Five Fast Facts: Rachel Richards

Welcome to Five Fast Facts! As the League kicks off our next chapter, we wanted to introduce (or reintroduce) ourselves. Get to know us and what makes us who we are.

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Here are Five Fast Facts with our Fiscal Policy Director, Rachel Richards!

1. What makes you feel drawn to your work at the League?

Like Monique, I love that our focus is on policy and systems change. Policy and budget decisions have the ability to eliminate barriers and improve outcomes but also can perpetuate or deepen disparities. I feel passionate about the issues we work on and the fact that all of our work is done through a racial equity point of view. I also see our community engagement work as a unique asset and important partner of the policy work I do. Our amazing community engagement team connects with local and other statewide partners, serves as a resource to help them advocate for their own priorities, and then helps inform our work. Our policy focus, racial equity point of view, and community engagement work make the League uniquely situated to analyze public policy and budget decisions and understand not only the statewide impact of the changes but also how they will impact communities and Michiganders.

2. What are the top three things you’re working on this year that you’re most excited for or are the most impactful?

1. The Earned Income Tax Credit! It’s a federal and state income tax credit that helps individuals and families with low to moderate wages make ends meet. It helps families keep up with rising costs of groceries, automobile repairs and child care. It boosts local economies as families that receive the credit tend to spend it where they live and work. And it has long-lasting benefits on children in families receiving it, helping them be healthier, do better and stay longer in education, and earn more as adults. Improving our state EITC has been a long-established priority of the League, and we’re thrilled to be working so closely on it today.
2. Michigan’s state budget! We at the League like to say that our state budget is more than a ledger of revenues and expenditures, it’s a statement of our priorities and shows what we value. Budget decisions have the opportunity to reduce and eliminate barriers to education, healthcare access and workforce training, among others. Budget decisions can, conversely, perpetuate or even deepen existing disparities and worsen outcomes, disproportionately experienced by our Black and brown communities. By diving into the budget, we can look at how our state is prioritizing funding and help push policies that reduce barriers, promote equity, improve outcomes, and create a Michigan that works for all of us.
3. A weighted school funding formula! Equal funding for schools does not mean that all kids have the same access to opportunity and achievement, and our current funding formula currently contributes to existing educational disparities. Students with disabilities, English-language learners, and students living in poverty require additional resources in order to have access to the same education and opportunities as their peers. This is especially important now as we come out of the pandemic, as recent research found that kids who had been underserved by school funding policies before COVID, including Black, brown, and economically disadvantaged students, were the ones whose learning was most negatively impacted by the pandemic, increasing educational disparities.

3. If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Caution: say “taxes” at your own risk. 

It’s no surprise that I love talking about taxes and budget. These are topics that I could talk about for at least a half hour without preparation and often do. Asking me about them will likely result in lost time (ha!) but also a mastery of how taxes and budget are so tightly intertwined, agreement that progressive revenue streams are vital to both raising revenue and improving equity in the state, and a greater understanding of how our state budget is a values statement (see question 2 above). [Clearly, I’m fun at parties – you’ll likely find me at the dessert table if you want to join me.]

4. Do you collect anything?

Do books count? I’m an avid reader, and enjoy books from nearly every genre. I typically have 4 or 5 different books going at any point. Currently, I’m reading The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, As You Wish by Cary Elwes (about the making of one of my favorite movies, The Princess Bride), Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi, and rereading Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. 

5. What’s a fun fact about yourself?

I really am a great baker and love it. I can look at a recipe and know whether I’m going to get a fudgy brownie, a chewy or crispy cookie, a moist cake, or a flaky biscuit. It’s also amazing stress relief — I always keep my kitchen stocked with baking supplies knowing that when stressed out, I’ll dive into my baking cookbooks to try a new recipe or make something that reliably turns out every single time. If I didn’t work in public policy, I would probably look into opening my own bakery.