Our Principles

last modified March 9, 2009

We urge policymakers and those who are responsible for implementing stimulus related programs to ensure that resource allocation and program implementation do not reinforce or deepen social and economic disparities based on race, gender, class, and other forms of disadvantage. Instead, we encourage decision-makers and administration leaders to work creatively with business, labor, community, and other civic leaders to ensure this unprecedented investment of public resources leads to healthier communities, new economic opportunities, and shared prosperity. Toward this end, our coalition upholds the following environmental, community development, labor and social equity principles in prioritizing funding areas in the federal economic stimulus package.

1) Invest in a Green Future

All infrastructure projects, not just the green sector projects, should ensure California and other states can achieve environmental goals, including those related to curbing global warming, air quality, water quality, and habitat protection and restoration. Maximize environmental health benefits and mitigate environmental health risks for distressed communities. Support clean energy industry development to accelerate the transition to a clean, green economy.

2) Invest in People & Communities

The economic benefits of green and other infrastructure projects should be shared equitably. Federal, state, regional and local agencies that administer projects should:

Ensure that jobs that are created are high quality; pay prevailing wage; provide adequate benefits; and adhere to strong labor and safety standards.
Ensure job creation is linked to well-funded and high-quality apprenticeship and workforce education programs. Low-income youth and adults, as well as dislocated workers and those recently laid off, should be able to gain skills and experience needed to secure quality jobs. And given that women are the primary bread-winners in many working class families, jobs and opportunities should also be fully accessible to women in the workforce.
Include a commitment to Project Labor Agreements on all publicly funded infrastructure projects. Project Labor Agreements should include prevailing wage as well as local first-source hiring goals and preference should be given to contractors that commit to Project Labor Agreements that include explicit goals for local first-source hiring.
All publicly-funded infrastructure projects should include a commitment to equal opportunity in business and contracting to ensure the participation of small businesses owned by women and underserved communities.

3) Invest for Long-term Gain

We call on federal and state agencies to adopt a “phased approach to stimulus” — undertaking short and medium term projects that will ensure long term recovery of the nation’s economy. More specifically:

Provide project development and planning support so that high priority projects that are not currently ready to go can be “shovel ready” by the beginning of 2010.
Provide leadership and financial support needed to reform our existing workforce education systems, in order to provide seamless and aligned career pathways, beginning with the K-12 system and continuing through quality workforce education programs, high-quality apprenticeships, labor-management training partnerships, community colleges and four year colleges and universities.

4) Invest in Justice

Economic stimulus and green infrastructure programs should ensure equal protection of the laws covering access to public resources. Public infrastructure projects too often lead to “sacrifice zones” and “sacrifice communities” in ways that are both inequitable and illegal. Compliance with civil rights and environmental laws should be combined in the planning and enforcement process. Existing civil rights and environmental justice law should be strengthened and enforced, including:

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its regulations prohibiting discrimination by recipients of federal funds, and parallel state laws (in California, Government Code 11135 and its regulations).
The President’s Order on Environmental Justice , which directs federal agencies to identify and address disproportionate human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies and activities on minority populations and low-income populations.
The right to sue to fight job discrimination.

5) Invest in the Open

Given the unprecedented investment of public resources that is planned, it is imperative that federal and state officials be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability in decision-making about stimulus funds. The ARRA should establish reporting and transparency standards to ensure that local organizations and the public understand how the ARRA is being implemented. This should include