2009 hk on j agenda and action steps

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The HK on J Peoples Agenda Draft revisions 2/2/09

On February 10, 2007, North Carolina witnessed an Historic Peoples Assembly of

Thousands at the State Legislative Building on Jones Street in Raleigh. More than 70

organizations, organized by the N.C. State Conference of the NAACP, brought

thousands to Jones Street to inaugurate a new, movement for progressive changesin the way state government does its business.

The new movement, HK on J, takes its name from the phrase Historic Thousands

on Jones Street. It is the first modern coalition of its kind a diverse, statewide

movement dedicated to the enactment of a progressive, anti-racism agenda that

both binds the states historical wounds and moves it forward as One North Carolina

into the 21st Century.

Since its first Peoples Assembly, HK on J has enjoyed remarkable success. It has

broken down walls between many natural allies in the state, who had been divided.

Its collective voice has been heard in the halls of state government and by manylocal governments. Major points in its 14-Point Peoples Agenda have been enacted

into law. Many more are receiving serious consideration.

In 2009 the number of organizations joining with the NAACPs political alliance

around the 14 Point Agenda continues to grow. On February 14, 2009, Valentines

Day, the HK on J movement will again demand that state lawmakers address its

agenda points in open session, so our elected leaders can be held accountable

when they return home for elections.

To help everyone understand the comprehensive nature of this Agenda, the HK on J

Coalition offers several recommended action steps for 2009. In recognition of thecost of many of these items andthe economic and budget crises that confront the

state, the partners call on lawmakers to fairly apportion funds that will flow to the

state as part of President Obamas economic recovery plan and also express their

strong commitment to a series of comprehensive reforms that would establish a

fairer, more adequate, and less volatile state revenue system.

The 14 Points (Highlights indicate areas of success in the 2007-08General Assembly)

1. All Children Need High Quality, Well Funded, Diverse Schools. NC

must meet its Constitution's requirement of adequate and diverse schools byfully funding Leandro with transparent accountability and creating specialleadership teams in its failing schools.

Action steps for 09:

Fully fund the state Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund (the

fund has been increased somewhat in recent years)


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Enact specific reforms targeted at reducing the dropout rate and the

number of student suspensions and expulsions by, among other things,implementing fairer student discipline policies and assuring that everyat-risk child has a Personal Education Plan (the state House establisheda special study commission on the subject in 2008)

Complete a costing out study of what it will take to fully comply withthe Leandro guarantee of a sound basic education for all children

Appoint a Joint Legislative Committee on Constitutional Education

Hire Special Leadership Teams of 3-5 experts in each school found in

violation of the Constitution to reengage young people and theirparents in the educational process

Freeze university tuition rates

2. Livable Wages and Support for Low Income People. NC ought toprovide livable wages, make sure no person goes hungry and that everyonein need has affordable, accessible childcare.


Raise the state minimum wage and index it to inflation

Require state contractors to pay all employees a living wage plus

benefits

Increase the state earned income tax credit (the credit was increased

in 2008)

Dramatically expand Food Stamp outreach and eliminate asset limits

for recipients

Provide the funding necessary to eliminate the state childcare waiting

list Require business incentive recipients to pay a living wage with benefits

Enact improved housing and workplace standards for farm and factory

workers (modest improvements to migrant housing standards wererecently adopted)

Increase funding for worker training and education programs by 50%

3. Health Care for All. NC ought to provide its people with health insuranceand prescription drugs, while funding public health programs to treat socialdiseases that plague Black and poor communities including HIV/AIDS,diseases caused by environmental pollution and warming, drugs, domesticviolence, mental illness, diabetes, and obesity.


Enact the comprehensive health care reform plan put forth by the N.C.

Health Access Coalition; Start by guaranteeing that every parent in thestate can purchase an affordable health care plan for their child


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Act immediately to address the crisis in the treatment and placement

for persons with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities andsubstance abuse problems

Triple funding for the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities

and state HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs

4. Redress Two Ugly Chapters in N. C.'s Racist History: The overthrowof the bi-racial 1898 Wilmington Government and the sterilization ofpoor, mainly Black, women from 1947-1977. NC must implement its1898 Wilmington Riot Commission recommendations and pay damages to thepoor women it forcibly sterilized.

Action step for 09:

Enact recently recommended legislation that would pay $20,000 to

each victim of forcible sterilization

Re-constitute the official 1898 Wilmington Riot Commission and

oversee the implementation of its 15 recommendations

Construct the Monument Honoring African Americans on the grounds of

the state Capitol

Establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for North Carolinamodeled on previous efforts in Greensboro and South Africa

Double state appropriations for the states nonprofit, minority

community economic development package

5. Same Day Registration and Public Financing of Elections (the statehas enacted and implemented groundbreaking new laws in this area inrecent years, but much work remains)

Action steps for 09

Expand early voting and same day registration hours and locations andimprove oversight of voting rights protections

Expand public financing of statewide elections to additional offices and

enact a pilot program for selected seats in the General Assembly

6. Lift Every HBCU. NC must financially support our Historically Black Collegesand Universities to develop equitable infrastructure and programs withdoctoral-level leadership for today's challenges.

Action step for 09:

Establish an HBCU Development Commission with staff and a long-

term mandate to increase public and private funding for the HBCUs aswell for need-based scholarships, higher faculty salaries, betterrecruitment programs and stronger curricula

Establish the principles of construction parity, salary parity and

graduate program parity, for all universities by adequately funding


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HBCU capital needs and salaries and providing new funding for HBCUdoctoral programs

Double need-based financial aid for HBCUs

Increase and enhance HBCU academic programs to address the criticalneeds of minority and poor families including high quality teacher

education programs for teachers in low wealth schools and cuttingedge environmental science programs

Increase funding for capital improvements, maintenance, and

recruitment and develop more professional schools at HBCUs

Protect students of HBCUs and other institutions of higher learning

that serve predominantly poor populations against predatory lendersand others who burden students with high student financialindebtedness

7. Document and Redress 200 years of State Discrimination in Hiringand Contracting.NC must commission historical documentation of its contracting practices

with racial minorities to justify constitutional redress.

Action step for 09:

Fund an independent study of the states historical record in

contracting with and hiring racial minorities that will report its findingsto the General Assembly and make specific recommendations forremedying past discrimination

Establish special support centers at Community Colleges and HBCUs

throughout the State to help minority-owned businesses andcontractors take full advantage of new business opportunities

8. Provide Affordable Housing and Stop Consumer Abuse. NC mustprovide an Affordable Housing Trust Fund for low-income renters, vouchers forwounded veterans who can not find accessible housing, meaningful taxbreaks for seniors forced out of their homes, and protection against predatorylending and foreclosures (NC has enacted some of the best foreclosure

protection laws in the country in recent years).


Appropriate $50 million to the N.C. Housing Trust Fund (appropriations

have grown significantly in recent years)

Expand appropriations to the N.C. Home Protection Program

(appropriations have grown significantly in recent years)

Reject efforts to legalize new high-cost loan products and proposals to

allow the garnishment of wages for debt owed to private creditors

Enact a statewide rental housing code

Prohibit mandatory renters insurance


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Ensure that new public transportation projects do not displace (and are

accessible to) low-income people

9. Abolish Racially Biased Death Penalty and Mandatory SentencingLaws; Reform our Prisons.


Enact the Racial Justice Act and the proposal to ban executions of

persons with severe mental disabilities as a precursor to repealing thedeath penalty in its entirety

Enact the reform recommendations of the N.C. Sentencing Commission

Fund alternative sentencing programs

Dramatically expand services to prisoners re-entering society

Enact a moratorium on the construction of new prisons

Raise the age for adult prosecution from age 16 to age 18

Establish a joint NAACP/Department of Correction program to promoteliteracy, strengthen ties between inmates and their families andcommunities, and aid the re-entry process

10. Put Young People to Work to Save the Environment and Fight forEnvironmental Justice. NC must establish an Environmental Job Corps foryoung people who did not graduate from high school to re-engage them inpublic service. NC must fight all forms of environmental injustice.

Action step for 09:

Assure that a specific percentage of any federal stimulus funding forinfrastructure projects is earmarked for green jobs and require allstate agencies, programs and contracts to promote conservation andenergy independence

Establish a state Environmental Justice Youth Board and fund youth

employment in environmental protection

Enact new policies to prohibit the concentration of pollution sources

near low-income and minority communities

11. Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Support SmithfieldWorkers Right to Unionize. NC must support the right of Smithfieldworkers in Tar Heel to form a union and work in a safe environment, and

support collective bargaining for public employees.(Workers won theirhistoric victory at Smithfield in 2008).

Action step for 09:

Enact legislation to repeal the ban on collective bargaining contained

in G.S. 95-98


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Expand and improve state regulation of workplace safety especially

in the meatpacking and poultry industries

12. Protect the Rights of Immigrants from Latin America and otherNations. NC must provide immigrants with health care, education, workers

rights and protection from discrimination.

Action step for 09:

Assure that all graduates of North Carolina high schools are eligible for

admission to state universities and community colleges at in-statetuition rates

Call on federal lawmakers to adopt responsible, comprehensive

immigration reform

End state and local law enforcement participation in the federal 287(g)

deportation program and reject the use of local law enforcement toenforce non-criminal immigration violations and/or to deny due process

to persons because of their immigration status

13. Organize, Strengthen and Provide Funding For Our Civil RightsEnforcement Agencies and Statutes Now.

Action step for 09:

Enact a comprehensive N.C. Civil Rights Act that is clear to employers

and employees, landlords and tenants, property sellers and buyers,with effective disincentives for proven discrimination

Establish and adequately fund a single, unified state Department of

Human Rights that is empowered to investigate, conciliate andadjudicate cases of alleged discrimination

14. Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now. NC cannot address injustice athome while we wage an unjust war abroad.

Action step for 09:

Establish a study commission to examine the mental and physical

health care available for returning troops and their families in NorthCarolina and to make specific recommendations for programmatic

changes that will assure the availability of essential services Adopt a legislative resolution calling on Congress and the President to

complete withdrawal from Iraq in 2009

2009 hk on j agenda and action steps

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