* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Report of 2007 Job Opportunities Task Force - Overpriced and Underserved: How the Market is Failing Low-Wage Baltimoreans
FOR the purpose of requesting the Executive Director and Members of the Job Opportunities Task Force to share with the City Council and the citizens of Baltimore the findings of the Job Opportunities Task Force regarding the "poverty premium" payed by low-wage Baltimoreans for a wide range of goods and services that prevents them from participating equally in the City's economic and social rebirth.
Body
Recitals
Overpriced and Underserved: How the Market is Failing Low-wage Baltimoreans, part of a national study commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and completed by the Brookings Institute, found that low-wage Baltimore residents pay more than higher income residents for services and goods, including groceries, cars, financial transactions, and home mortgages. The market charges consumers an added "poverty premium" for being poor, making it even more difficult for them to meet their basic needs, save money, or pay for education, home ownership, or retirement.
The poverty premium is paid by tens of thousands of area residents and can total as much as $3,000 in additional costs each year. The report analyzed the costs of a variety of goods and services to low-wage earners compared to the costs of the same services to high-wage earners. Included in the study are comparisons in the costs of financial services; home-related costs, including home loans, insurance, heating and cooling, and rent; auto-related costs; and groceries that are provided in the inner city by smaller stores that charge higher prices and don't offer choices that help to stave off the onset of diabetes and obesity.
The report holds that city leaders have yet to address a major obstacle along the path to revitalization - the poverty premium that prevents poorer families in Baltimore from sharing in the City's come-back, obtaining a better quality of life, and building wealth. Sharing the knowledge provided through Overpriced and Underserved: How the Market is Failing Low-wage Baltimoreans will provide additional tools to developing a fully inclusive Baltimore.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Executive Director and Members of the Job Opportunities Task Force are requested to share with the City Council and the citizens of Baltimore the findings of the Job Opportunities Task Force regarding the "poverty premium" payed by low-wage Baltimoreans for a wide range of goods and services.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Commissioner of Housing and Community Development, the Director of Planning, the Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, the Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods and Constituent Services, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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