forbearance programs that increased the amount of money she would have to repay to over $50,000.
“After college, I was not completely sure how to go into repayment,” McGuire told GMA. “I think one of the larger problems with our student debt system is we allow 18-year-olds to take out these loans and not really have a clear understanding on how to repay them.”
Systemic barriers to paying off debt
While women graduate, on average, with around $4,000 more in student loan debt than men, the burden for women grows dramatically in the years after college, as they try to repay it, experts say.
According to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a policy-focused organization focused on gender justice, women across all races are also paid approximately 83 cents to every dollar paid to men across the same groups. With less income, they are unable to pay as much debt off each month, which leads to higher interest and increased debt.
For women of color, the pay gap is even worse, with Black women earning 64 cents on the dollar, and Latinas earning just 57 cents. Among Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women, the gap varies according to group, with some making as little as 52 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
That loss of pay adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a career, the National Women’s Law Center said.
As women, particularly Black women, make less money in their careers, they have less money to pay back their student loans, a confluence Smith described as a “perfect storm.”
“They make less money. They need to borrow more. They struggle significantly with repayment. You have the gender wage gap,” Smith told GMA. “You really have a perfect storm where the experience of Black women with student loans is that they, at the end of the day, end up with the highest proportion of student loan debt, eight years after, 10 years after graduation.”
In addition to the gender pay gap, many women are also impacted by the caregiving gap, often taking lesser-paying jobs that allow flexibility to care for children or other family members. On average, women who are mothers make 70 cents for every dollar paid to fathers, according to the American Association of University Women.
Smith said women are also disproportionately in careers that require high levels of education, like teaching and nursing, but that are not high-paying, making loan repayment even more tricky.
When women spend decades of their lives paying off loans, they are less likely to be able to save for retirement and less likely to have a stake in things like home ownership, car ownership and investments, according to Blackwell.
For McGuire, the student loan debt that has followed her throughout her adult life has meant that she and her husband had to delay purchasing their first home and haven’t been able to fully contribute to their savings for themselves and their two children.
“[…] Not contributing to 401(k)s because we’re trying to pay off student debt. These are the things that will impact us later on that maybe we’re not seeing right now,” McGuire said. “That $500 a month payment for my student loan could have been something that would help me prepare for myself in older age, as well as my husband and as well as all Americans who are making these decisions.”
The burden of student loans may also impact more personal choices for women, like where they live, whether they can expand their family and whether or not they stay in a marriage.
Marquita Prinzing, of Renton, Washington, still owes around $100,000 in student loans more than a decade after finishing her master’s degree in education. She said it was only during the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic — during which student loan repayments were paused — that she was able to leave her marriage and buy her first home on her own.
Still, Prinzing, a 38-year-old mother of two, said she continues to feel the weight of her student loans as Aug. 31, the date federal student loan payments are set to restart, approaches.
Having to once again deal with the loan payments then “means I can’t really think of a different or bigger future,” she told GMA in April, when President Joe Biden extended the repayment pause.
Women feel squeezed amid student debt debate
Over the past two years of the pandemic, Perla Ortiz of Fabens, Texas, saw her college career upended, even as her student loans loomed.
In the spring of 2021, Ortiz, a first-generation college student, lost her work-study job on campus at St. Edward’s University in Austin when classes switched to a virtual format. She then moved back home and had to take a break from school to work and save money.
Though she is not currently attending school and does not yet have her college diploma, Ortiz will owe tens of thousands of dollars when student loan repayments resume in August.
“Sometimes, because of my financial situation, it’s hard to go to sleep with peace of mind knowing that when I wake up, I’m going to have to work really hard in order to pay that money back,” she said.
Biden pledged to approve $10,000 in student loan forgiveness for every federal borrower during his presidential campaign, but he has yet to do so, and has expanded parts of existing loan forgiveness programs instead.
In the meantime, as borrowers wait to see what, if anything, will happen before the repayment pause ends in August, women’s advocates are calling for broader changes to what they describe as systemic inequalities that negatively impact women.
“We have been pushing for quite a long time to pass legislation around eliminating the pay gap, like the Paycheck Fairness Act, and closing some of the loopholes that exist and are why the pay gap issues are perpetuated,” Blackwell said. “If you’re not going to push forward with loan forgiveness, at least give women an opportunity to really step into their full earning path.”
For Eaton, it was not until she got a new job last year that nearly doubled her income that she said she was able to make a significant dent in her student loans. With repayments paused, and no accumulating interest, Eaton said she saved more than $130,000 in 14 months and paid off her remaining loan balance.
“The average person spends 20 years of their life paying their student loan debt, and I just didn’t want to be imprisoned with that,” she said. “So it felt such a relief to be able to do it.”
(NEW YORK) — Advocates on both sides of the political fight over reproductive rights have spoken out, either in protest or applause of a draft Supreme Court opinion leaked earlier this month that, if it stands, would overturn the court’s landmark decision on Roe v. Wade.
While much of corporate America has remained quiet about the potential legal bombshell, some companies have taken a public stance and adopted new policies that expand employees’ access to abortions.
Several corporations including Amazon and Starbucks have announced expanded health benefits to pay for travel fees incurred by workers seeking an abortion if the procedure is unavailable near where they live, as employees in states like Oklahoma and South Dakota face the prospect of stronger abortion restrictions.
“Like many of you, I’m deeply concerned by the draft Supreme Court opinion related to the constitutional right to abortion that was first established by Roe v. Wade,” Sara Kelly, Starbucks’ acting executive vice president for employee resources, said Monday in a memo to employees.
“When actions impact your access to health care, we will work on a way to make sure you feel supported,” she added.
Meanwhile, rideshare companies Lyft and Uber have vowed to provide legal support for drivers if they face lawsuits for driving passengers to get an abortion.
Experts on corporate responsibility told ABC News that companies are often reluctant to take a position on such a polarizing issue.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of management at Yale University who convenes meetings with top CEOs on social issues, told ABC News many of the corporations that introduced policy changes are in the tech sector, where employees tend to be young and liberal.
“Companies that take a stand on a highly divisive political issue like this one can get in trouble with some stakeholders,” Sandra Waddock, a professor at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College who specializes in corporate responsibility, told ABC News. “But companies implementing these policies don’t want their employees to be harmed, and it probably makes sense to make sure their employees are happy.”
An analysis from the Guttmacher Institute in October found that 26 states are “certain or likely” to ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe. On Thursday, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion at conception, making it the most restrictive abortion ban in the country if it becomes law.
In addition to Starbucks and Amazon, Yelp, Tesla, Citigroup, Apple and Salesforce in recent weeks expanded abortion coverage for employees to include costs for travel when necessary.
Mastercard on Wednesday joined them as the latest major company to say it would cover the travel costs of employees leaving their home state to seek an abortion, which Bloomberg first reported and the company confirmed to ABC News.
In a message to employees shared with ABC News, Mastercard warned of the prospect that the court will overturn previous rulings on access to reproductive health care. The company added: “We will continue to offer employees access to the same health care, including family planning and reproductive benefits, that is available today wherever they live.”
The new company policies drew support from abortion rights advocates and criticism from those who are anti-abortion.
Nadia Khamis, director of corporate engagement at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told ABC News that the organization is “really encouraged to see a large influx of companies publicizing how they’re responding to the potential threat to Roe.”
The need to ensure access to reproductive services for employees is not only a human rights imperative but a business one, Khamis said.
“If you’re a company that cares about being competitive and wants to recruit diverse, smart, productive people,” Khamis said, “they need equal access to health care, and abortion is essential.”
But the new policies drew sharp rebuke from David O’Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion organization. O’Steen said the policies would help employees at the companies pursue abortions. Further, in contrast with Khamis, he said the moves would undermine the companies’ business objectives.
“These companies are formed to produce a product and make a profit for investors,” O’Steen told ABC News. “Not to fly people across the country to have abortions. It’s a terrible business decision.”
The corporate policy changes following the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion mark the latest effort by companies to respond when a major political development embroils the country.
Three years ago, more than 180 CEOs — including those at Twitter and Warby Parker — signed an open letter that opposed restrictive abortion laws at the state level.
In the days following the death of George Floyd, in May 2020, companies across corporate America put out statements in support of racial justice and made donations to advocacy organizations that fight racial inequality.
Last April, as state legislatures pursued restrictive voting laws, hundreds of companies and executives signed a letter opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that limits access to the ballot box.
Sonnenfeld, the professor of management at Yale University, told ABC News that a comparatively small number of companies have spoken out in response to the draft Supreme Court opinion on Roe because they’re assessing whether employees, investors and other stakeholders want such a move.
“There has been a bigger stampede on other issues,” Sonnenfeld said. “Quite a number of CEOs are waiting to make sure they’re not getting out in front of their constituencies.”
(NEW YORK) — Walmart this week announced an upcoming one-weekend-only exclusive online sale for Walmart+ members.
Walmart+ Weekend is set to run June 2 – 5 and will offer deep discounts on thousands of items sitewide.
Walmart+ members can expect deals on items such as a Shark vacuum, a Minnie Mouse playhouse, PlayStation 5 consoles and more. On top of the deals, customers who sign up in a Walmart store during Walmart+ Weekend and become a paid Walmart+ member will get a $20 promo code off their next online purchase.
“Our Walmart+ members loved early access to our Black Friday events, so we were inspired to create an entire weekend dedicated to the best deals,” said Chris Cracchiolo, Walmart senior vice president and general manager.
Below is a sneak peak at some of the deals to expect during the weekend:
Electronics
• Gateway R7 Laptop was $449, will be $399 – $50 off
• Hisense 43-inch 4K TV was $258, will be $198 – 23% off
• Samsung A50 Soundbar was $179, will be $129 – 28% off
Home
• Keurig K Compact Black was $89, will be $49 – 45% off
• Gourmia 8QT Air Fryer was $99, will be $59 – 40% off
• Anchorage Queen Upholstered Bed was $279, will be $199 – 28% off
• Larissa Sofa was $449, will be $349 – 22% off
Appliances
• Pit Boss Pellet Grill was $427, will be $327 – 23% off
• GE 10,000 BTU Portable WiFi A/C was $447, will be $326 – 27% off
• Shark Auto Empty Robot Vacuum was $499, will be $299 – $200 off
Backyard & Summer Fun
• Coleman 20′ Oval 48″ Deep Metal Frame Above Ground Pool was $698, will be $598
• Licensed Disc Swings (Paw Patrol, Minnie, Mickey, Spider-Man) was $79, will be $34.44
(NEW YORK) — It was another volatile day on Wall Street as investors worry that high inflation may finally be catching up with consumers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 236 points, one day after plunging more than 1,100 points, while the S&P 500 inched closer to bear market territory — market shorthand for a 20% fall from a recent high.
“It’s important to remember that the market is not the economy,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities told ABC News. “The market is a predictor of what the economy might look like six or 12 months down the road. So right now, I think the market is trying to tell us there’s a chance the economy could get worse than it is right now.”
This week’s stunning stock sell-off was triggered by weaker-than-expected profits from retail giants including Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT) and Kohl’s (KSS). Each company cut its profit outlook for the year and said higher costs for labor and transportation hurt its bottom line.
Consumers are still spending despite surging prices. Retail sales rose 0.9% in April, about in line with estimates, but they’re starting to adjust their spending habits.
On Walmart’s earnings call, CEO Doug McMillon said shoppers are beginning to switch from discretionary purchases to lower-margin items such as groceries and other household staples.
Record-high gas prices continue to take a bite out of household budgets. Gas prices are now above $4 per gallon in all 50 states, and analysts expect prices to go even higher. JPMorgan Chase predicted the busy summer driving season could push the national average past $6 per gallon by August.
Economists expect those higher gas prices to fan inflation, which is already at a 40-year high thanks to a perfect storm of factors: strong consumer demand, persistent supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, COVID-19-induced lockdowns in China and now the war in Ukraine.
The Federal Reserve is answering back by aggressively raising interest rates to curb consumer demand and bring down inflation. Investors fear those higher rates will slow growth so much that they will tip the economy into a recession.
Sixty-eight percent of CEOs surveyed by The Conference Board now expect the Fed’s war on inflation to trigger a recession sometime next year, according to a press release.
(NEW YORK) — Ford is urging owners of 2021 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators to park their vehicles outside and away from any structures due to a fire risk, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday.
According to the recall documents, more than 39,000 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators have a defect that causes risk of “underhood fire, including while the vehicle is parked and off.”
More than 32,700 of the affected vehicles are Expeditions and over 6,300 are Lincoln Navigators. The vehicles were built between December of 2020 and April of 2021, according to a statement from Ford.
“Until further notice, owners of these affected vehicles should not park them inside – they should only be parked outside and away from homes and other structures,” the NHTSA said in a Thursday press release. “Fires have occurred in vehicles that were parked and turned off.”
Ford said it has confirmed 16 fires related to the defect. Twelve of those happened when the vehicle was off and parked, one happened while the SUV was parked and on and three of the fires happened while the car was in motion, according to Ford’s statement. Fourteen of the fires happened in rental cars. The automaker said it is aware of one injury from the defect.
Ford does not know the cause of the fire risk and at this time has no way to fix the defect. However, Ford said it is treating the issue with a “high sense of urgency” and is working to inform customers who have vehicles that may be affected.
“We are working around-the-clock to determine the root cause of this issue and subsequent remedy so that customers can continue to enjoy using their vehicles” Jeffrey Marentic, the general manager of Ford Passenger Vehicles, said in a statement. “We recognize the importance of staying in touch with our customers until we resolve this matter.”
Drivers can check to see if their vehicle is part of the recall by entering the car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) at NHTSA.gov/recalls.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s administration this week took necessary — if incremental — steps to address the lack of affordable housing across the country, advocates and experts say.
The White House on Monday introduced the “Housing Supply Action Plan,” which aims through a combination of incentives, reforms, financial mechanisms and legislative lobbying to expand housing access for owners and renters amid still-soaring inflation. The administration staked a timeline on its work, saying that the plan would “help close America’s housing supply shortfall in 5 years, starting with the creation and preservation of hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units in the next three years.”
Housing and rental prices have continued to rise at the same time that the market, in many places in the U.S., has been challenged by a years-long lack of sufficient construction and inventory.
Against that backdrop, the White House’s new plan was met with praise by experts even as some of them stressed that progress would be slower than the administration had vowed.
“Our country’s facing a historic low supply of entry-level homes for sale,” said Chris Vincent, vice president of government relations and advocacy for Habitat for Humanity International. “And federal investments and administrative actions are really necessary to move this along. So we think it’s great and will have a big impact on urban, suburban and rural communities alike.”
Jeffrey Zabel, a professor of economics at Tufts University, said while the White House’s plan was a great first step, “It’s going to take a long time for any of this to have a real impact on the supply of housing.” Zabel predicted it will take at least a decade to achieve.
Prices — spurred in part by inflation — are a major pain point and are inextricably connected to issues with inventory. In April, housing costs rose 0.5%, the same as the month before, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Over the last year, per the CPI, housing costs increased 5.1%.
Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, said for “potential first-time homebuyers who are the linchpin of … the housing markets, they are priced out of the market.”
It’s even more challenging for people with low incomes and for communities of color to afford housing, advocates said, highlighting the influence of historic discrimination.
“I think the [COVID-19] pandemic really unveiled the housing crisis that many Black, brown and immigrant communities have faced for a long time,” said Katie Goldstein, the director of housing campaigns for the Center for Popular Democracy. “I mean, really, we’re talking about a housing crisis where there’s been decades of racial discrimination and disinvestment by federal, state and private actors.”
A 2020 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found that “Black households account for 12% of all households in the United States and 19% of all renters, but they account for 26% of all renter households with extremely low incomes.” Hispanics likewise make up 12% of all households and 19% of all renter households, the report said, but are 21% of renter households with extremely low incomes.
The Biden administration aims with its new plan to help lower costs over time by increasing the amount of quality housing, the White House said in a statement on Monday: “This means building more new homes and preserving existing federally-supported and market-rate affordable housing, ensuring that total new units do not merely replace converted or dilapidated units that get demolished.”
The White House said it will incentivize states and localities to change their zoning and land-use regulations, launch new low-cost financing for new housing and preservation, improve and build upon the existing federal financing, secure the accessibility of affordable single-family houses for owner-occupants and work to fix housing materials and labor shortages.
A senior administration official told ABC News in an email that the new actions do not require additional funding. The administrative actions, the official said, include programmatic changes to programs already in place.
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, who separately reintroduced a bill that would help create millions of new housing units, was among the Democrats who applauded the Biden administration for its plan.
“Housing affordability is one of the biggest crises facing working families and a key driver of inflation,” Omar wrote in an email to ABC News. “I am thrilled the Biden Administration is taking steps to tackle the housing crisis, including to encourage better zoning laws, funding for manufactured housing, multifamily housing, and the construction of new single-family homes. … Housing is a human right. It’s time to treat it like one.”
Last year, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., cosponsored legislation to reform low-income housing credit. He also praised the new housing initiative for how it would “improve and expand financing options that will support affordable housing construction, while embracing a mixed-use strategy, and providing government-owned housing to owners who will live in them,” he said in an email to ABC News.
Beyond its administrative powers, the White House called upon Congress to enact legislative solutions, largely by approving President Biden’s trillion-dollar social spending and climate package, known as the Build Back Better bill, which passed the House but was rebuffed by Republicans and moderate Democrats in the Senate.
The White House says that spending package would also make crucial investments in public housing and create more construction jobs. The administration singled out the Unlocking Possibilities program, which was included in that bill and would create a Housing and Urban Development Department competitive grant program of $1.75 billion “to help states and localities eliminate needless barriers to affordable housing production.”
Experts say a comprehensive solution will ultimately require some kind of federal legislation.
“Only through a combination of administrative and Congressional action can the country truly resolve its affordable housing crisis,” Diane Yentel, the president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in an email.
Noëlle Porter, the National Housing Law Project’s director of government affairs, also urged congressional action and highlighted the need for tenant protections.
“It’s a collective effort to get something like this to really work,” she said. “As advocates we will do every piece, every part in our power to braid funding sources together … but we need a significant investment in public housing and in tenant-based rental assistance.”
In proposals to expand housing access and affordability, a focus on tenants is essential in ensuring their rights and protections, Porter said.
She emphasized the need for action which guarantees that tenants who move back onto property that was once public but was privatized have the same affordability restrictions that the public property had.
Housing is a significant portion of what people spend their income on, Porter said. “As that cost expands, it cuts out, it pinches out, everything else we need to be able to buy.”
ABC News’ Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — With Memorial Day weekend around the corner, many Americans will likely hit the road to enjoy the unofficial start of summer. But that road trip will cost them as gas prices hit new highs across the country.
The national average for gas is now sitting at $4.58 a gallon. Every single state in the U.S. is seeing an average gas price above $4 a gallon, with California holding the highest average at $6.06.
And the pain at the pump may only get worse. Some analysts are warning that before the end of the summer, the national average for gas could hit $6 a gallon or more.
(NEW YORK) — Sad news for Bite Beauty lovers: The brand has officially announced it is shutting down operations after 10 years in business.
The clean beauty brand is beloved in the makeup community for its vegan, cruelty free cosmetics and skin care.
“We are sad to share that Bite Beauty will be closing later this year,” the company announced Monday on Instagram. “Thank you for the past 10 years of love, growth and fun. You have always been our ultimate inspiration.”
The brand announced it would be keeping its Lip Lab custom lipstick experience open and adding more locations down the road.
“Stay tuned for more exciting news to come,” the company wrote.
To clear out existing inventory, Bite Beauty is offering up to 50% off all its products at Sephora, giving fans time to stock up on their favorite products before the company closes its doors later this year.
