Business

White House Officials Break Down Pres. Biden’s Build Back Better Plan

“How will Black-owned and minority-owned businesses benefit from trillions of taxpayer money being directed to cities and states?” asked Gene Hale, president of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce. “What kinds of mechanisms are in place – or will be put in place – to make sure that this money is distributed equitably. We cannot continue to just talk about equitable investments, we have to take concrete steps to make sure these programs reach the people around the country who need them most.”

Published

3 years ago

November 16, 2021

Oakland Post

Build Back Better will also invest in evidence-based community violence intervention to help reduce gun violence as well as the chances of violent police interactions in Black and Brown communities.

By Aldon Thomas Stiles | California Black Media

California is one of many states whose policies helped to shape President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assistant to the President and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice.

The U.S. House of Representatives held a procedural vote on November 5 that cleared the way for a full floor vote on the legislation, which could happen as early as next week.

“California’s values will be on the national stage with the Build Back Better plan. @POTUS is creating good jobs, investing in clean energy to fight climate change, helping families through at-home elder, disability & childcare, universal pre-k, & more,” Newsom’s office tweeted about a week before the U.S. House of Representatives voted 228 to 206 to approve Biden’s other signature bill, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

The infrastructure bill and its companion Build Back Better Act are central pieces to the president’s plan to jump-start the U.S. economy and put it on the road to recovery after surviving a sharp downturn brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“It’s a once-in-a-generation investment that’s going to create millions of jobs modernizing our infrastructure – our bridges, our roads, our broadband, a whole range of things,” said Biden last Saturday morning, celebrating the passage of the infrastructure bill that he is touting as “bipartisan.” Thirteen Republican members of the House broke ranks with their party and voted for the bill.

“(It turns) the climate crisis into an opportunity; and it puts us on a path to win the economic competition of the 21^st century that we face with China and other large countries and the rest of the world,” Biden said.

Rice held a press conference November 4 during which she discussed the Build Back Better plan and accompanying infrastructure investments. She praised California and other states for policies such as paid family medical leave and universal pre-K as “concepts that we believe are well proven that we want to take national.”

“I think the ideas and initiatives in here have many fathers and mothers,” Rice said in reference to the Build Back Better plan. “This legislation reflects in many ways what we think are the kinds of investments that we know reduce costs for families, that improve outcomes for children and their parents.”

The Build Back Better plan is a framework for investments and programs geared toward leveling the playing field on multiple fronts following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gene Hale, president of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce, praised the passage of the infrastructure plan and says he looks forward to the Build Back Better Act becoming law. But Hale says, for him and other Black business owners across the country, too many details remain unclear.

“How will Black-owned and minority-owned businesses benefit from trillions of taxpayer money being directed to cities and states?” Hale asked. “What kinds of mechanisms are in place – or will be put in place – to make sure that this money is distributed equitably. We cannot continue to just talk about equitable investments, we have to take concrete steps to make sure these programs reach the people around the country who need them most.”

Hale said Black leaders are organizing to hold the White House and California governor accountable as federal funds get funneled down to states and municipalities.

Some of the items the Build Back Better Act focuses on are climate change, healthcare, and community violence intervention.

During an exclusive interview with California Black Media, White House Senior Advisor for Public Engagement Trey Baker talked about how the infrastructure framework will aim to provide access to clean water in struggling communities.

“This is the companion piece of legislation that is going to bring everything from Build Back Better and also an Infrastructure Framework that is going to really go into helping communities to be able to pull all of the lead pipes out of the ground,” Baker said.

The framework’s historic $555 billion investment in combating climate change will be directed toward creating jobs, promoting environmental justice, and establishing a Civilian Climate Corps.

For African Americans and other minorities, Baker said he believes environmental justice has to be central to climate change initiatives.

“The big deal on climate and environmental justice issues is that we have to be on equal footing with other communities when it comes to the environment and the importance of caring about it in the first place,” Baker said.

Expressing his concerns about the plan, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), has said his fellow Democrats employed “shell games” and “budget gimmicks” to superficially reduce the cost of the framework just to get votes to pass it.

Rice responded by stating specific sections of the legislation she believed contributed to Manchin’s hesitation.

“As he said himself very clearly and publicly, we heard in our process of consultations and negotiations that Sen. Manchin is opposed to including paid family and medical leave in the reconciliation legislation. Now whether he changes his mind or comes to see it differently, we can certainly hope. But its inclusion at this point in the House bill is very consistent with our original desires, our priorities, and what we worked to try to accomplish in our consultations and negotiations with members of the Senate and the House,” Rice said.

The framework addresses healthcare and medical disparities by investing in coverage for the uninsured, hearing coverage, and maternal health for Black women.

“The pandemic laid bare a lot of the disparities that are currently in our communities,” Baker said.

“What the Build Back Better Framework will do is to close the gap with Medicaid coverage so the cost of getting insurance will be less for people,” Baker continued.

Build Back Better will also invest in evidence-based community violence intervention to help reduce gun violence as well as the chances of violent police interactions in Black and Brown communities.

Baker clarified that the initiative is not meant to replace traditional policing, but to add to it.

“One great impact that the community violence intervention program is going to have is helping to take some of the burden off of police in this country. We’re talking about leveraging trusted messengers, we’re talking about having individuals in our communities who can intervene in conflicts, connect people to social help, wellness, and employment services that will reduce the likelihood of violence overall,” Baker said.

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Activism

San Francisco Is Investing Millions to Address Food Insecurity. Is Oakland Doing the Same?

There are over 350 grocery programs across San Francisco. Less than a handful in District 10, a neighborhood classified as a food desert, and includes Hunters Point, one of the lowest income areas in the city.

Published

4 days ago

March 17, 2025

Oakland Post

The San Francisco District 10 Community Market is a fully government funded free grocery store for families in need of food assistance. The market is located in Hunters Point, one of the lowest income areas in the city. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

On a Thursday evening in February, Marquez Boyd walked along the aisles of San Francisco’s District 10 Community Market looking for eggs and fresh produce to take home to his children. He has been trying new recipes with ingredients he previously couldn’t afford or access.

“I learned how to cook greens since they got a lot of fresh greens here,” Boyd said. “All that stuff is better and more healthy for my kids because they’re still young.”

Meals filled with fresh produce are now possible for Boyd since the District 10 market in Hunters Point opened in 2024 when Bayview Senior Services, a non-profit running the program, received a $5 million investment from the city of San Francisco.

The market is a twist on a traditional food bank, where people can often wait in long lines for pre-bagged groceries they may not need. Here, the goal is to offer people in need a more traditional grocery store setting, with a bigger range of healthy options and less shame for needing assistance.

It’s a twist that Boyd appreciated. “This set up is way better as opposed to maybe like a food bank line,” he said. “It’s easier and faster.”

Similar models exist in Santa Barbara and Tennessee.

Census Bureau data show that the median income for households in the 94124 zip code, where Hunters Point is located, is just under $83,000 annually. Black households earn about $46,000, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders earn almost $41,000, and Hispanic households make just above the median income- an average of $86,000.

Located at 5030 3rd Street, the aisles are lined with fresh produce, canned goods, bread and snacks. While refrigerators and freezers in the back of the market are filled with dairy products and meat.

The best part- everything inside is free for eligible customers.

The San Francisco District 10 Community Market is stocked with fresh produce, dairy, meat and chicken, bread, and cultural food staples. Directors of the market say they pride themselves on providing healthy options for community members. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

“The interesting thing about this market is that it’s a city-funded effort to create something besides the average food line to give more dignity and choice than is normally given to low-income people,” said Cathy Davis, executive director of Bayview Senior Services.

Davis said people feel more comfortable coming into the market because they can choose the food they want and at a time that’s convenient for them.

Boyd, a single father of two kids, recently lost his job and relied on his sister’s generosity before discovering the market. He comes to market when he gets off of work in the evening.

“It’s a lot of people in these communities that don’t get a chance to eat healthy,” Boyd said. “They don’t have the money to go to grocery stores to buy expensive stuff.”

Another shopper, Rhonda Hudson, said the market helped her meet her grandson’s diet-related health problems. She used to travel outside the neighborhood for affordable groceries, but now she no longer has to.

According to the city’s Human Services Agency, there are no plans to expand the markets in San Francisco due to budget constraints.

But Davis isn’t worried about losing the market funding.

“City leaders were on board with creating it and finding the money to put it together so I would say we didn’t have to advocate because it came through the government. Now it’s our job to keep it going to prove that it’s a pilot worth maintaining,” Davis said.

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, who co-sponsored the ordinance, said that projects like the market are “essential to our neighborhoods,” where access to affordable food has been a challenge.

“Investing in local community markets helps ensure that families have reliable, healthy food options close to home, addressing food insecurity and supporting the well-being of our community regardless of income,” Walton said.

Rhonda Hudson is a shopper of the District 10 Community Market in San Francisco. The fresh produce she gets at the free grocery store program helps her grandson, who has a diet-related illness, stay healthy. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

Why Not Oakland?

Only slightly larger than San Francisco, Oakland has over 400 food distribution sites. Oakland provides grants to nonprofit-run organizations who run grocery programs. But in recent months, the city has begun to reduce those, forcing some organizations to regroup, and making it challenging to implement a community market similar to San Francisco’s.

The Oakland Post repeatedly reached out to city and county officials for comment on the story but did not receive a response.

At several food banks across West and East Oakland, residents shared their frustrations about long lines, wilting produce, and limited food choices.

At one food bank, located at Christian Tabernacle Church, a young mother, who requested anonymity for privacy reasons, waited in the rain for over three hours for a single bag of groceries.

“I like to get here early because I get better [quality] fruits and vegetables,” she said. She added that it’s not a lot of food that she receives for her family, but it helps close the gap when her budget is tight.

Behind her, several other women waited their turn. Neither the timing of the distribution nor the location of the food bank fit their schedules, the women said, but their choices feel limited.

Only a handful of Oakland food bank sites operate throughout the day, like the San Francisco market. Most food distribution programs are sustained by Alameda County Food Bank, not by city funding. Private grants and donations also help fund the programs.

Securing city funding is increasingly challenging. Oakland faces a $130 million budget shortfall, with a projected $280 million deficit in the next biennial cycle. Citing budget concerns, the city has reduced numerous department budgets and grants. One of those cuts included slashing the longstanding SOS Meals on Wheels grant, which helped provide food to 3,000 seniors.

Charlie Deterline, executive director of Meals on Wheels, said the termination of their $150,000 annual grant could mean that Oakland residents might see a change in the amount of meals they receive. The organization has gone 19 months without funding from that grant, Deterline said, but “continued working on good faith from the city” because they were assured they would be paid out. Now, Deterline is having doubts.

The program also received a grant of more than $125,000 from the Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax. Yet, on June 12, the city informed grant recipients that the funding could be rescinded in order to balance the budget. That ultimately happened, said Deterline.

“Oakland is by far the most expensive city for us to operate in. It is also where the greatest need is – for us to meet that need, it will take the entire community coming together,” Deterline said.

From the sugar tax, money from that measure is also not being allocated correctly as the majority of the funding has been used to fund government services, said members of the SSB tax advisory board.

The tax generates around $7 million annually. 25% to 40% of the funding goes towards grants for community based organizations instead of the 60% allocation that the SSBT advisory board recommended the city to use for health programs. The rest of the funding goes to the city, according to Oakland’s mid-cycle budget.

Advisory board member Dwayne Aikens said he’s not sure Oakland will ever renew the grants that have been cut from this tax. “I’m looking at the conditions of the city and I’m not optimistic,” Aikens said. “If they don’t have the money now, I don’t think they’ll have the money in the future.”

Aikens said the tax was “kind of a waste.” He’s heard displeasure from the community about the lack of funding into Black and Brown neighborhoods, groups who typically live in areas of Oakland that see health and income disparities.

Meanwhile, the Community Market, which reflects the diversity of the Bayview Hunters Point community, is investing in over 800 of the city’s most vulnerable households. In-store staff and directors speak the languages common to the area and the program provides a culture-of-the week selection of foods for those interested in trying something new.

Davis said it’s up to local municipalities to ensure that residents don’t go to bed hungry, and investments need to be made in order to combat the pockets of neighborhoods who are on the brink of food insecurity.

“That’s just such a core responsibility and a core goal of everyone, to make sure that people are fed and healthy. It’s not a luxury item,” Davis said. “It’s something that needs to happen, whether we’re in a budget crisis or not.”

Reporter Magaly Muñoz produced this story as part of a series as a 2024 USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism Data Fellow and Engagement Grantee.