Bread for the City staff member Kate Baasch testifies on behalf of Bread for the City’s Legal Clinic.
On May 5, the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety had its first public hearing on the “Paternity Establishment Amendment Act of 2022.” This amendment would make it easier to obtain court-ordered DNA testing when someone has reason to believe there was a mistake in the signing of an Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP).
Dimitri McDaniel, Staff Attorney at Bread for the City's Legal Clinic, testified at a Performance Oversight Hearing before the Committee on Housing & Executive Administration regarding the Department of Housing & Community Development and the Housing Production Trust Fund. Bread for the City advocates for increased transparency around the Housing Production Trust Fund through the passing of the Housing Production Trust Fund Transparency Amendment Act of 2021.
On Thursday May 20, 2021, Bread for the City and our community members provided oral and written testimony in support of two bills currently being discussed at the D.C. City Council: the Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment of 2021 and the Fair Tenant Screening Act of 2021. Both pieces of legislation will benefit low-income housing applicants, particularly people of color, who regularly face discrimination and indignity during the housing application process, the eviction process, and within our criminal justice system.
Last week, the mayor hosted the Virtual 2021 Budget Engagement Forums, an opportunity for DC residents to tell the mayor’s office what values they want to see reflected in this year’s budget. Bread for the City, as a member of the DC Healthcare Alliance Coalition, called on the mayor to fund a simple but essential improvement to DC’s low-income immigrant health insurance program. We want the mayor to change the DC Healthcare Alliance recertification period from six months to one year.
This May 29, Supervising Attorney at Bread for the City, Amy Gellatly, shared this written testimony as part of the Budget Oversight Hearing on the Department of Human Services. This Tax Day, when we reflect on how our city's budget should reflect the values of its residents, we look back to this testimony from May, when, like now, many of those residents were concerned with rent during this current health and economic crisis. We continue to ask the DC Council for a #JustRecovery which we believe supports rent justice.
Read Bread for the City's full submitted testimony regarding the DC Metropolitan Police Department budget, given this week by Advocacy Director Aja Taylor for the DC Council's Committee of the Judiciary & Public Safety.
Language barriers, long wait times, and a lack of communication often prevent our clients from accessing benefits in a timely manner. Today, we took our concerns directly to the DC Council.
Last week, our CEO, George A. Jones testified in support of the Racial Equity Achieves Results act during a D.C. Council hearing on the bill. Here's what he submitted for the official record.
On Monday, our CEO, George Jones, testified against the Eviction With Dignity Act currently being considered by the City Council. Our position is clear: There is no dignity in eviction -- and we can do better than this.