Midweek Reads: Big wins for working people and statehouse chaos

Lots of good news and a bit of shenanigans

Welcome to a premium Wednesday edition of Progress Report.

Today is the second edition of our new series Midweek Reads, where we run down some of the most interesting, important, and under-the-radar stories that you should be reading.

The Beltway media headlines tell you what people are whispering about in Washington — we’ll tell you how people are living across the country. And in the spirit of a midweek pick-me-up, it’ll be filled with a lot of good news.

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Big Wins

> Amid Statehouse protest, Ohio GOP says bill to make it harder to amend constitution lacks votes to pass

This is a relief, as well as a testament to fast and fierce grassroots organizing:

A resolution to require a 60% supermajority vote in order for constitutional amendments to succeed doesn't have 60% of the vote to even get out of the Ohio House.

Representatives of more than 170 organizations fought against House Joint Resolution 6, a divisive resolution meant to make it harder to amend the constitution. H.J.R. 6 would require all constitutional petitions to receive a 60% supermajority vote to pass instead of the simple 50%+1 — letting the 40%+1 of the population choose Ohio laws.

It is possible their work paid off because House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima) said the resolution has divided the Republicans and he doesn't think it can pass.

"I think it's doubtful," Cupp said. "There are members that have a lot of questions about it."

Ohio is one of several states where Republicans came out of Election Day aiming to essentially neuter the ballot initiative process, which has proven to be a thorn in the side of austerity-minded right-wing authoritarians all across the country. There’s no guarantee that Republicans don’t return to this next year, especially with efforts to put an abortion rights initiative on the ballot in 2024 underway, but it’s a nice first victory.

> City Council resolution could forgive up to $115 million in public medical debt

Hate that this is necessary, love that it’s starting to catch on:

Pittsburgh City Councilmember Bobby Wilson introduced the bill, which would have the city partner with national nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to purchase and discharge eligible healthcare debt. The organization has determined that 24,000 Pittsburghers meet the criteria for debt relief under the terms of the bill, which requires recipients have accrued at least some of their debt since the onset of the pandemic.

The proposed effort would be funded by $1 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation. Pittsburgh has received $335 million in total through this federal COVID-19 relief funding allocation.

“Providing debt relief to Pittsburghers at this scale, where $1 can discharge up to $115 of burdensome medical debt, is just plain common sense,” Wilson adds.

To be eligible for this relief, recipients would have to earn “less than four times the federal poverty line for their household size or has medical debt that exceeds five percent of their income.”

No one should be in medical debt, much less people experiencing other financial difficulties. How do we let this happen? Don’t answer that…

Pittsburgh is just the latest municipality to consider this course of action — Toledo, OH just canceled $240 million in medical debt for its residents. Imagine what a federal medical debt buyout could accomplish!

Workers’ Rights

> New penalties for companies that illegally fire workers who unionize

Hard to overemphasize how big of a deal this is:

Companies that illegally fire or demote unionizing workers can now be held responsible for workers’ financial demise — including credit card late fees, lost housing or cars and health-care costs — in a move that could help some workers who have been fired from Starbucks and Amazon, labor activists say.

In a big win for labor unions, the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Tuesday to expand the fees and penalties the agency can collect from employers that illegally terminate workers for labor activism, both union and nonunion, in a move long sought after by the labor movement.

Much of my job at More Perfect Union is spent covering and getting to know the workers and union organizers at Starbucks and Amazon, and it’s been rage-inducing to watch those mega-corporations toss workers under the bus for simply asserting their rights and asking for fair treatment. Oftentimes, media will report on the circumstances around a worker’s unjust firing, but once the tempest blows over, they’re left alone to pick up the pieces of their lives and find a path forward.

Nobody working at a coffee shop or a warehouse is making the sort of salary that allows them to put aside a rainy day fund in case they lose their job. Worse, when you’re fired for unionizing, the employer generally lists the termination as “for cause,” which means it’s nearly impossible to receive unemployment benefits. Being fired is emotionally crushing (I know from experience), and the added stress of scrambling to find a new job, pay rent and bills, and deal with suddenly not having health care coverage is crippling.

According to folks I spoke to at the NLRB, this new ruling will cover a lot of expenses, including clothes required to go on job interviews. The process could take six months, for several reasons…