EQUITY is achieved when communities take responsibility for their own and for future generations. Accepting responsibility is the second major pillar of the ARC of community (Authority, Responsibility, and Capacity). Without authority we cannot become responsible for ourselves. Without responsibility, authority will indeed be exercised in shortsighted and often intolerant ways.
Are communities inherently intolerant, narrowminded, selfish and shortsighted? History is replete with examples that bolster this view. Yet communities have also been the locus of mutual aid networks, and in many cases, community level production systems are the most environmentally responsible.
This section of the web site identifies rules that encourage communities to accept responsibility towards their own less fortunate members and less fortunate members in other communities. The rules deal primarily with the issue of equity: providing livable wages, health care and education to all citizens. (Rules related to responsibility for future generations can be found in the Environment Sector.)
A campaign to raise the minimum wage to a "living wage" has been
waged in cities around the country with great success. Over 100 cities
and counties have passed a living wage law of some sort. Generally,
these laws require that businesses that have contracts with the city
provide a specified wage and benefits package that is higher than the
federal minimum (one city, Santa Fe, New Mexico, has gone further,
adopting a minimum wage for all businesses with more than 25
employees). Living Wage laws tend to be the result of campaigns fought
by community groups like ACORN, churches and labor unions.
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From the Homestead Act to the GI Bill to home mortgage deductions,
Americans have recognized that it is good public policy to help people
build assets.
Like the distribution of assets in the
U.S., however, the distribution of incentives is skewed. Ninety percent
of the benefits of the two largest asset-building programs in the
country – home mortgage interest deduction and tax-free retirement
savings – go to the wealthiest 55 percent of Americans.
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Proponents of caps on medical malpractice awards frequently cite
California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975 as evidence
that caps hold down insurance rates. In fact, the state's rate
increases were the same as the national average until 1988 when voters
passed Proposition 103, which requires insurance companies to open
their books and justify rate increases. In 2003, the California
Insurance Commissioner directed the state's second largest malpractice
insurer to cut its proposed 15.6 percent increase to 9.9 percent.
Physicians saved millions on additional premiums, and the insurance
company remained profitable.
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Proponents of this idea say older drivers, women, lower income drivers,
households with more cars than drivers and commuters will all benefit
from the new auto insurance policy.
Preschool has been shown to increase students' performance in high
school, increase test scores, decrease the likelihood of being arrested
for a violent offense as a juvenile, and decrease the likelihood that a
child will experience abuse and/or neglect.
An earned income tax credit (EITC) is a tax reduction and wage
supplement for low- and moderate-income working families. To qualify,
one's income must be earned; welfare benefits, interest on savings, or
dividends on stocks don't count.
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One of the most effective ways to improve student achievement and
curb school violence is to reduce the size of the nation's schools.
Hundreds of studies have found that students who attend small schools
outperform those in large schools on every academic measure from grades
to test scores. They are less likely to dropout and more likely to
attend college.
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Citizen-led efforts to institute more universal health care programs are cropping up across the country.
Some are very similar to the Canadian health care system.
They call for a single-payer system, meaning that medical care would be
paid for out of a single publicly administered pool of money, rather
than by myriad managed care plans. In most plans the health insurance
program would be administered by a health care "trust," governed by a
combination of stakeholders, including health care advocates,
providers, organizations and experts, taxpayer representatives, and
state officials.
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Since 1971, all but five states have been sued over educational
equity and adequacy in school funding. In twenty-seven of these states,
the plaintiffs won. In this section we highlight model state policies
that ensure schools in poor districts have access to financial
resources at least equal to their more fortunate counterparts.
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