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New York City Congressional Delegation Should Learn From Its Mistakes And Oppose Devastating Bankruptcy Bill Drum Major Institute Names New York City Congressmen Who Voted Against the Middle Class Last Year and Urges Them To Change their Votes
Today, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) is urging New York City's Congressional Delegation to vote 'no' on the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (S. 256). The national legislation would limit Americans' ability to receive federal bankruptcy protection when they lose their jobs or struggle to cope with the effects of a serious illness, putting thousands of New Yorkers at the mercy of debt collectors. Last year more than 75,000 New Yorkers filed for bankruptcy.
In 2004, two members of the New York City Congressional Delegation -- Democrat Joe Crowley of Queens and the Bronx and Republican Vito Fossella of Staten Island -- voted for a similar piece of legislation which passed in the House by a vote of 265-99, according to the DMI report Middle Class 2004: How Congress Voted, due to be released later this month. A version of the current bill has already passed in the Senate by a vote of 74-25 and is expected to pass by a wide margin in the House sometime this week. New York City Congressional Democrats Gregory Meeks of Jamaica, Queens and Gary Ackerman of Queens and Long Island, both failed to vote up or down on the bill in 2004. 'It's hard to imagine something more cynically opposed to the interests and financial security of working people,' says Mark Winston Griffith, DMI Fellow and long-time New York City community development advocate. 'This bill lays bare the moral bankruptcy of the so-called ownership society and sets back the cause of real consumer protection.' DMI says that this legislation hurts America's increasingly squeezed middle class at precisely the moment when we should be helping them. In the past year alone, the cost of everything from college tuition to healthcare to gasoline has gone up, putting more pressure on middle-class families. Bankruptcy protection is essential for preventing middle-class families struggling to cope with the loss of a job, massive unexpected medical bills, or the devastating break-up of their families from slipping into poverty. Since 2001, when 54,081 New Yorkers were forced into bankruptcy, the number of personal bankruptcy filings in New York State has increased by more than 40%. DMI is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to challenging the tired orthodoxies of both the right and the left. The goal: public policy for social and economic fairness. DMI's approach is unwavering: We seek to change policy by conducting research into overlooked, but important issues, by leveraging our strategic relationships to engage policymakers and opinion leaders in our work, and by offering platforms to amplify the ideas of those who work for social and economic fairness. For more information, visit www.drummajorinstitute.org.
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