A panel session on global tax regulation organized by Jubilee USA was recently featured in Devex. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

The G77 Will Push for 'Tax Justice' Through a UN Tax Body, Says Ecuador's Foreign Affairs Minister

By: Sophie Edwards

"Speaking the day before Ecuador officially took over from Thailand as chair of the G77, Foreign Affairs Minister Guillaume Long said tackling tax havens would be a priority under Ecuador’s leadership and that it would seek to introduce a U.N. tax body with a state-level mandate to pursue 'tax justice.'

'The tax haven issue will have a very prominent position in our presidency of the G77,' he said during a panel session organized by Jubilee USA Network in Washington, D.C., on Thursday."

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Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Huffington Post speaking on tax avoidance. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

New Developing Nations Leader Has Big Plans To Crack Down On Global Tax Dodging

By: Daniel Marans 

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Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA recently wrote an op-ed for The Hill speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Congress, Oversight Board and Stakeholders Must Take Next Steps to Resolve Puerto Rico Crisis

By: Eric LeCompte

"A balanced budget and economic growth in Puerto Rico depend on quick action from Congress on the recent bipartisan recommendations from the Congressional Task Force on Economic Growth in Puerto Rico. Congress should ensure that the same healthcare funding and child tax benefits that U.S. citizens receive who live in the 50 states is extended to U.S. citizens living on the island.

The Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico also announced debt restructuring negotiations are moving forward. The board plans to review an updated fiscal plan from Puerto Rico’s new governor. As the oversight board continues its work, it must listen to the varied civil sectors in Puerto Rico, including those who experience some of the worst aspects of the crisis."

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA and colleague David Beckman of Bread for the World recently co-authored an op-ed in The Hill on true political leadership. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Spencer Bachus: True Leadership

By: Eric LeCompte and David Beckman

"At the U.S. Capitol recently, the faith-based anti-poverty coalition Jubilee USA was honored to celebrate House Financial Services Committee Chairman Emeritus Bachus as a 'Jubilee Champion' for his long-standing commitment to promoting economic opportunity and alleviating poverty in the world’s poorest nations. Jubilee USA Network, a coalition whose founders and members include more than 650 faith communities, has worked closely with Mr. Bachus on economic reforms to protect vulnerable people.

In 1999, many of the world’s poorest countries were saddled with unpayable debts to financial institutions and wealthier nations. Some were spending more money paying back debts incurred by former dictators than on the health and education of their own people. Drawing on the Biblical practice of Jubilee, people of faith all over the world called to forgive these debts if the funds were then used for social betterment. Religious groups across the United States advocated for debt relief."

Read more here [link here].

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Public Finance International speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Puerto Rico Advised Over Debt Crisis but Likely Shorn of US Support

By: Emma Rumney

"LeCompte also called for a clause in the debt restructuring agreements to take into account of Puerto Rico’s vulnerability to shocks, ranging from hurricanes to global financial crises.

This would work in a similar way to the ‘hurricane clause’ in a restructuring deal to Grenada, which suspends debt repayments when Grenada is hit by certain external shocks.

Debt restructuring should also differentiate between civil entities holding Puerto Rican debt and external creditors when it comes to haircuts, which the former might be less able to endure, and perhaps link repayments to GDP.

LeCompte said pegging returns for creditors to economic growth deters 'predatory behaviour' and establishes that success for Puerto Rico means success for everyone."

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Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Catholic News Service, America Magazine, and Catholic Philly speaking on policies under the incoming Trump Administration. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

How Catholic Advocates View the New White House

By: Dennis Sadowski 

"In one sense, LeCompte hopes that the practices of predatory hedge funds, trade agreements that fail to consider the needs of workers, and corporate tax avoidance that his agency has addressed with Congress and past White House administrations will resonate with Trump's staff. They are issues Trump has touched on during his campaign rallies in states with large blue-collar communities.

'We expect all of our issues we work on in terms of how the global economic system works (will receive) a welcome from the White House,' LeCompte said."

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Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Catholic News Service speaking about partners recently named Jubilee Champions. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Concept of Biblical Jubilee Comes to Life

By: Dennis Sadowski

"Archbishop Tomasi was one of four Jubilee Champions honored for their work on debt relief efforts at the dinner. Others were Spencer Bachus, a former Republican member of Congress from Alabama who ushered legislation through Congress that led to more than $130 billion in debt relief; Kent Spriggs, a Florida attorney who was the lead author of 'amicus curiae' brief spearheaded by Jubilee USA, signed by 80 faith-based organizations and filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2014 case that helped Argentina block the predatory debt collection practices of a so-called 'vulture fund'; and Ruth Messinger, former president of American Jewish World Service and co-founder of Jubilee USA 20 years ago.

Eric LeCompte, Jubilee USA Network executive director, said the four honorees were crucial to the organization’s success, but more importantly showed that their commitment can serve as a strong example of solidarity with the world’s poorest communities."

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Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Devex speaking on trade. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

What Trump's Dumping of Trade Agreements Means for Developing Countries

By: Lisa Cornish

“'It’s absolutely clear across the United States that struggling, working class people elected Trump, and one of the issues that was absolutely critical for the voting population was how trade is impacting jobs in the United States,' Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, told Devex. It’s something that was a force in putting Trump into office.'”

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A program sponsored by Jubilee USA was recently featured in Catholic News Service. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Pope Prioritizes Need for an Economy that Includes Poor, Archbishop Says

By: Dennis Sadowski

"Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico, described how the country's debt crisis continues to plague the island. He said that despite passage in July of a bill by the U.S. Congress allowing for the restructuring of the island's $72 billion in debt, schools continue to close, health care options are reduced and infrastructure is being ignored.

'Puerto Rico and its creditors need to work together and find a way for Puerto Rico to pay back without placing a huge burden on the poor,' Archbishop Gonzalez said."

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was featured in IPS speaking on debt restructuring. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Options Lacking to Help Developing Countries Avoid Debt Crises

By: Tharanga Yakupitiyage and Lyndal Rowlands

"LeCompte echoed similar sentiments, highlighting the importance of laws around responsible and sustainable lending and borrowing.

'We need to figure out, at the United Nations, how do we start to move [debt restructuring] into soft law, how do we start to create a framework and structure that allows…for problems to be worked out in a more responsible way,' he told IPS."

Read more here.