Policy Track
Brought to you by Initial Platinum Sponsor
Potomac III
This session will focus on the role of local city governments in supporting or launching strategies to help families save, build and protect assets. A panel of city leaders will discuss how and why cities continue to become engaged in asset building, the types of comprehensive policies and programs they are currently implementing, and tangible results that underscore the need for a continuum of asset-building services at the local level.
Speakers: Heidi Goldberg (National League of Cities), The Honorable José Cisneros (City and County of San Francisco), Dennis J. Campa (City of San Antonio)
II.2 Asset Limit Reform: Policy, Practice, Research and Advocacy Tools
Potomac VI
This session will provide an overview of how asset limits used in determining eligibility for state and federal public benefits create savings disincentives for low-income individuals and persons with disabilities. Participants will learn policy strategies and practical advocacy skills to raise or eliminate asset limits or exempt categories of assets, based on examples of successful and unsuccessful state and federal legislative and administrative advocacy efforts.
Speakers: Dory Rand (Woodstock Institute), Stacy Dean (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), Olivia Calderon (New America Foundation)
II.3 FEDERAL ASSETS POLICY UPDATE
Arlington
This session will provide an overview of how federal policies invest in asset building and look at current efforts to change federal asset-building policy. Examples include proposed regulatory changes to the Assets for Independence Program, expansion of IDAs through tax credits to new populations such as farmers or foster youth, and strategies to ensure that existing savings products work for low-income people. This session will also discuss recently enacted policies to ameliorate foreclosures and provide capital to community development financial institutions. This session will also discuss recently enacted policies to ameliorate foreclosures and provide capital to community development financial institutions.
Speakers: Ray Boshara (New America Foundation), Carol Wayman (CFED), Josh Nassar, (Center for Responsible Lending), Mark Pinsky, (Opportunity Finance Network)
II.4 CREATING A SUSTAINABLE STATE ASSET POLICY COALITION
Washington A
This session will discuss three different approaches to building, structuring, governing and funding statewide asset policy coalitions. Presenters will speak about the initial formation and the structure and governance of their coalitions, the opportunities and challenges of the different approaches, and the kinds of issues that arise. At the conclusion of the session, participants will have a plan and resources for establishing or expanding a state asset policy coalition in their home state.
Speakers: Paul Knox (Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development), Woody Widrow (RAISE Texas), Don Jones (OLHSA)
II.5 IMPROVING RETIREMENT COVERAGE FOR LOW-AND MODERATE-INCOME WORKERS
Washington B
Workers today are living longer, are more likely to face reductions in Social Security benefits, and are less likely to participate in defined benefit pension plans. Unfortunately, many of our public policies do not reflect the increased responsibility placed on individuals to prepare for their own retirement. This session will discuss policy solutions crucial to improving retirement security for the millions of low-and moderate-income individuals who are working and living in this changing pension landscape.
Speakers: Zoë Neuberger (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), Jean Setzfand (AARP), Frank Toohey (AARP)
III.1 EXISTING FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR MATCHED SAVINGS PROGRAMS
Washington B
Are you looking for program funding and matching dollars for your clients? Meet with program administrators from two of the largest asset-building programs in the federal government: the Health and Human Services' Assets for Independence Program and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Meet to discuss funding opportunities and policy recommendations for these IDA programs.
Speakers: James Gatz (Office of Community Services, Health and Human Services), Lisa Campbell (Office of Refugee Resettlement, Health and Human Services), Carol Wayman (CFED)
III.2 Developing and Advocating for a State Policy Agenda
Potomac III
This hands-on session will help participants understand how to develop and advocate for a comprehensive asset-building policy agenda at the state level. Participants will be briefed on the 12 core policies in CFED's Assets and Opportunity Scorecard – a good starting point for any state agenda – and hear from two state coalition leaders about their policy agenda-setting process and using their agendas to advocate for change. Participants will work through developing an agenda for their own states and discuss the challenges and opportunities of coalition-building.
Speakers: Jennifer Brooks (CFED), Chris Giangreco (Heartland Alliance for Human Needs Human Rights), Bob Agres (Hawaii Community-Based Economic Development)
III.3 SUPPORTING CHILDREN'S SAVINGS ACCOUNTS: FEDERAL AND STATE POLICIES
Arlington
One of the most promising ideas for universal asset building is to establish a children's savings account for every child at birth. This session will provide a briefing on current proposals for children's savings accounts at the state and federal level. Participants will learn about the key features of these proposals, their prospects for gaining approval through the political process, and some of the key design questions that those drafting the legislation had to address.
Speakers: Bob Friedman (CFED), Carl Rist (CFED), Reid Cramer (New America Foundation), Lisa Mensah (Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security)
III.4 FORECLOSURES AND NEIGHBORHOODS: THE ISSUES, THE OPTIONS, THE IMPACT
Potomac VI
2007 has witnessed an explosion of foreclosure and subprime issues that continue to affect individuals and neighborhoods. While solutions are still in formation, the impact on the assets of low- and moderate-income people and their communities continues to worsen. Join this panel for an up-to-the minute conversation about on-the-ground research on the real and perceived impact on neighborhoods, the experiences of community-based groups in working with foreclosures, and policy solutions at the state and local level.
Speakers: Phyllis G. Betts (Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action), Evelyn Friedman (Department of Neighborhood Development, City of Boston), Chris Walker
IV.1 USING DATA TO ADVANCE STATE POLICY
Potomac III
This session will describe how to create and use local asset poverty data tools, as a complement to the CFED Scorecard, to advance state asset policy and a build constituency for asset-building policies. Presenters will discuss the impetus for creating the data tools and how the data were translated into effective messages and pitched to local media. Participants will draft steps for using local data to educate policymakers and constituents in their states about asset poverty.
Speakers: Doug Hall (Connecticut Voices for Children), Ida Rademacher (CFED), Ben Mangun (EARN)
IV.2 STATE AND FEDERAL EITC
Potomac VI
One of the largest and most effective wage support programs for low- and moderate-income families is the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which supplements the earnings of workers. Every year millions of Americans use EITC refunds to pay current bills and start saving for the future. This session considers federal efforts to encourage asset building with tax refunds and also efforts at the state level to enact their own EITCs.
Speakers: Melissa Koide (New America Foundation), Jonathan Njus (Center for Economic Progress), Erika Loperbey (Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley)
IV.3 STATE AND FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP
Arlington
Learn about resources for using IDAs toward home purchase, including the Federal Home Loan Bank's Affordable Housing Program, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing programs, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's programs. This session also considers the creative use of soft second liens to create a revolving line of downpayment assistance, as well as asset ownership and preservation opportunities made possible in the recently enacted
Housing and Economic Recovery Act.
Speakers: Anice Schervish (Public Housing and Voucher Programs, US Department of Housing and Urban Development), Karl Pnazek (CAP Services), Carol Wayman (CFED), Louis Freeman (Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta)
IV.4 CREATING A PARTICIPATORY POLICY-MAKING PROCESS
Washington B
Partnerships between policy advocates and community leaders can have significant impact on educating policymakers and the broader public, mobilizing diverse stakeholders and communities, and changing public policy. This session will highlight the work of two asset-building groups to incorporate community-level input into the policy-making process, from identifying solutions to crafting effective communication messages. Presenters will discuss the benefits, challenges and strategies for engaging low-income community members in asset-building policy initiatives.
Speakers: Gina Guillemette (Heartland Alliance for Human Needs Human Rights), Debra Trude-Suter (McCormick Tribune Center for Early Childhood Leadership, National-Louis University), Jessica Andors (Lawrence CommunityWorks), Margaret Miley (The Midas Collaborative)