Advocacy in Action
From left to right: Congresswoman Haley Stevens, Congressman John Moolenaar, Congressman Andy Levin, Martin Manna, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin
Chamber takes position to support lottery retailers
By Sarah Kittle
Not every business had a dismal year last year. In fact, Michigan Lottery had record sales in 2020.
But lottery retailers hardly benefited from that profit. The vast-majority are small business owners, many of which are minority-owned businesses.
These business owners are considered “essential,” and much like other front-line workers, they kept their businesses open and operating, serving their communities, often with fewer employees than usual. The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce has the opinion that especially in the age of COVID, they should be compensated above and beyond what is normal.
‘Normal,’ in this case, is a 6 percent commission on payouts. Like the minimum wage, this amount has been set for decades, staying static even while the cost of living has risen dramatically. The Chamber is asking for a 2 percent bonus to be added to retailer’s take for 2020, and that the percentage be bumped up to 7 percent going forward.
It’s not a big ask, but it could significantly impact the benefits to retailers. It would also bring Michigan in line with policy in Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia, where the bonus includes one percent of the jackpot itself, capped at $100,000. The amount in Michigan does not include a percentage of the winning pot, and the bonus is capped at $50,000.
In January of 2021, a single winning ticket for the $1 Billion Mega Millions game was purchased at a Kroger store in Novi. It was the third largest lottery prize in US history. According to CBS News, Only two lottery prizes in the U.S. have been larger than Friday’s jackpot. Three tickets for a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot were sold in January 2016, and one winning ticket sold for a $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018.
The “jackpot” figures refer to amounts if a winner opts for an annuity, paid in 30 annual installments. Most winners choose a cash prize, which for the Mega Millions jackpot is $739.6 million, but the retailer bonus was capped. It didn’t matter that the payout was millions; they could only get $50,000.
A bill to amend 1972 PA 239, entitled “McCauley-Traxler-Law-Bowman-McNeely Lottery Act,” could change all that.
Changes to bottle return
Another statute from the 70s that the Chaldean American Chamber would like to see changed is the bottle deposit law. Enacted in 1976, the Michigan Beverage Container Deposit Law works; according to the Michigan State Treasury, we trail only the states of California and New York in terms of overall bottle and can returns. But Michigan’s recycling rate ranks consistently at the bottom among states with bottle deposit laws.
The pandemic hit everyone hard, but it placed undue burden on essential workers such as those that own and operate convenience stores. Not only were they supplying their neighborhoods with much needed goods, they were trying to keep staff employed and keep them safe at the same time.
Working within the confines of their shop space, bottle return areas can quickly become unsanitary, especially as employers suffer from employee shortages and struggle to keep people on staff. For smaller retailers, bottle return services can actually become a money drain.
Supporting these small stores, the Chamber is asking for a solution that benefits everyone. The burden of recycling should not fall solely on the shoulders of retailers. Neighborhood recycling centers and curbside pickups that have fallen out of use must be restored.
The state of California is leading the way to recycling reform. Under Governor Gavin Newsome, they are pushing for a requirement that plastic bottles contain a minimum of 50 percent recycled content by the year 2030. They are also building up the use of curbside organic collection bins and initializing a mobile recycling program which allows people to go to selected sites on selected days and put their recyclable items into a recycling truck.
The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce plans to send a bipartisan delegation to California in the near future to learn more about their “out-of-the-box” thinking on recycling. The Chamber’s intention is to ease the burden on Michigan bottle return retailers as well as make it easier for individuals everywhere to be environmentally conscious. Our future depends on it.
The creation of the CACC & CCF
Advocacy promotes equality, social justice, social inclusion and human rights. It works to enable people. It recognizes that self-advocacy – whereby people, perhaps with encouragement and support, speak out and act on their own behalf – is the ultimate aim.
The creation of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce (CACC) and later, the Chaldean Community Foundation (CCF), were answers to needs of the community. The Chamber answered a business need for representation and support while the Foundation answered a humanitarian need for basic necessities, helping new arrivals with housing and employment as well as assistance with forms.
When the Foundation was first created, there were a multitude of Iraqi Christians seeking asylum in the US, escaping persecution and threat of death in their homeland. The immigration process is not easy; there is a mountain of paperwork to fill out and it can seem an overwhelming task.
Unfamiliar with the language, the customs, and more importantly, the laws of their new country, immigrants desperately need someone to stand up for them. Whether it is navigating the ever-changing landscape of immigration policy or trying to right a wrong that was committed in the past, having someone in your corner means everything.
The Chamber and the PAC
People think advocacy is always political. It isn’t. Sometimes the act of advocacy changes office or company policy, gets insurance companies to cover contested expenses, or allows for more diversity on your local PTA. But a lot of advocacy does involve politics.
Political Action Committees, or PACs, are groups that raise money to fund certain political candidates in an election. The Chamber has a PAC, a group of dynamic individuals who are committed to the support the growth of the Chaldean business community and represent their shared interests.
They speak on behalf of the community, exerting their influence at the local level all the way to Lansing. They establish good relations with relevant officials and strive to ensure that member concerns are foremost in legislator’s minds.
They are not Republican, nor are they Democrat. They reach across party lines to candidates and sitting officials who are pro-business and understand the concerns of the community. In fact, some of their best efforts have been bipartisan, such as the campaign by Congressmen John Moolenaar (R-Midland) and Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township) to halt the deportation of Iraqi nationals. The congressmen co-authored a bill in 2019, asking for a moratorium on deportation for two years so that the detainees would be able to have their day in immigration court. They are now urging the Biden administration to show compassion and allow justice to prevail.
“The situation remains as dangerous as it was when we went into court because they face persecution, torture or death,” states Miriam Aukerman, senior attorney the ACLU in a statement to The Detroit News. “We’re really glad to see this bipartisan recognition and commitment to trying to find a long-term resolution that will protect them.”
She highlighted the lead plaintiff in the ACLU’s class-action lawsuit, Sam Hamama’s case saying if others were given a chance to have their cases heard, they too, could be on the pathway to citizenship. “We’re seeing a real recognition of the need for immigration reform and this is just one part of a larger picture,” Aukerman said.
Also cited in The Detroit News, is Martin Manna, president of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce and Chaldean Community Foundation.
“The challenges with deportation haven’t much changed,” he said in the article, “Congress and/or the administration should take action to help alleviate the pain, suffering and ongoing anxiety many in the community are still feeling because of their immigration status.” He believes a long term solution is the only solution.
Manna has written many letters of support for members of the community, asking for everything from leniency in sentencing to denial of parole. Why does he provide letters of support? The answer is simple. “They need help,” he explains.