[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2816-H2817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, for far too long for-profit charter schools 
have operated without accountability. Without the necessary oversight 
for charter schools, our children will continue to suffer while 
taxpayers bankroll charter school fraud, waste, and abuse.
  I know our children deserve better, and this is why this week I am 
introducing the Charter Oversight, Accountability, and Transparency 
Act, which we call the COAT Act. I am doing this with Representative 
Bowman and Representative Wilson to help strengthen our country's 
public education system by promoting the same type of accountability 
from charter schools nationwide that the law requires of our public 
school systems.
  Charter schools are publicly funded, Madam Speaker, but are managed 
by private charter management organizations. This bill would require 
these management organizations to file financial disclosures to the 
Department of Education in order to receive Federal Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act funds.
  Michigan's experiment with charters has led to a system of poor-run 
schools for for-profit companies, failing thousands of our students. 
The COAT Act is commonsense legislation that will increase transparency 
and accountability to ensure that charter schools provide necessary 
information to local, State, and Federal agencies to detect and prevent 
fraud and abuse.


                  Ending Auto Insurance Discrimination

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I don't know what our education level, 
marital status, or credit scores have to do with how much our auto 
insurance rates should be. The Prohibit Auto Insurance Discrimination 
Act, PAID Act, that I introduced with Congresswoman Watson Coleman, who 
has led this effort, as well as Congressman Takano, would end insurance 
discrimination.
  It would prohibit auto insurance companies from using our education 
levels, occupation, employment status, credit scores, previous insurer 
information, ZIP Code, census tracts, or homeownership status in 
insurance rating or underwriting decisions.
  Auto insurance discrimination continues to keep our residents in the 
cycle of poverty, Mr. Speaker.
  Your education level, ZIP Code, and marital status don't determine 
whether or not you are a good driver; neither does your credit score. 
Yet our neighbors, especially in Detroit, regularly face higher auto 
insurance rates than other folks.
  Someone with a perfect driving record--no tickets, crashes, or 
claims--who has poor credit can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars 
more for auto insurance, sometimes twice as much. I read somewhere that 
somebody with a DUI, drinking under the influence, with a higher credit 
score was paying three times less than someone with a lower credit 
score but no DUI violation.
  We must stop the predatory discrimination practices by auto insurance 
companies. This is why I urge my colleagues to support the PAID Act to 
help level the playing field and eliminate factors, proxies to 
discriminate, that contribute to our growing inequality.


                          Honoring Ruth Ellis

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, during Pride Month, I honor a trailblazer in 
our community, Mother Ruth Ellis, a former Detroit resident who was the 
oldest surviving open lesbian and an LGBTQ+ rights activist.
  She was born in 1899, living until the age of 101. She came out as a 
lesbian around 1915. She took in unhoused LGBTQ+ youth, and her home 
became known as a refuge for LGBTQ+ young people. We now lovingly call 
it the Ruth Ellis Center.
  Not only did she give shelter to our young people but provided books, 
food, even assistance with college education. Around 40 percent of our 
unhoused youth today are LGBTQ+.
  My team and I were proud to secure $1 million in Federal funding for 
the Ruth Ellis Center in our community to honor Mother Ruth Ellis and 
her lifesaving work. Mr. Speaker, the center

[[Page H2817]]

provides safe, affordable, identity-affirming housing for those in 
need, especially, again, our LGBTQ+ young people.
  This month, as we celebrate Pride Month, we recognize and honor the 
legacy of Ruth Ellis and the incredible advocacy of the Ruth Ellis 
Center and their team.

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