The Jubilee Blog

White House Announces Puerto Rico Oversight Board Membership

by Greg Williams

The White House is announcing members of Puerto Rico's fiscal oversight board established as part of legislation to address the US territory’s debt crisis. President Obama signed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act into law June 29. The board is responsible for triggering debt restructuring on the island and approving the Governor's budget. Four of the seven board members are Puerto Rican. The board members are Carlos Garcia, Jose Carrion III, Andrew Biggs, David Skeel, Arthur Gonzalez, Jose Ramon Gonzalez and Anna Matosantos.

"The humanitarian crisis is getting worse in Puerto Rico and the board needs to urgently authorize the debt restructuring process,” commented Eric LeCompte, a United Nations debt expert and the executive director of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA. Jubilee USA worked on the Puerto Rico debt legislation that authorizes the board. “Most of the members clearly recognize the need to begin a debt restructuring process sooner than later.”

President Obama appointed board members from a pool of recommendations from Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Democratic Senator Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The legislation additionally put a stay on debt lawsuits against Puerto Rico and granted the island tools to restructure all of its debt. Puerto Rico owes over $70 billion overall and defaulted on $2 billion in debt on July 1. The island is in the midst of a decade-long recession, has an unemployment rate more than double the national rate and nearly half its population lives in poverty.

"The only way we can start to get on the other side of this crisis is to bring the debt to sustainable levels as soon as possible,” stated LeCompte.

Read more about the Puerto Rico debt legislation

Read a timeline of Puerto Rico's debt crisis

Shabbat Shalom From Georgia

 

Jubilee USA's Campaigns Director Andrew Hanauer was in Georgia last Friday to meet with Christian, Jewish and Muslim community leaders and to speak at Friday night services at Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell (pictured). Georgia is one of a number of states where Jubilee USA is actively growing its grassroots base - and where faith communities of all types are organizing together to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable.

 

Please let us know if you're interested in Andrew or other Jubilee staff visiting your community or working with you to grow Jubilee in your areas. Feel free to email Julia Rosenberg at [email protected] and we will be in touch with you.

Linking the Opioid Epidemic to Anonymous Shell Companies

Fair Share's Nathan Proctor published an opinion piece on Boston's NPR website connecting the opioid epidemic in the United States to the problem of anonymous shell companies, used to launder money and finance crime. Jubilee USA works to stop money laundering and corruption by supporting policies that give law enforcement access to the names of the true owners of these anonymous companies.

 

As Nathan puts it, "As we fight to save lives from opioids, we should leave no stone unturned — which should include the rocks under which drug cartels hide their money."

 

You can read the article here.

 

Corinthian Colleges Fined $1.1 Billion

by Darrin Brown

In March, a California Superior Court judge ruled Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit company offering postsecondary education through its Heald, Everest and WyoTech schools, had misrepresented its programs, job placement rates, and debt collection practices. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in May of 2015 and is now defunct, was levied with more than $1.1 billion in fines and restitution.

Jubilee USA works to stop predatory student lending practices and supports policies that promote responsible student lending and borrowing.

“Predatory financial behavior should not be part of our higher education system,” said Andrew Hanauer, Jubilee USA’s Campaigns Director. "Promoting responsible student lending and borrowing isn't just good for our students, it benefits our entire economy."

In response to the ruling and the closure of Corinthian campuses, the U.S. Department of Education in June proposed new regulations that would allow student borrowers relief from repayment of loans taken based on misleading information from a school or university. A final rule is expected later in 2016.

The Dept. of Education also established the Student Aid Enforcement Unit to resolve student claims of misrepresentation by higher education institutions.

Help Jubilee USA win responsible borrowing and lending policies in our domestic economy - sign up for Jubilee Weekend today: http://www.jubileeusa.org/get-active/events/jubilee-weekend-2016.html

Read the lawsuit’s timeline (2013-2016): http://www.publiccounsel.org/tools/assets/files/0635.pdf

Corinthian Colleges: https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/consumers_cii_faqs

CA Attorney General’s Statements: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-obtains-11-billion-judgment-against-predatory

Student Aid Enforcement Unit: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/student-aid-enforcement-unit-formed-protect-students-borrowers-taxpayers

Responsible Lending and Borrowing in our Domestic Economy - A Lender's View

by Lucas Giese

Sasha Orloff, CEO and co-founder of the financial services company LendUp, wrote an op-ed in The Hill detailing his support for new proposed regulations on “payday” lending. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a rule that promotes responsible lending and borrowing to vulnerable consumers who are unable to repay short-term and high cost loans.

LendUp would be affected by the CFPB's proposed rule, but they view the rules as necessary restrictions to encourage responsible lending and borrowing. LendUp offers small-dollar, short term loans, but says on its website that it promotes "sustainable" lending practices to avoid trapping consumers in cycles of debt. LendUp says it decreases a customer’s interest rates over time to reward repayment and responsibility, "graduating" borrowers into financial security.

Intern with Jubilee USA This Fall

Jubilee USA Summer 2016 Interns!

By Greg Williams

Interested in making a difference in the world while interning at an exciting non-profit on Capitol Hill? 

 

Apply today for an internship with Jubilee USA!

 

All Jubilee associates will have the chance to: 

• Attend events and/or meetings hosted by Jubilee USA, partner organizations, International Financial Institutions and Congress
• Participate in staff meetings, brainstorming sessions and Jubilee USA's annual Network Council meetings
• Learn about non-profit operations
• Learn valuable office skills 
• Network and make connections across Washington

You can read more about the internship opportunities we have here: http://www.jubileeusa.org/whoweare/jobs-and-internships.html or feel free to be in touch with us at [email protected] with any questions.

 

Best,

Greg

 

DRC’s largest mine was just sold. And DRC got nothing.

Below is a blog post on the connection between financial secrecy, taxes and poverty from our partners at Oxfam America. Kathleen Brophy dives deep into an analysis of the sale of a large copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, showing how the Congolese government collected no tax from the $2.65 billion transaction:

"Last week, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists unveiled a collection of new stories in their latest Panama Papers leak, this time with a focus on Africa. The stories reveal new details about illicit financial flows and the extractive industries, showing how multi-billion dollar oil and mining deals across the continent serve to make the rich even richer while providing no benefits to some of the world’s poorest populations.

So what exactly does this mean? How is it that billions of dollars are being made off of Africa’s natural resources without benefitting African populations? For multinational oil and mineral companies the answer is simple: separate the actual from the transactional."

Read more...

Jubilee in Oakland

 

By Andrew Hanauer

I'll be in Oakland this Sunday, and would love for you to join me for  brunch and a conversation on Jubilee USA's work to end poverty from the East Bay to East Africa and beyond.

Sunday, August 7th 

Payday Loans, the Panama Papers and Poverty

A Conversation with Jubilee USA's Andrew Hanauer

Skyline Community Church

12540 Skyline Blvd, Oakland

11:30 - Free Brunch

12:30 - Presentation and Conversation

Please RSVP to Aina Krupinski-Puig at [email protected]

You are also welcome to join Skyline for its religious service at 10am - I'll be delivering the sermon.

For more information on the event, please click here: http://jubileeusa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Flyer/SkylineJubileeEventFlier.pdf

You can also view the event on Facebook here.

We'd love to have you join us on August 7th. Please also feel free to share with your friends and contacts in the Bay Area.