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The process to create the People s Recovery report started five months ago, when a group of more than 60 people including labour leaders, academics and activists felt they weren t represented by the premier s economic recovery team. Among the report s contributors is union leader Mary Shortall, who left the premier s team in January after raising concerns over what she said was a lack of collaboration and transparency.
Tax increases and ideas
The People s Recovery report does offer ideas toward bolstering the province s revenue, among them a series of tax increases.
Its recommendations include an HST increase of one per cent, an income tax increase by two per cent in the top two brackets, and a wealth tax with a lower threshold than outlined the Greene report.
The Indianapolis City-County Council approved a fiscal ordinance Monday that will allocate $150,000 to pilot an immigrant defense fund. The money will help immigrants in Indianapolis seeking asylum, pursuing citizenship, or those at risk of deportation with legal information, consultations and representation. Local organizations that are already doing this work are maxed out with their caseload, said Jordan Rodriguez, who works in the city s human resources department and is the former director of the city s Office of International and Latino Affairs. So this would basically provide funds to be able to increase perhaps, you know, personnel for those organizations, and also just help with various (immigration process) fees that immigrants have to pay as well.
May 7, 2021 / 08:34 PM EST
The City-County Council at its Monday night meeting will vote on the measure, so the organization is hoping to gather more support.
City-County councilors Crista Carlino and Jessica McCormick drew up Proposal 134. Supporters said the fund would not just supply money for legal aid, but also provide support to the immigrant community, one that pays billions of dollars in local and state taxes across the nation each year. The proposal was designed as a pilot, legal protection fund that’ll help immigrants at risk of deportation, and people seeking asylum in the United States and other legal help.
Growing up, Beatriz Preciado watched her parents struggle to support her and her siblings while they also worked to save enough money for costly immigration attorneys and application fees.
On Wednesday, Preciado, who has a work permit through the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), said she wished financial assistance could have been available decades ago to assist immigrant families like hers seeking legal advice and resources. I just know how stressful that was for them, Preciado said. Having these funds would be less stressful for people who already have to deal with so much on a daily basis, not to mention the language barrier.