matthew segal

Our friends at OUR TIME brought light to an interesting story on their Tumblr this week after the Journal of Pediatrics released data showing that at least 1 in 3 people has been arrested by the age of 23 years old.

According to OUR TIME's post

• By age 23, up to 41% of American adolescents and young adults have been arrested at least once. After an arrest, young people at a higher risk for future criminal activity.
• The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, and almost 25% of the worlds prisoners.
• The U.S. Congress recently told judges that prison is mainly for punishment, not rehabilitation.
• Cost of keeping a person in prison is approx $30K per year. Public HS Education costs approx $10K per year.

Co-Founder and head of OUR TIME Matthew Segal appeared on MSNBC's Dylan Ratagin last night to shed greater light on the troubling state of young Americans behind bars.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This week also marks the 39th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment that reduced the voting age to 18. And last week the Overseas Vote Foundation's 2010 Summit was held in Munich, Germany. They have a subsidiary called Youth Vote Overseas and have long been advocates to helping students studying abroad, soldiers serving overseas, or connecting young people living abroad have an easier time casting a ballot back home.

The OVF Summit was designed as a forum for "collaborative innovation designed to stimulate the power of our diverse network to address the pressing challenges facing overseas and military voters today in ways that will bring real tangible outcomes." Their attention to young people very specifically is critical given the millions of young people living abroad.

Founder and ED of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment spoke on engagement to young voters overseas, the challenges, and the solutions. The videos are below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

FM's friend Matthew Segal from the Student Association for Voter Empowerment appeared at the President's Job Summit last week, and spoke about his thoughts on youth jobs on CNN this morning.

The latest unemployment numbers and poll results have led most observers to predict a major setback for Democrats in the 2010 Congressional elections. But a year is a lifetime in politics and much can change between now and then to influence next year’s vote. As Ron Brownstein recently pointed out, the demographic makeup of the electorate is likely to be a key factor in whether or not the Democrats can maintain their current majority margins in 2010. While traditionally Democrats have focused on turning out African-American and Hispanic voters to offset Republican strength among white male voters that equation is no longer the only calculation Democratic strategists need to make.

Today the level and intensity of interest among Millennials young voters 18-28, is equally important in ensuring Democratic victories. But for that group of voters to turn out in large numbers, Congressional Democrats will have to make a much more concerted effort than they have to date to deliver on a series of policy issues of major concern to Millennials, the generation that provided Barack Obama 80% of his popular vote margin over John McCain in 2008.

As with most other Americans, the number one concern among Millennials is the state of the economy and the need for jobs. But Millennials have a unique perspective on this issue, one that Congress must understand and address. Millennials believe there is a clear link between education and employment and are increasingly concerned that the pathway through the educational system into the world of work is becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive to navigate.

Two-thirds of Millennials who graduate from a four-year college do so with over $20,000 in debt. A job market with Depression-level youth unemployment (18.5%) and a wrenching transformation of the types of jobs America needs and produces makes the implicit bargain of education in return for future economic success harder for Millennials to believe in every day.

Recently Matt Segal, Executive Director of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE) and Founder and National Co-Chair of the 80 Million Strong for Young Americans Job Coalition presented some ideas to the House Education and Labor Committee on what Congress could do to address this challenge.

He advocated increased entrepreneurial resources be made available to youth; Senate action on the student debt reform bill recently passed by the House; more access to public service careers through internships and loan forgiveness programs; and the creation of “mission critical” jobs in such fields as health care, cyber-security and the environment that would tap the unique talents of this generation. Coupled with the recent passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act, enacting these initiatives would demonstrate that Democrats are serious about improving the economic situation of Millennials and, at the same time, provide organizing ammunition in the 2010 campaign.

Of course no economic program can ignore the impact of health care on this generation’s—and America’s—economic well being. Many of the entry-level jobs young people seek and obtain come from employers who simply can’t afford to provide health care coverage under today’s system. Young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 represent nearly a third of all uninsured Americans, and two-thirds of those uninsured young people reported going without necessary medical care in 2007 because they could not afford to pay for it. As a result, polling has consistently indicated that a majority of young people support President Obama’s health care proposal, especially if it contains a public option to control costs. One of the more compelling components of the president’s plan for Millennials is that it would allow parents to cover their children through the family’s health insurance up to the age of 26 instead of the current limit of 19. And Millennials expect Congress to act. Only a third of Millennials, as compared with half of older generations, are concerned that the government will become too involved in health care.

Yet many pundits continue to perceive health care reform as an “old people’s issue,” likely to increase the turnout of seniors, but not Millennials, in the 2010 elections. Some have even suggested that Millennials will object to a health care system that limits the differential in premiums insurance companies can charge relatively healthy young people vs. older, less well adults. But this theoretical inter-generational transfer of wealth is not likely to stir up much opposition among Millennials. Unlike the Baby Boomers of four decades ago, Millennials do not speak to their elders across a generation gap, but have actually formed strong and enduring bonds with their parents and come to the public arena determined to find solutions that work for people of all ages. Already, Young Americans for Health Care Reform has accumulated 1200 fans on Facebook since the group was formed less than a month ago.

If Congressional Democrats can successfully negotiate passage of a health care reform bill that provides cost-effective coverage for the 30% of Millennials who currently are not insured, Democrats will have another major arrow in their quiver going into the 2010 election.

Millennials, like their GI Generation great grandparents in the 1930s, are facing economic challenges that caught them by surprise and for which no one prepared them. But Millennials aren’t looking for a handout or sympathy. Instead, in the “can do” spirit of their generation, they are organizing to overcome the challenges created for them by their elders. It’s time for Democrats in Congress to recognize these concerns and the loyalty of a generation that identifies as Democrats over Republicans by a 2:1 margin. One way to accomplish this is by passing meaningful health care reform while helping to create new pathways to economic opportunity, especially for young people who are just entering the work force. Doing so now, as the battle for 2010 shapes up, will help energize the newest and most loyal element of the Democratic Party’s 21st Century coalition, the Millennial Generation.

Morley Winograd is one of the authors of Millennial Makeover, one of the New York Times' favorite books of 2008.

Bumped. Ian Storrar, COO of Mobilize.org, invites you to apply for a grant summit in Chicago. - Karlo

On Friday I attended a reception with Majority Leader Hoyer’s staff at the Capitol, along with many of my friends and colleagues in the youth empowerment movement. In July, Majority Leaders Hoyer keynoted at the 80 Million Strong For Young American Jobs summit where over 100 Millennials engaged with him on some of the most pressing issues of our day. On Thursday, I attended a hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee (see Karlo Marcelo’s coverage on FM). My fellow Co-Chair of 80 Million Strong, Matthew Segal, testified about the huge disparity in unemployment across generations that leaves the Millennial Generation ill-equipped to tackle the economic and personal financial barriers of the near and long-term future.

Let’s turn to Chicago, not to dissect the 2016 Olympics but because this November 18th to 20th Mobilize.org will be holding another summit for young leaders in our generation to tackle economic problems. Democracy 2.0: Exploring the Millennial Generation’s Return on Investment (ROI) will bring together 150 people, many of whom were in DC this July, to discuss the barriers to our collective financial health and then compete for Democracy 2.0 Awards ($25,000 is available) to implement their ideas at the grassroots and netroots levels. The issues we will address range from healthcare and medicare/-aid to personal financial education and taxes.

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation sponsors Exploring Millennial ROI so, for selected summit participants who need it, travel expenses will be paid. We’re also excited to have an intergenerational partner in AARPs Lifetuner. The application form for the Summit is open until October 17th and anyone interested in competing for an Award should fill out a separate form with their proposal outline. I’m always happy to talk with anyone who’s interested and/or has questions (202 736 5703) or email ian@mobilize.org.

This is the year for dealing with these issues and pushing bold, innovative ideas. Demos is holding A Better Deal in Washington, DC I two weeks. You should go, I am. From there, let’s go to Chicago and cement our commitment to making change happen through collaborative approaches to our tough fiscal times.

I just returned from the House Education and Labor Committee hearing on youth unemployment. This hearing is the follow-up to the 80 Million Strong National Jobs Summit, which convened 100 young leaders from 30 states to discuss problems and solutions about youth jobs. Since the Summit, youth unemployment and underemployment have risen. In fact, this past summer, typically the best time for young people to find jobs, was the worst on record. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics summer youth unemployment report:

The youth unemployment rate was 18.5 percent in July 2009, the highest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948. As with the decline in employment, the increase in youth unemployment in the summer of 2009 reflected a weak job market. The July 2009 unemployment rates for young men (19.7 percent), women (17.3 percent), whites (16.4 percent), blacks (31.2 percent), Asians (16.3 percent), and Hispanics (21.7 percent) increased from a year earlier.

Note that unemployment was up for all young people, not just specific demographics. In his opening remarks, Chairman Miller stated that "young people are the hardest hit". Simple and right to the point.

The first witness to testify, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training, Jane Oates, said that the stimulus funds sent to states did create jobs and that a detailed report was still being prepared and actual numbers were not yet available. Anecdotally, she's received positive feedback from young people who got jobs through stimulus funds. She noted that in many of the letters she had received from young workers, there were stories of saving money for college or for helping out the family during hard times. If not for the stimulus funds, it's likely that youth unemployment would have been higher and all the negative externalities bundled with it. Representative Bobby Scott quoted a Los Angeles-based community organization's motto that the best way to stop a bullet is with a job.

Another committee member, Representative Marcia Fudge, explained that her first jobs when she was a young person were important to her, equipping her with the experiences and skills that could, and did, carry her forward. With a passion that seemed to make time stop so that we, the audience, could prepare for what she would say next, she talked about pride. The pride of working and contributing to the community in a positive way. That feeling of pride in work knows no generational boundaries. Matt Segal of 80 Million Strong, a witness at the hearing, testified to that fact when he said that the Millennial generation is enthusiastic about young people doing their part, through hard work, to get this country out of recession. He then presented some of our generation's ideas, collected from the 80MS National Jobs Summit.

Yet, one of the big questions that was not answered directly in the hearing is how to deal effectively with the transition of a fourth generation, Millennials, into the workforce. It's almost like there is an elevator so full that others are left to take the stairs, even though they contributed to the construction of said elevator. So, it sounds like we need a bigger elevator, and luckily there's the spirit to make that happen. In his testimony, Segal noted that young people are increasingly interested in public service careers and in such expanding fields as healthcare, cyber security, green jobs and social entrepreneurship.

Much of the hearing focused specifically on low-income youth and youth of color, but 80MS is talking about a broader, much more comprehensive jobs agenda that aims to incorporate our generation's varied talents and skills towards the construction of a 21st century economy. Poverty and racism are problems not unique to today's young people, but the current state of joblessness, debt and lack of opportunity for young people of all backgrounds are specific to our times; right now, we need a solution for a generational workforce problem that threatens to leave America's youth worse off than their parents.

As you know, Future Majority is on the Steering Committee of 80 Million Strong. Our National Summit is taking place next Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, DC. We've got a great group of young leaders coming to DC to bring their ideas and perspectives to bear on the growing youth unemployment crisis (including FM's Sarah Burris). After the Summit, we will be sponsoring a grant summit in Chicago, IL (October, most likely), to fund some of the top legislative ideas and advocacy campaigns that arise from the July 14 and 15 Summit - Karlo

Young Leaders Gaining Support, Creating Ideas for 21st Century Jobs

Washington, D.C. – 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs, a coalition of 28 national youth organizations, will convene a summit of over 150 young people representing more than 30 states in Washington, D.C. on July 14 &15 in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.

Summit participants will develop legislative proposals in reaction to the disproportionate effects of the recession on young Americans.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader, U.S. Congress
• Tom Daschle, Former Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
• James Clyburn, Majority Whip, U.S. Congress
• Jared Bernstein, Senior Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden
• Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Young Americans have been hit hardest by the economic downturn and face an unemployment rate of 17.8%, almost 9 points higher than the national average. College graduates are entering one of the worst job markets in decades with an average $27, 000 dollars of student loan debt and little to no income with which to make payments.

80 Million Strong members will address this crisis head-on at the summit, where diverse young people from across the country will discuss the precarious financial health of our generation, propose solutions and package these recommendations into federal legislation. Our goal is to support and inspire entrepreneurship, widen the path from volunteerism to careers in public service, and commit a new generation to a new economy defined by higher education, good health, robust security, and sustainable living. We will leverage our coalition's influential and growing voting bloc to move jobs legislation through Congress, which will serve as a rallying point for us to engage in advocacy and increase civic participation at the grassroots and national level.

For more information please visit our website at http://80millionstrong.org/.

Summit Information:
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 – Conference
Capitol Visitor Center, Rm. 215 A&B
8:30am to 7:00pm

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 – Advocacy Day
Capitol Hill
9:00am to 12:00pm

80 Million Strong Contact Information:

Matthew Segal, Executive Director, Student Association for Voter Empowerment (SAVE), National Co-Chair, 80 Million Strong

847-502-5012

At 10am EDT this morning, Future Majority ally Matthew Segal of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment will be testifying for the second time in the House Judiciary. I would suggest checking out CSPAN but I'm not sure if they're covering the hearing. You can also check out the Committee website for viewing possibilities.

Below is an excerpt of the entered testimony that Segal will be submitting. Hopefully we can obtain video if it isn't readily available online and repost it for you here.

"As several journalists coined it, 2008 was the “Year of the Youth Vote.” For the third consecutive presidential election, young voter participation (among 18-29 year olds) increased considerably, with over 23 million young Americans—or 52% of all eligible young voters—casting ballots. This was also a 12% increase in young voter participation since the 2000 presidential election. Beyond just statistics, young people provided unprecedented energy, spirit and volunteer service to political campaigns, which was instrumental in shattering the conventional wisdom that “young people don’t vote” or “don’t want to vote.” Yet notwithstanding these clear successes, a closer examination of the 2008 election demonstrates that young voters succeeded in spite of numerous barriers, not necessarily because the system worked efficiently. The problems of the 2008 election begin with voter registration:

First, there were several instances of misleading statements made by elected officials regarding the potential consequences for out-of-town college students who wished to register and vote within their campus communities. At jurisdictions including Virginia Tech and Colorado College, for instance, county clerks issued statements indicating that if students chose to register at school, then their parents could no longer claim them as dependents for tax purposes. The registrars also cautioned that students could lose scholarships, grant money, and health insurance. And since these false claims originated
with election officials, disputing their accuracy was particularly difficult. It was not until civil rights attorneys sued and the IRS declared such claims inaccurate that these registrars issued corrections to their student populations.

Second, students attempting to register at Jackson State University in Mississippi,Furman University in South Carolina, and both Radford University and Mary Washington College in Virginia, were repeatedly denied registration status because they listed a dormitory room as their address. This dilemma was (and is) the result of vague definitions of domicile, which registrars may interpret subjectively to include or exclude dormitories. With such different styles of housing (whether a dorm, an apartment, a home, a public assistance agency, etc.), there is room for potential malfeasance or confusion in granting residency to eligible citizens.

Third, voter caging resulted in the removal of young people from the voter rolls. A prominent example of voter caging, which specifically targeted students, occurred in Montana. Republican Party officials intended to use “change of address” forms to remove voters from the registration rolls despite the fact that students routinely use such forms to forward mail during temporary absences. Certainly, a temporary leave of absence does not constitute a legitimate reason for removing a potential voter from the rolls; and after several groups, including SAVE, brought significant public pressure against party officials, the voter-caging plan was abandoned. Had the voter caging continued unchecked, thousands of young voters could have been removed from the registration lists without their knowledge and left with little recourse.

These examples demonstrate the symptoms of a greater problem: the voter registration process is flawed. In addition to the problems I cited previously, election officials are often overwhelmed by an influx of voter registration forms immediately prior to the deadline. As a result, officials are swamped and hard pressed to sort through hundreds, if not thousands, of forms in a matter of days, which often results in delays. Delays in the registration process decrease voter confidence, lead to uncertainty, and open the door to mistakes. . ."

To read the entire testimony please view it here - it should be posted later this afternoon or tomorrow.

See Luke Russert's special report that aired on the Today Show this morning featuring Matthew Segal of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment.

This morning Matthew Segal from the Student Association for Voter Empowerment" was on CNN talking about some of the challenges Students face and the rights that need to be protected for young voters. He also addresses the atrocious actions by the County Clerk in Virginia and El Paso, Colorado who attempted to disenfranchise students, and fliers that are geared to suppress the youth vote.