Marco Rubio Pushes Bill to Fight Sex Trafficking but Consensual Sex Workers Say New Law Could Hurt Their Business
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are pushing legislation they first introduced in 2017 that would aid financial institutions in identifying and reporting instances of human trafficking so that offenders can be prosecuted and victims can be protected. The House version of the bill passed last month, but sex workers say the new law could endanger their income, safety, and lives. Given the frequency with which sex trafficking and voluntary, consensual sex work are conflated, sex workers including webcam performers, adult film actors and business owners, strippers, and escorts fear that recent legislation will do more harm than good. Sex workers already have trouble finding financial institutions that will accept their money. Banks are often reluctant to discuss their decisions to close accounts and aren’t legally required to explain them. In 2014, JPMorgan Chase closed the bank accounts of several adult film actors without telling them why. Rubio and Warren’s bill will cause banks to shut down voluntary sex workers’ accounts more frequently and indiscriminately, sex workers worry. Some say the new banking bill could help push voluntary sex work further underground. Last month, the Senate passed the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act which would hold online platforms, such as Craigslist and the personal classifieds site Backpage, liable for user content related to sex trafficking. This could encourage websites to censor sex-related ads to protect themselves from litigation, free-speech advocates warn. But now sex workers will have to turn to methods that offer less privacy to promote their services, making it tougher to screen clients or warn others about dangerous customers. Critics of the recent legislation say the laws are actually pushing sex workers back to the streets to find business. More here.

CAPAC Demands Answers Around Chinese American’s Firing at Commerce
The Department of Commerce has been ordered to reinstate Xiafen “Sherry” Chen as a hydrologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Chen had been accused of spying for China and this ruling comes more than three years after those federal charges were dropped. Now, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) has requested an investigation into the firing of Chen. “In October 2014, Ms. Chen was targeted by federal investigators for alleged espionage and arrested based not on any reasonable evidence, but on what appears to be her race,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the DOC Office of Inspector General. “We are doing this because we will not tolerate Chinese Americans or Asian Americans being treated as second-class citizens. No American should have to live in fear that their entire lives may be turned upside down due to wrongful accusations and unwarranted racial profiling," said CAPAC Chair Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA) at a news conference last week. Chen was terminated in March 2016, a year after federal criminal charges against her were dismissed. A removal letter cited charges of conduct demonstrating untrustworthiness, misrepresentation, misuse of a federal database, and lack of candor as reasons for removal. A judge stated that Chen had experienced a gross injustice. See CAPAC’s letter here. 

Dems Lead Bicameral Call on Betsy DeVos to Protect English Learners
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), with Congressmen Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and James Langevin (D-RI), led a bicameral group of their colleagues in a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, opposing the consolidation of the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and integration into the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). “There are more than 5 million ELs in elementary and secondary schools across the 50 states and territories. The growth of English learners has outpaced the general population – with a 60 percent increase in the last decade, compared to a 7 percent increase,” they wrote. “We oppose any regulatory or administrative changes to the organization of the OELA. We also believe these reorganization efforts only further highlight our continued concern about this administration’s vitriolic rhetoric about individuals in this country who speak another language. We urge you to maintain OELA as a separate office with a Director who reports directly to the Secretary. Any deviation from this practice threatens years of precedent, evidence-based work, and expertise critical to meeting the needs of our nation’s English learners.” Twenty-five members of Congress -- including Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bob Menéndez (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), as well as Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Rubén Kihuen (D-NV), Judy Chu (D-CA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), Michelle Luján Grisham (D-NM), and Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) -- joined the letter urging the Department of Education to preserve OELA’s success in supporting, educating, and ensuring equal access to education for English learners. See the full letter here.

Special Assistant
The Nathan Cummings Foundation is recruiting a Special Assistant (SA) to join the President’s office team. The SA will report to the President and also to the Chief of Staff/Board Liaison, and will play a critical support role in creating a highly functioning team and organization.

Click here to learn more and apply!

Washington Post Names Graphics Reporter
WaPo announced that Brittany Mayes was joining the Graphics team as a Graphics Reporter. The University of North Carolina grad was previously at NPR, where she worked as a News Apps Designer and Developer. She is a passionate member of the “news nerd” community, having worked as a volunteer and organizer for National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., National Association of Black Journalists, Online News Association, and Girls Who Code, among others. Brittany was recently named one of the DCFemTech Award recipients in the area of data. Her first day is June 4th. More here.

María Contreras-Sweet Works on Paid Family Leave
María Contreras-Sweet, the former head of the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama, is co-chairing a new task force for the Bipartisan Policy Center on paid family leave. She is joined by former Senators Chris Dodd and Rick Santorum, as well as former Congresswoman Mary Bono. As heads of the new task force, they will work to find a bipartisan solution to increase access to paid family leave, 25 years after the Paid Family Leave Act passed Congress. “Paid family leave is an essential component of ensuring that women have equal opportunities in the workplace,” said Contreras-Sweet. “It’s usually women who have to make the hard choices between taking care of loved ones and pursuing professional success. Our economy benefits when everyone has a chance to contribute to their full potential.” Studies show that employees with access to paid family leave are far less likely to drop out of the labor force or to become dependent on government assistance programs. Contreras-Sweet had most recently been involved in long and ultimately unsuccessful negotiations to buy The Weinstein Company. More here.

Xavier Becerra Sued for Being “Ineligible to Serve”
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is facing a lawsuit from a political opponent who claims the former Congressman is legally barred from serving in his current post. According to the suit filed in Sacramento County Superior Court by Republican candidate Eric Early, Becerra cannot serve because he was listed as “inactive” from 1991 to 2017 in the state bar. State law requires the Attorney General to have been “admitted to practice” before the state Supreme Court for five years before taking office. Becerra was admitted to the bar in 1985. Governor Jerry Brown (D), who appointed Becerra after then-AG Kamala Harris was elected to the Senate, faced a similar lawsuit 11 years ago. The judge in that 2007 ruling argued that “admission to practice law is separate from the question of ‘active’ or ‘inactive’ membership in the State Bar,” which she called a “purely ministerial” distinction that affects only member dues. In addition to Early, Becerra will face Democrat Dave Jones and Republican Steven Bailey in the June 5th primary. More here.

Linda Sánchez’s Days in Leadership May Be Numbered
Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (D-CA) serves as Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic Caucus, making her the highest-ranking Latina in Congress. But Politico reports her days in leadership may be numbered as a result of her publicly calling for a change in House Democrats’ leadership regime: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Assistant Minority Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC). “I do think we have this real breadth and depth of talent within our caucus, and I do think it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders,” 49-year-old Sánchez said on C-SPAN in October. So far, no one has stepped forward to say they are planning to challenge Sánchez. But the rumor mill has churned out names of fellow Congressional Hispanic Caucus members including Congressmen Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), who is also Chair of the DCCC, Joaquín Castro (D-TX), and Pete Aguilar (D-CA). Members of the Congressional Black Caucus may also seize the opportunity to pursue the fifth spot in leadership that’s considered a launching pad for political ambitions. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), who lost the bid to Sánchez in 2016, could step up to challenge her again but has not weighed in so far. Though her fellow Dems may smell blood in the water, Sánchez said publicly what other Caucus members have expressed privately. More here.