https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/08/business/line-skipping-clear-disney/index.html



New York
CNN
—
Cutting in front of someone who’s been waiting patiently in line used to be unethical, bad manners, taboo. Now, businesses are letting people pay for the privilege of skipping the line.

Across everything from ski lifts to dating apps, and fueled by relatively new technology, there’s been an explosion of options and services that let wealthier people pay to go first.

At the airport, travelers with a Clear membership — about $189 a year — are escorted to the front of TSA security lines by company “ambassadors” (as the people behind them in line grumble). Clear has rapidly grown to around 19 million members, and it plans to expand further into the hospitality, health care, financial services and online shopping industries.

Dating app Tinder offers a new $499-a-month membership with a “skip the line” feature that prioritizes a dater’s profile. Snowbird and other ski resorts, in a controversial change, allow visitors who pay extra to access expedited ski lifts. In December, Killington introduced a “Four-Day Fast Track” for $199 on top of its daily regular fee of about $165, and it sometimes sells out. Universal Studios theme park offers an unlimited “Express Pass” starting at $109.99 per person — on top of the admission price — which allows holders to skip the line right on the spot.

And, most troubling of all, during the pandemic, wealthy patients paid top dollar to jump to the front of the Covid-19 vaccine queue.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/03/dc-council-crime-public-safety-bill-drug-zones/

Gift Link: https://wapo.st/3SoQOpg



After the deadliest year in the nation’s capital in a quarter century, the D.C. Council will take an initial vote Tuesday on a mammoth public safety bill that includes dozens of changes to crime and punishment and policing laws, representing the council’s most definitive answer to date in the face of soaring violent crime.

The sweeping legislation would create new crimes such as “organized retail theft,” enhance punishment for illegal gun possession, revive a ’90s-era “anti-loitering drug free zone” tactic, greatly expand the collection of DNA in a law enforcement database and, after months of complaints from the D.C. police union, seek to undo or adjust a number of law enforcement accountability or transparency measures.

“This is an omnibus piece of legislation with comprehensive solutions,” said Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), who wrote the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act. “And that’s why, taken as a whole, it’s going to improve safety and security for D.C. residents.”

Lawmakers have largely shown a united front in pushing the legislation, despite concerns a number of them have raised. Many oppose certain changes to the city’s police accountability laws, which passed after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. And some remain skeptical that certain provisions, such as drug-free zones, will actually reduce or deter crime, criticism that has boiled over among criminal justice advocates opposed to ratcheting up criminal punishment.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/01/dc-cash-payments-mothers-pilot-program/

Gift link: https://wapo.st/3SKVUNG

In 2022, the D.C. government announced a pilot program that offered 132 new and expecting low-income mothers $10,800 over the course of a year — no strings attached — intended to assess how unconditional cash payments could improve their families’ outcomes and economic mobility.

Facilitated by the nonprofit Martha’s Table, the $1.5 million Strong Families, Strong Futures pilot was limited to families in Wards 5, 7 and 8, which contain some of the District’s poorest neighborhoods. The city’s program was based on similar successful cash-transfer pilots that have now been modeled in at least 100 U.S. jurisdictions and drew 1,553 applications in just three weeks, requiring a lottery system to winnow down the final group.

All 132 mothers had to choose whether they wanted 12 monthly payments of $900 or the entire amount immediately in a lump sum, a unique feature of D.C.’s pilot. About 75 percent chose the lump sum — which was better for those also receiving government benefits, for whom monthly payments from the pilot were more likely to be flagged as additional income, potentially affecting their eligibility, said David Lloyd, the deputy chief of programs at Martha’s Table.

The Washington Post spoke to several mothers throughout the year. Some used the funds to set up their first savings account or buy baby formula. Others used it to live the lives they had always dreamed for their families, helping cushion their savings to buy a new home — or just live large for a week: a new hairdo and a trip to Miami with new outfits every day for the children.