PUBLIC AFFAIRS please offer this coursework, then told the community college officials that they would hire the graduates. It allowed a basic welder who might have been earning about $40,000 or $50,000 a year to get direct training so they could earn $70,000 a year. So, it is good to have a way to rise to the middle-class through better job training. I think that is the most important idea I have. I also have been able to do things in the Senate that have actually passed that have also helped with job training. One of the bills that I actually worked on with the National Urban League (pertained to) making sure that young kids who’ve had a run-in with the law, for example, or dropped out of school or just did not have a straight pathway to their education, we trained those young people in skilled training so they could get a General Education Diploma (GED) and employment. I worked on a couple of new bills, as well, with the Urban League one is to help make sure construction careers are open to communities of color. I have been working on it with the National Black Caucus Chair, Karen Bass, and we are going to introduce legislation to provide for that pathway. Also, to give minority-owned firms priority considerations for infrastructure contracts. Second, I’m working to push for the passage of bipartisan legislation that would allow Pell Grants and Federal Work-Study college aid to be used by workers for high-quality, rigorous, short-term training programs that are developed in partnership between colleges and local employers, to ensure that the participating students receive these good-paying jobs upon graduation. So, that bill hopefully will be able to pass in Congress. I also think it is really important that minority-owned businesses and entrepreneurs get greater access to capital. As I have traveled my state (we have determined) that minority-owned businesses are much less likely to be approved for small business loans and even when they are approved, the loans tend to be smaller and have higher interest rates in comparison to white-owned firms. So, last year I was able to pass into law the Micro Loan Modernization Act. Basically, it expands the Small Business Administration (SBA) lending to minority businesses provides additional hands-on training and support to help minority entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Gary: In closing, what other thoughts would you like to share? Senator Gillibrand: I’ve been very concerned that we’re up against much more than people will often talk about. I really think, if you want to give more people access to the American Dream and you want to provide real opportunity for Black Americans, I think you have to take on institutional and systemic racism. The truth about institutional and systemic racism is that it is present in all spheres. It is present in our healthcare system, it is present in our economy (and) it is present in our criminal justice system. So, I have been working on a platform of ideas to directly attack the problem at its roots. One of the reasons why I think Medicare for all is such a good idea is because it is going to provide good, affordable, quality healthcare to all people. That is just a baseline. Then there are specific issues, for example Black maternal mortality rates being the highest in the country. The fact that a city like New York City (where) if you are a Black woman, (then) you are 12 times more likely to die in childbirth or within a year of delivering the child, than White women. It’s a huge issue and until we begin to address that problem, head-on, with better training and access to emergency procedures and technologies in every delivery room, you’re not even going to begin to brake the problem. On the economic side, I think its important to make sure that the unbanked and underbanked in this country which is about 30% of Americans, and disproportionately Black Americans and communities of color. I would address how we take on the predatory lending industry and the predatory banking practices by providing postal banking. Now, May 2019 The URBAN EXPERIENCE 39
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