Economic Security Project Action

Last year, President Trump led Republicans to pass the largest healthcare cuts in history. That choice sent premiums soaring for 22 million Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act, including Tim Lilienthal. Earlier this month, Tim was one of 1 million Americans who received a check along with a letter from Trump claiming he'd been "overcharged" for coverage and blaming the previous administration for high costs. As a husband and father of two struggling to make ends meet, Tim could really use that money. But he was angry that Trump denied responsibility for the huge spike in his family's monthly health bills this year, and described the check as a "bribe" to forget. Tim, a registered Republican, eventually put the check in his children's college savings account, but he still describes it as an "insult." Read the full piece on MSNOW: ms.now/opinion/trump-5000-ch…

It may be too early to assess the full impact of the AI boom, but it's not too early to protect workers. Last week, Sen. @RonWyden released new proposals to modernize our unemployment insurance system and help workers whose livelihoods may be disrupted by AI. ESPA is proud to endorse these proposals, and encourage lawmakers to act now to support workers in transition. 👉 Read our full statement: economicsecurity.us/news/sta…

🚨California just made it easier to bring grocery stores back to communities that need them most. Yesterday, @CAgovernor signed AB 1857 into law, ending a little-known but harmful policy: restrictive covenants that grocery giants have put in place to close up shop and block any other store from taking their place, sometimes for decades. Roughly three million low-income Californians live in food deserts. When a grocery store leaves, families are left traveling farther for food or relying on smaller stores with fewer healthy options and higher prices. AB 1857 removes that roadblock, giving communities a path to bring grocery stores back and expand access to fresh, affordable food. As ESCA’s Loyal Terry put it: "It's been legal for a grocery giant to close up, leave town, then block any other grocery store from taking its place for 50 years. Now, with Governor Newsom's signature, these restrictive covenants are a thing of the past." 🎉A win for California families. A win for food access. And a step toward making sure every community has access to fresh, affordable food close to home. Read the full statement: economicsecurity.us/news/ab-…

🚨BREAKING: @CAgovernor just signed the COMPETE Act (AB 1776) into law. This win closes a hard fought multi-year campaign to update California's antitrust laws for the first time in more than a century. Led by Assembly Majority Leader @AsmAguiarCurry, Economic Security California Action and a coalition of small business and consumer advocates, the new law gives state law enforcers the tools to crack down on monopoly abuse and closes the loopholes that let dominant corporations rig the market against small businesses, workers, and California families. Monopoly abuse and a lack of choice for consumers have driven up prices on everything from rent to groceries to healthcare, and Californians can't take much more. The state's antitrust laws haven't kept up with some of the most powerful corporations in the world writing their own rules. In fact, what was passed codifies recommendations from the California Law Revision Commission that met about this issue of how dominant companies squeezed out mom-and-pop businesses, and forced consumers to pay more for the basics. Today, the Governor drew the line. Getting here wasn't easy. The wealthiest companies in California spent millions of dollars trying to make sure it never happened, working alongside their lobbyists at the Chamber of Commerce to preserve the status quo. The State Senate and Assembly saw through it. And so did the Governor. Huge thanks to our partners, advocates, small business owners, workers, and everyone who fought alongside us to get the COMPETE Act across the finish line.🎉 Read our full statement: economicsecurity.us/news/607…

Last year, Republicans gutted funding for food aid and healthcare programs that working folks rely on, just to give rich donors a tax cut. Now, millions of families are skipping the doctor and sending kids to school with empty stomachs. It's time to hold the GOP accountable. #ThePriceIsHigh

In Vallejo, entire childhoods went by without a grocery store nearby. When Safeway left, it put a restriction on the property that kept any competing grocer out of the building for 15 years. These clauses are called grocery-restrictive covenants. Big chains like Albertsons use them across California, and they often aren’t public, so many communities don’t find out until a store closes and nothing replaces it. Our partners at the California Food and Farming Network wrote about this in @SFGate. ESCA is fighting alongside our partners for two bills to take on these anti-competitive practices: #AB1857 would prohibit grocery restrictions that create food deserts, while #AB1776, the #COMPETEAct, would strengthen California’s ability to take on dominant companies that use anti-competitive tactics to block competitors. Both bills passed the Legislature and are now on @CAgovernor desk to sign. Read the column: sfgate.com/food/article/cali…