And you thought that the movie “Crazy Rich Asians” which set a record for generating the most sales of all newly released films in the United States some two weeks ago was the only victory for Asians during that period. No, sir. While the movie drew crowds and even raves from film critics, there was another dramatic win for Asians almost the same time. This time, it is not only for Asians but other minorities who continue to struggle to get decent housing in America’s richest state-California.
This time around it is the story of Crazy Poor Asians and their continuing struggle to get a part of the American dream—affordable, decent housing. Sounds familiar? Well, it is, The struggle to have decent housing cuts across all countries and races. In the United States, more so after the 2008 financial crisis which was set in play to a significant degree by the mess in housing mortgages and other home financing problems. The crisis ensnared even the huge, state-sponsored housing finance companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In any event, that problem drew a lot of people into the political arena, foremost being people’s organizations which reasonably believed that government, at both the federal and state levels, have actually been very remiss in their duty to provide adequate, reasonable financing for housing the “homeless, renters and the disadvantaged.”
One such group is the National Asian American Coalition whose president/CEO is a Filipina from Pandan, Antique. Faith Bautista is the president and CEO of National Asian American Coalition, a HUD-approved home counseling agency and the nation’s leading Asian- American nonprofit advocating against foreclosures while also advocating for greater economic and small business development and for the advancement of the growing economic and social power of Asian Americans.
The NAAC is at the forefront in the fight for affordable housing and financing. Thanks to Ms. Bautista and her group of NGO activists, NAAC just won a case against the State of California and Governor Jerry Brown. But their fight is not yet over. And their biggest nemesis? You will be most surprised. It’s a fellow Asian-American, California State Assembly Member, Democrat Phil Ting. And the NAAC’s fight continues.
In support of that struggle of Crazy Poor Asians and other minorities, I have decided to reprint in this column an editorial piece penned by Ms. Bautista now being circulated and getting viral not only in California but globally. Here goes:
Is Assemblymember Phil Ting Only For The Crazy Rich Asians, Or Will He Fight For The Crazy Poor Ones, Too?
By Faith Bautista
August 23, 2018
Last week, the movie Crazy Rich Asians opened in theaters nationwide to long lines and critical acclaim, especially here in Daly City where a lot of Asians reside.
Of course, where people are, there the politicians will be. Assembly member Phil Ting, who is of Chinese descent and who represents the California 19th Assembly District which includes the west side of San Francisco, Broadmoor, Daly City, South San Francisco, and Colma, was one of those who prominently supported the movie.
At a press conference before a screening of Crazy Rich Asians, Ting, who is the Vice Chair of the Asian-Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, touted Senate Bill 871 or the film tax credit law recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, which supposedly “moves the needle towards inclusion” by including diversity statistics in the application process for tax incentives.
What Ting didn’t say during the press conference was that the very next day, the Assembly Budget Committee that he chairs was about to pass another Senate Bill—Senate Bill 861 (SB 861). He wouldn’t have been proud about passing SB 861 through his committee, however, because this trailer budget bill would move the needle towards exclusion for the Asian Americans and other low-income communities he is supposed to represent.
Here is the plot to the SB 861 story: In 2014, the National Asian American Coalition, of which I am the President and CEO, and two other nonprofit organizations, sued Governor Jerry Brown to seek the return of $331 million, which his government illegally diverted for other budgetary purposes from the National Mortgage Special Deposit Fund—a fund that was created in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis to help fund housing counselors and other essential housing service providers, so that they in turn may help financially distressed homeowners buy homes or modify their mortgages to avoid foreclosure.
Long story short: The NAAC won. Governor Brown appealed. The NAAC won again. Governor Brown was ordered to immediately return the money.
Instead of doing so, like any of us regular citizens would do when we receive a court order, Governor Brown and his Legislative Democratic Allies in the Budget Committee sneakily passed SB 861 and AB 1829, both of which are trailer budget bills that seek to overturn the two emphatic California court rulings and forever put out of the reach of struggling homeowners the $331 million that they badly need.
It is a shame that Assemblymember Ting would allow this bill to even pass his committee without scrutinizing how badly it will affect his constituents. He seems only interested in supporting the fictional Crazy Rich Asians—which perpetuates the “model minority” stereotype that Asians in America can survive on their own and don’t need governmental help—but not the real-life, “crazy poor” Asians, Latinos, Blacks, and other low-income communities in his district, who are struggling to make ends meet and struggling even more to buy or keep their homes.
The fate of SB 861 is largely in Assemblymember Ting’s hands, being the Chair of the powerful Budget Committee, and he can definitely “move the needle” on passing or rejecting the bill. The question is: ‘‘Is Assemblymember Phil Ting only for the Crazy Rich Asians, or will he fight for the crazy poor ones, too?’’