Colleges Squeezing Out Less Profitable Home State Students

A change in funding at state colleges and universities is starting to change who makes up the student body. In-state students, even with perfect grades and impressive lists of extra-curricular activities, are being passed over in favor of out-of-state students willing to pay three times the tuition. A scathing report last month accused the CaliforniaContinue reading “Colleges Squeezing Out Less Profitable Home State Students”

Gerrymandered Out of a Voice and a Vote

As the election season picks up steam, the matter of voting rights is making its way back into the mainstream media. Voters need to have their voices, and their votes counted. However, many of the newest congressional districts have been drawn in a way that limits the voice and voting power of people of color,Continue reading “Gerrymandered Out of a Voice and a Vote”

Debt-Trap Debbie Swimming With the Loan Sharks

Debt-Trap Debbie needs to stop shilling for predatory payday lenders who siphon $8 billion in fees and interest each year from those who can least afford it. That was the message delivered this week to Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s doorstep at the Democratic National Committee, which she chairs, by a hundred grassroots leaders fromContinue reading “Debt-Trap Debbie Swimming With the Loan Sharks”

New Report: Disenfranchised by Debt

For Immediate Release March 8, 2016 Contact: Kathy Mulady Communications Director (206) 992-8787 kathy@allianceforajustsociety.org Washington D.C. – Poverty isn’t supposed to be a barrier to voting in the United States, at least according to the Constitution. Yet, more than 50 years after poll taxes were prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, people withContinue reading “New Report: Disenfranchised by Debt”

Tools to End the Prison to Poverty Pipeline

A prison sentence often doesn’t end on the day of release. For many people with conviction records, their sentence will continue for years to come with barriers to employment and housing. Research in the report, “Jobs after Jail: Ending the prison to poverty pipeline,” by the Alliance for a Just Society, show that states haveContinue reading “Tools to End the Prison to Poverty Pipeline”

Cracking Down on Abusive Debt Collectors

This article first appeared in OtherWords Have you ever picked up your phone to find an aggressive voice on the other end demanding payments on a debt you know nothing about? You’re far from alone. Once you’re in the sights of a debt collector, the impact on your life can be devastating: Your wages canContinue reading “Cracking Down on Abusive Debt Collectors”

Today in Medicaid: Big Win in Louisiana

Today, Louisiana’s new governor, John Bel Edwards, made the most of his first full day in office. Through an executive order, Gov. Edwards expanded Medicaid to about 300,000 uninsured Louisianans, many of whom will be eligible for health coverage for the first time. This move makes Louisiana the 31st state to extend the benefits ofContinue reading “Today in Medicaid: Big Win in Louisiana”

It’s a Matter of Life and Death: Insurers Must Cover Language Services

A 14-year-old girl accompanies her Somali-speaking father to his medical appointment. Because the clinic doesn’t provide an interpreter, the girl has to inform her own father than he has been diagnosed with cancer. She remains his interpreter through eight years of treatment, sometimes hiding information to protect him from the bad news. A group ofContinue reading “It’s a Matter of Life and Death: Insurers Must Cover Language Services”