The NAACP will participate as a plaintiff in case challenging Indiana’s SB 220

 BALTIMORE (August 10, 2017) – Today, the Indiana State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the State of Indiana, its general assembly, and various election officials challenging Indiana’s SB 220 as violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In August 2017, the Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb, signed into law Senate Bill 220, which requires Lake County – home to the second largest African-American population and largest Latino population in the state – to consolidate polling locations that had 600 or fewer active voters assigned to that location as of November 1, 2016. Senate Bill 220 applies only to Lake County and would not require any other county in the state to make such provisions.

Of the 522 election precincts in Lake County, more than half are at risk of consolidation that would cause:

• An increase in the time and effort voters have to expend to determine their new polling location
• An increase in the distance and time required to travel to new polling locations
• A reduction in the number of precinct committee-persons in Lake County (and thereby reduce representation in local and state offices)

Precincts with heavily black and Latino populations, including Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago, would be disproportionately affected. “The intent of this bill is clear: to discriminate against black and Latino voters,” said Derrick Johnson, Interim President and CEO of the NAACP. “It was only decades ago that black Americans were regularly denied the right to the ballot box, whether they were turned away at the polls or not even permitted to register to vote. As the foremost social justice organization, we will continue to take legal action to block any malicious attempts to suppress votes of Americans of color.”

The NAACP staunchly opposes any scheme to infringe on voters’ rights, whether the tactic be Indiana Senate Bill 220 or President Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. “Unlike voter fraud, voter suppression is real and rampant in 2017 America. The NAACP remains ever vigilant and ever ready to fight back,” added Johnson.

NEW YORK  —  National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement on the violence in Charlottesville, VA:

“Horrifying expressions of white supremacy and Nazi sympathies sadly are nothing novel in the United States, even in the 21st Century.  What is shocking is that these demonstrations – with apparent deliberate fatal assaults against counter-protesters – should take place without a clear condemnation from the highest levels of government. What we are witnessing is a failure of our national institutions. We in the Urban League Movement call upon everyone with a voice on our national stage to condemn these demonstrations and these racist sentiments in the strongest possible terms. This is not who we are as a society and as a nation.”

BALTIMORE – The NAACP vehemently opposes President Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity as a thinly veiled attempt to suppress the votes of American citizens, especially those of color. The Commission has requested a wide range of voter data from all 50 states, as well as D.C., under the guise of curtailing fictitious widespread voter fraud. The NAACP is pursuing legal action to prevent voter information from being dispersed in a manner that does not comply with state law and that can harm hundreds of thousands of registered voters. 

Researchers have shown President Trump’s claims that three to five million fraudulent votes were cast in the 2016 presidential election to be entirely unfounded. According to the Brennan Center, “most reported incidents of voter fraud are actually traceable to other sources, such as clerical errors or bad data matching practices.” With a voter impersonation fraud incident rate between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent, “voter fraud [is] more rare than death by lightning.”  

The politicians that President Trump selected to lead the Commission make its voter suppression intent crystal clear. Vice President Mike Pence will serve as the Commission’s chair, and Secretary of State of Kansas Kris Kobach, known as the “King of Voter Suppression,” will serve as vice chair. Though his claims of rampant voter fraud have been repeatedly debunked, Kobach has dedicated his career to robbing American citizens – namely people of color – of their fundamental right to vote. 

The NAACP refuses to stand idly by while those in power seek to take the country back to era of Jim Crow voting laws, and we have taken our disapproval to the courts.  

The NAACP’s Indiana State Conference, Texas State Conference, and Salt Lake City Branch have each joined lawsuits challenging their respective chief elections officers’ unlawful disclosure of voter information to Trump’s Commission. In each of these states, production of some of the types of information requested by the Commission is either limited or prohibited by state law, and in some cases, state law provides limitations on how such information can be used. Each lawsuit seeks an injunction forbidding the production of confidential voter information as part of President Trump’s unlawful scheme to rob Americans of their constitutional right to vote.

The health of our nation depends upon an inclusive democracy. The NAACP is staunchly committed to encouraging civic participation and thwarting anyone who seeks to prevent it.  

CHICAGO, IL – Gov. Bruce Rauner is attempting to rewrite fair education funding legislation to favor his wealthy schools at the expense of local students, state Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, said Monday:

“Our area is home to some of the most under-funded schools in the country. There’s no reason our children shouldn’t have the same opportunities as students in Bruce Rauner’s wealthy suburbs. That’s why I fought for legislation that provides fair funding to every school in the state, not just the select few. But Governor Rauner is trying to rewrite the bill to actually make the system less fair for local students and funnel even more money to his wealthy school districts.

“The state’s education funding formula isn’t working for our families, and Bruce Rauner’s plan is actually worse than the status quo. He is pitting one child against another. While my plan was a permanent guarantee of more funding for every school, his plan picks winners and losers. Within a few years, schools like ours will lose even more money, only to see it funneled to the wealthy suburban districts that Bruce Rauner and his rich friends send their children too.

“This is the clearest and most heartless indication yet that the governor simply does not care about our students.”

Madigan & Coalition Say Rule Prevents Greenhouse Gas Emissions

from New Sources in Oil & Gas Sector

CHICAGO, IL – Attorney General Lisa Madigan today joined with 13 other attorneys general, the state of Colorado, and the city of Chicago to submit comments in opposition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed 27-month compliance delay of an important public health rule designed to limit new sources of methane emissions by encouraging the use of emerging technology to reduce emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas.

The rule on new sources of methane is expected to prevent 300,000 tons of methane emissions in 2020 and 510,000 tons of methane emissions by 2025. The controls required by the rule are also expected to reduce emissions of other pollutants, including volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. Before putting the rule in place, the EPA analyzed the costs and benefits of the rule, including the revenues from recovered natural gas that would otherwise be vented, and determined that the rule would result in a net benefit estimated at $35 million in 2020 and $170 million in 2025.

In the comments, Madigan and the coalition point out that the EPA’s delay of the rule is unlawful for three reasons: It exceeds the EPA’s statutory authority under the Clean Air Act; it is arbitrary and capricious; and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s involvement in the delay is improper because it would achieve the result he sought in his lawsuit challenging the rule when he was the Oklahoma Attorney General.

“The U.S. EPA should immediately reverse course and do its job to eliminate dangerous toxic pollutants from our air,” Madigan said. “Methane pollution is a proven contributor to climate change, and I will continue to fight delays and decisions by the EPA that put the public and our environment at risk.”

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, warming the climate about 34 times more potently than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. The oil and natural gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane emissions and accounts for one-third of total methane emissions in the U.S.

The rule on new sources of methane became effective on August 2, 2016. Shortly after it became effective, the rule was challenged in court by several industry groups. Several states, including Illinois, led by Attorney General Madigan, intervened in the case to defend the rule. On June 5, 2017, President Donald Trump’s EPA issued its first three-month delay of the methane new source rule without giving notice or taking comments, arguing that the industry’s challenges raised new issues that were not addressed during the rulemaking process. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals promptly found that the delay was unlawful and terminated it. On June 16, 2017, the EPA published for notice and comment two additional proposed delays, totaling 27 months.

Joining Madigan in submitting the comments were the attorneys general of California, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The State of Colorado and the City of Chicago also joined in submitting the comments. A copy of the comments can be found here.

CHICAGO, IL – State. Rep. Juliana Stratton, D-Chicago, issued the following statement regarding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s attempt to rewrite fair education funding to benefit wealthy schools at the expense of local students:

“The governor’s attempt to rewrite fair education funding is really an attempt to rob local students and further enrich wealthy school districts. The governor’s plan allows currently wealthy school districts to gain even more off the backs of underfunded school districts. This is not a plan I am prepared to support, and will not do so.

“The bill I helped put on the governor’s desk provided a long-term guarantee of equitable funding and quality educational opportunities for children in Chicago and across the state. The governor’s changes return to picking winners and losers, and rely on phony mathematical gimmicks to continue underfunding schools in the greatest need.

“He falsely labeled our proposal as a ‘Chicago bailout,’ a claim which has been debunked by an independent fact-checking group, Politifact. Now he has turned the debate on Senate Bill 1 into a political game, pitting students against each other.

“Time and time again, the governor is proving who he could not care less about: Chicago Public School students. The carelessness speaks volumes about his disdain for Chicago and its students, and his disregard for the legislative process. He claimed the bill only needed a simple majority to adopt his veto when in fact it requires a supermajority to adopt.

“This crisis he is perpetuating is something I will fight against, because Illinois needs to continue down the path of reform. We have been making good progress, by overriding the governor before, and we should not stop now. I will continue to negotiate with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to adopt a funding formula that is fair for Chicago Public Schools and will refuse to give in to the governor’s demands that double-down on the failed status-quo.”

CHICAGO, IL– Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the attorneys general of 31 states and the District of Columbia announced a settlement with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Company (collectively, Nationwide) over an October 2012 data breach.

The data breach was allegedly caused by Nationwide’s failure to apply a critical security patch. The breach resulted in 1.27 million consumers having their personal information, including social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, credit scoring information and other personal data, stolen or compromised.

Much of the personal information compromised through the data breach belonged to consumers who were never insured by Nationwide. The company collected prospective customers’ personal information in order to provide insurance quotes to applicants and kept that personal information even if consumers did not purchase insurance through Nationwide. The settlement requires more transparent data collection practices by mandating that Nationwide disclose to consumers that their personal information will be retained, even if they do not become Nationwide customers.

“People have the right to know how their sensitive personal information is being used and retained by companies,” Madigan said. “This settlement requires Nationwide to inform consumers the extent to which their information will be kept on file and also requires the company to implement better data security measures.”

The settlement also requires the company to take a number of steps to update its security practices and ensure the timely application of patches and other security software updates. Nationwide must also hire a technology officer responsible for monitoring and managing software and application security updates. The technology officer will also supervise employees responsible for evaluating and coordinating the maintenance, management and application of all security patches and security updates to software and applications.

Additionally, as part of the settlement, Nationwide must take steps during the next three years to strengthen its security practices, including:

• Updating its procedures and policies relating to the maintenance and storage of consumers’ personal data;
• Conducting regular inventories of the patches and updates applied to systems used to maintain consumers’ personal information (PII);
• Maintaining and utilizing system tools to monitor the health and security of the systems used to maintain PII; and
• Performing internal assessments of patch management practices, and hiring an outside, independent provider to perform an annual audit of Nationwide’s practices regarding the collection and maintenance of PII.

Under the settlement, Nationwide will pay $5.5 million to the states included in the settlement, and Illinois will receive more than $280,000.

In addition to Illinois, the settlement was joined by the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.

The settlement was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Yangsu Kim and Matthew Van Hise for Madigan’s Consumer Fraud Bureau.

Bill Seeks to Undo Key Dodd-Frank Reforms and Weaken Protections for Consumers

WASHINGTON, DC  – National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial publicly released a letter sent to the entire U.S. House of Representatives this morning calling on them to reject the Financial Choice Act.  If passed this bill would upend important reforms enacted after the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and severely weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Morial’s full letter follows and is attached.

June 7, 2017

Dear Congressman –

I write today to urge you to vote against the Financial Choice Act also known as, the Wrong Choice Act. The Wrong Choice Act is a misguided attempt to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, the landmark financial reform legislation that was enacted to protect American consumers from the excesses that caused the financial crisis less than 10 years ago. Introduced by Jeb Hensarling, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, the Wrong Choice Act virtually wipes away all of the consumer protections established by Dodd-Frank, including weakening the effectiveness of the lauded Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB is a strong watchdog and a zealous advocate for the American people with a proven track-record of success. I oppose any efforts to dismantle Dodd-Frank and the CFPB, especially those based on ideologies not grounded in truth.

I have proudly served as the President and CEO of the National Urban League for nearly 15 years. The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization focused on economic empowerment for communities of color. We have 88 affiliates in 36 states and the District of Columbia that provide direct services to 2 million people annually. We provide workforce training, afterschool programs, healthcare assistance, and housing counseling, among other impactful services to help lift-up the community. We saw and experienced firsthand the impact of lax federal regulations and the horrors of the financial crisis, which is why we supported the passage of Dodd-Frank and fiercely oppose any efforts to dismantle it.

As you know, African Americans suffered the brunt of the financial crisis. Twenty-five percent of the homes that were in foreclosure or deeply underwater during and after the crisis were owned by African Americans. Consequently, 50 percent of African Americans’ wealth was wiped out through no fault of their own, in most cases. Irresponsible borrowers did not cause the financial crisis–irresponsible products caused the crisis. Lenders steered African Americans into predatory products that they knew could not be repaid. Several mainstream banks were sued for reverse redlining, blatant housing discrimination of African Americans that helped caused the financial crisis.

Dodd-Frank was enacted to counter these excesses. There was broad consensus that Wall Street had to be reined in to protect consumers and to reenergize the economy. The CFPB was created to fight on behalf of consumers and to ensure another financial crisis of the kind and scope that created the Great Recession never happened again. It consolidated the departments of the seven federal financial agencies with consumer protection authority. The agency’s budget was funded through the Federal Reserve and not the appropriations process to ensure it could live out its mission: “to provide a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer financial laws and protecting consumers in the financial marketplace,” no matter the political climate.

Since its inception, the CFPB has proven its effectiveness as the nation’s top consumer protection watchdog. The CFPB promulgated the Qualified Mortgage rule and the Mortgage Servicing rule, which helped regulate the industry and ensure that subprime mortgages and the foreclosures that resulted would never happen again. Lenders can no longer offer mortgages without full documentation or charge excessive points and fees and servicers have to ensure borrowers are not forced into foreclosure. Banks cannot engage in redlining activities and other financial products in the market must have consumers’ wellbeing in mind. The CFPB has returned more than $12 billion to approximately 30 million aggrieved American consumers as a result.

The CFPB’s success has not hurt financial markets; it helped increase confidence in the market. Several studies have made this clear. Chairman Hensarling’s effort to weaken Dodd-Frank and the CFPB through the Wrong Choice Act is a deliberate attempt to bolster Wall Street to the detriment of Main Street. Opposition to Dodd-Frank and the CFPB is grounded in false ideology and will hurt American consumers. I urge you to oppose the Wrong Choice Act.

Sincerely,

Marc H. Morial

President and CEO

National Urban League