The Weekly Wrap: As Budgets Tighten, Local Governments Look To Fines and Fees

Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions that bring us closer to economic, environmental, and social justice. If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with a friend or colleague and tell them to subscribe. Local Governments Look To Fines and Fees as Budgets Tighten A Pew Charitable Trust report looks at a nationwide push for local governments to be less reliant on fines and fees to replenish city and state budgets, and suggests that budget shortfalls risk undoing progress. Roughly $13.9 billion in fines and fees were charged to Americans in 2022, according to the report. It looks at how recent federal policy changes, including the 2025 federal tax law, Medicaid cuts, and SNAP cuts that shifted financial burdens to local governments could risk exacerbating the practice after years of reform. Many state and local governments leaned heavily on fines and fees to balance their budgets after the 2008 financial crisis, a problem compounded by property tax reductions in the decades prior. The practice was highlighted by a 2014 Department of Justice report initiated after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Texas Governor Shuts Down DFW Airport Prayer Room The Texas Tribune reports that the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport had planned to install an ablution station, commonly used by Muslims to cleanse themselves before prayers, but has now paused the plan after a letter from Gov. Greg Abbot claimed that the room was illegal because it singles out a specific faith. The incident is part of a growing anti-Muslim backlash in Texas. Abbot threatened to rescind funding over the washing facilities, saying that the state and federal constitutions “prohibit government from facilitating this sort of discrimination.” An interfaith chapel at the airport has had an ablution station since 2019, KERA reports. A spokesperson for the airport said that the plans for the ablution station, which would be privately-funded, were internal and preliminary. Idaho County Law Enforcement Compiles ‘Foreign Born List’ for ICE Officers in Canyon County, Idaho’s probation office have provided ICE’s Boise office with a list of foreign-born people on probation, seemingly without validating whether those people are in the country illegally, InvestigateWest reports. Reporters uncovered more than 140 emails between the offices in a recent three-month period, including emails showing that probation officers were regularly notifying ICE agents about when certain probationers would be at their office; confirming whether ICE was coming to apprehend a probationer before an appointment; and providing ICE with a probationer’s address and license plate information. In response, county officials told InvestigateWest that the ICE has requested a list of people that could be in the country without authorization “typically on an annual basis and across administrations,” likely “as far as the Obama administration.” National Debt Soars to $40 Trillion The U.S. national debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time this week, the Associated Press reports. The debt has grown steadily over the last four presidential administrations but has nearly doubled since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019. The government has a federal borrowing limit of 41.1 trillion that it may reach in 2027, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. A higher national debt can impact borrowing costs for everyday Americans as the government is under tighter constraints. U.S. treasury bond yields spiked to their highest level since 2007 this week, a sign that lenders are losing faith in the government’s ability to pay back its debt. Lawmakers and Activists Target Anti-BDS Laws in Five States Illinois legislators are trying to repeal a 2015 anti-BDS law, one of five states where activists are moving to repeal such laws, Jewish Currents reports. The Illinois law requires the state’s pension funds to divest from companies that boycott Israel. Another bill introduced in Wisconsin would repeal that state’s law, which bans the state government from contracting with companies that boycott Israel. But 38 states currently have laws targeting or criminalizing the movement to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel, according to Jewish Currents — meaning a campaign to legalize boycotts of Israel across the U.S. will be a long road. MORE NEWS - Abandoned homes in Baltimore are now being fought over in bidding wars. WSJ - Floods can leave communities facing higher overdose deaths for years. Grist - The five big legal questions holding up billions in climate funding. Heatmap News - Honolulu considers fining, jailing homeless over shopping carts. Honolulu Civil Beat - A new era of electricity inflation has transformed the Northeast’s carbon market. Heatmap News - Trump 2.0 has deleted or altered nearly 400 federal datasets, endangering public health, education, and more. The Guardian - U.S. apartment buildings have tipped toward heat pumps. Canary Media - ‘Future-proof’ or ‘a strategic mistake’? Inside the MBTA’s effort to electrify its commuter rail system. Commonwealth Beacon - An instructive win for transit in Spokane. Human Transit - This California town booted out its leaders. Now they’re refusing to leave. The Guardian OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES - The T.D. Jakes Foundation is accepting applications for its Social Impact Grant Challenge from nonprofits working on financial inclusion, educational access and workforce readiness, or community transformation and wellbeing. Apply by Aug. 23. - The Pratt Center for Community Development’s new Community Planning & Research Accelerator will support four community-based organizations working on housing, climate, economic justice, planning, and land use with project funding in technical assistance. Apply by Aug. 31. - The Nationwide Foundation is funding nonprofit organizations working to address communities’ basic and emergency needs, crisis stabilization, financial security, housing stability, and family empowerment. Apply by Sept. 1 after completing a mandatory grant training. - Stanley 1913 is accepting applications for its Creators Fund, which supports bold and innovative leaders of nonprofits anywhere in the world (with budgets between $200K and $2M to be eligible) working to strengthen their communities. Apply by Sept. 13. - Impact Fund is accepting grant applications for impact litigation advancing economic, environmental, and social justice. Submit a letter of interest by Sept. 29. This article is part of The Weekly Wrap, a newsletter rounding up stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions bringing us closer to economic, environmental and social justice. Click here to subscribe to The Weekly Wrap newsletter. Roshan Abraham is a contributing editor for housing and homelessness at Next City. Based in Queens, New York, he has written extensively about city policy, including prisons and policing, housing and homelessness for The Guardian, The New York Times, Slate, The Baffler, Village Voice, The Verge, Pacific Standard, The Appeal, Vice and other outlets. At Vice, he was formerly a staff writer covering the housing beat. He is a former Open City Fellow and Witness Fellow at the Asian American Writers Workshop and a former Equitable Cities Fellow at Next City. Add to the Discussion Next City sustaining members can comment on our stories. Keep the discussion going! Join our community of engaged members by donating today. Already a sustaining member? Login here.