On Tuesday, July 7, the Movement for Black Lives unveiled an inclusive, big-picture federal legislation proposal called The BREATHE Act, as first covered by the Associated Press. During the live unveiling of the legislation, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib described the act as “bold,” “transformative,” and a “people-powered federal bill” that has a “new vision for public safety” that “protects and serves Black lives.” Rep. Tlaib also stressed that it is “critical that we listen to and trust the leadership of Black activists around the country.” Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley was scheduled to give remarks on the unveiling as well, but as host, Marc Lamont Hill, a professor at Temple University, explained in the video, she wasn’t able to participate in the live stream because of a tech issue.
The bill is broken down into four broad sections: Divesting Federal Resources from Incarceration and Policing & Ending Criminal-Legal System Harms; Investing in New Approaches to Community Safety Utilizing Funding Incentives; Allocating New Money to Build Healthy, Sustainable & Equitable Communities for All People; and lastly, Holding Officials Accountable & Enhancing Self Determination of Black Communities. While the full proposal is worth reading in detail, we can break down some of the highlights below.
The first section of the proposal calls for ending life sentences, repealing federal laws that criminalize human movement and border entry, getting rid of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and eliminating surveillance and electronic tracking (like facial recognition and ankle bracelets). This section also calls for reducing the budget for the Department of Defense.
In part two, the bill suggests creating federal grants available for local, state, and tribal governments to decenter incarceration and help create community-led public safety options. For example, this includes getting police and other armed security out of schools, decriminalizing and retroactively expunging state drug convictions, and ending state and local involvements with ICE and CBP (as a stepping stone until those are fully dismantled). What sort of community-led public safety options does the proposal suggest funds could go toward? Some examples include supportive housing, park redevelopment, abuse intervention and prevention, 911 processing that reduces interaction with law enforcement, and mediation in neighborhoods.
The third section focuses on creating a grant for jurisdictions to make changes that make education more equitable. Some examples include removing surveillance and armed security from schools, free public transportation for students, free medical services at or near schools, and adjusting funding formulas so funds are spread more equally among districts. This section also discusses economic justice, including extending worker protections for domestic and farm workers and eliminating subminimum tipped wages.
The final section calls on Congress to acknowledge the harm it has caused, including commissioning a study on reparations. This section also calls for fair and safe voting procedures, including enfranchising all formerly and currently incarcerated people in federal elections, greater accountability of public officials, as well as the police, and incentives for states that raise voter turnout.
Though the proposed legislation hasn’t gotten a ton of mainstream media attention yet, it’s started making rounds on Twitter, with a lot of positive support.
You can check out the unveiling of the bill (including a song by John Legend) via YouTube below.
You can also hear more from Rep. Tlaib below, as part of our Making Progress interview series, where she discussed immigration, discrimination, and being a woman of color in politics.