F.U.T.U.R.E.

Planning for the Future of Maryland’s 7th Congressional District

“We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims. [The challenge is] to make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time, with spontaneous cooperation and without ecological damage or disadvantage of anyone.” –R. Buckminster Fuller

Candidates often share a long list of issues they plan to tackle while in Congress. That may appeal to some voters who believe in quick fixes. However, that can be a delusional approach. In a two-year session, significant changes are often unrealistic and highly unlikely, when confronted by the partisan politics that can stand in the way of moving legislation along on its merits. I plan to introduce and support bipartisan legislation that will give the economy the ability to change the future of families, work, and communities.

If elected, I will work to introduce and support comprehensive legislation that ensures:

FUTURE OF FAMILIES

Our families have access to healthcare, childcare, eldercare, and other benefits that exist outside of a traditional job. I will introduce legislation that funds pilots, which allow a real-world test of new policies. Pilots will give us the data and models we need to eventually push us away from an economy where healthcare and benefits are attached to a job. More and more people have jobs that are not traditional, and we need to make sure we are adjusting for this change. Moreover, I am a strong advocate of evaluations and measurements to ensure the new efforts provide sufficient benefits to justify their work.

FUTURE OF WORK

Our workforce (businesses, employees, and students) has access to the training and education necessary to compete in an economy where up to 38 percent of current full-time positions will not exist in ten years due to automation (Source: PwC). Also, I favor legislation that ensures data and technology do not threaten security and civil liberties. Passing legislation that prepares us for the future workforce is realistic and is one of the areas for which a two-year session may be a reasonable time span. Bills have been introduced in the past but did not move. I want to present/support legislation that will focus on the future of work and do the following:

1. Evaluate the jobs and skills that will be obsolete in the next ten to thirty years to shift public funds away from training individuals in these industries.
2. Fund pilots to test how we can re-engineer our current education system from segmented learning to training individuals from the cradle to the grave.
3. Fund the development of apprenticeship and internship programs focused on tomorrow’s jobs and skills and those for which applicants are currently in short supply.
4. Incentivize public-private partnerships that strengthen career and job readiness in states, including funding internship requirements in the high school curriculum.
5. Provide tax incentives for businesses and individuals to offer and receive the necessary skills and training to remain competitive in a changing economy.

With technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, the need for individual skills will shift at a faster speed. The House created a caucus on the future of work in January, and the Senate is considering a similar group. Focusing on the future workforce is a bipartisan issue that we can move on quickly. We also need legislation that will protect the data of individuals. I want to introduce legislation similar to the GDPR in the European Union. At a bare minimum, companies should have someone’s expressed consent to use and sell their data. Companies have intruded into our private lives, and we need to ensure that our citizens’ rights and information are protected. Technology is coming into our homes and opening our mail, and most people have no idea the extent that this is occurring.

FUTURE OF COMMUNITIES

Our communities have funding for physical (such as transit, roads, and bridges) and technological (such as high-speed internet, digital tools, and smart grids) infrastructure to remain connected and competitive. Congress and the President are thinking about putting more funding into infrastructure. Still, it stops shy of investing in the future infrastructure we need by focusing heavily on what we did in the Eisenhower years. We need to pass legislation that puts funding into place for the infrastructures of the future. Broadband access is necessary, but we have to go a step further and think about the investments we need to make into smart grids, 5g, etc. The private sector drives these investments, and we need to make sure we don’t end up with the same digital gaps we see with the lack of high-speed internet in certain places in the country.

The citizens of Maryland’s 7th Congressional District may live in the same voting block, but they face very different issues. Let’s focus on our common ground and work together to improve the Future of Families, the Future of Work, and the Future of Connected Communities. Sign the petition to get Amber on the November ballot.

Future of Families

Today, Amber Ivey lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where she owns her home, worships, and volunteers regularly. Amber still believes in the American Dream for all Americans, but she is also realistic about how our rapidly changing economy will reshape that dream. The future of work is changing, and that means that benefits like childcare, healthcare, and retirement accounts must be reimagined. Although her parents were able to transition their family of six from generational poverty in the south to the middle class after serving a combined 22 years in the United States Armed Forces, today’s families face different challenges.

 

FUTURE priorities

Families and household structures are evolving. One study estimates that more than four-in-ten Americans believe that the average family’s standard of living will decline over the next 30 years. For example, in Maryland, childcare (provided by facilities) costs more than college tuition.

• Focus on policies that improve health, safety, and quality of life for children, families, and veterans, including affordable childcare and healthcare and gainful employment with transferable benefits.
• Uncover policies and practices that create barriers for families to access the rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and property.

Future of Work

The economy is changing faster than we imagined. As the economy becomes more globalized and technology-driven, and the future of work changes, a substantial portion of the population will need to adopt new skills to compete. If we don’t prepare Americans for this shift, the vast unemployment we’re experiencing is just the tip of the iceberg. It is not a matter of if, but when. Amber has witnessed first-hand how data and technology are not only changing governments but also changing the lives of individuals and, ultimately, the economy. Many of our elected leaders have ignored the positive and potentially negative impacts that data and technology will have on our future. We can no longer look at jobs and education the same. Amber wants to focus on ensuring that Maryland’s 7th District residents are equipped with the training and skills required to compete in a Future America.

 

FUTURE priorities

Some experts forecast 38.6 percent of current full-time positions in the United States will be automated by technology as early as 2030. This number jumps up to 43.4 percent in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro area. We are in a revolution, and we can either let it happen to us or reap the benefits of this change.

• Tailor policies that ensure Americans have the education and training needed to compete in a changing economy, including re-engineering primary, secondary, and post-secondary education and training programs available to career employees.
• Urgency around policies that address opportunities and possible disruptions presented by the rapid growth of technology, including the creation of new jobs and reducing harm caused by technology.

Future of Connected Communities

Amber has been blessed to work with stakeholders that ranged from local community groups to executive and judicial officials elected or appointed by governors. The biggest thing she has learned is that when you are trying to solve some of the most complicated problems you need to reach beyond the policies into the community. We can work together to ensure that our communities are connected in order to solve some of our most pressing challenges in Maryland’s 7th District.

 

FUTURE priorities

Communities are changing and will be more interconnected and complex.  Some studies show that 3 out of 10 U.S. households or as many as 162 million Americans do not have access to high-speed internet connections. 

• Recommend policies for rural, suburban, and urban communities to succeed with both physical and technological infrastructure, including transit and access to high speed internet.
• Ensure communities and every level of government work together to support thriving and connected communities, including targeting the most pressing problems in our communities.

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Amber Ivey on the Ballot

In order to be listed on the November 3rd, 2020 general election ballot as an Independent candidate, Amber must collect 5,100 signatures by July 24th, 2020, from eligible voters who live in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District. She can do this with your help. The State Board of Elections, will allow digital signatures. Once the form is updated, we will include it on our site.