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The share of people living inpoverty in the United States fell toa record low last year as an enor-mous government relief efforthelped offset the worst economiccontraction since the Great De-pression.

In the latest and most conclu-sive evidence that poverty fell be-cause of the aid, the Census Bu-reau reported on Tuesday that9.1 percent of Americans were liv-ing below the poverty line lastyear, down from 11.8 percent in2019. That figure — the lowestsince records began in 1967, ac-cording to calculations from re-searchers at Columbia University— is based on a measure that ac-counts for the impact of govern-ment programs. The official meas-ure of poverty, which leaves outsome major aid programs, rose to11.4 percent of the population.

The new data will almost surelyfeed into a debate in Washingtonabout efforts by President Bidenand congressional leaders to en-act a more lasting expansion ofthe safety net that would extendwell beyond the pandemic. Demo-crats’ $3.5 trillion plan, which isstill taking shape, could includepaid family and medical leave,government-supported child careand a permanent expansion of theChild Tax Credit.

Liberals cited the success of re-lief programs, which were alsohighlighted in an Agriculture De-partment report last week thatshowed that hunger did not rise in2020, to argue that such policiesought to be expanded. But conser-vatives argue that higher federalspending is not needed and wouldincrease the federal debt whilediscouraging people from work-ing.

The fact that poverty did notrise more during an enormouseconomic disruption reflects the

equally enormous response. Con-gress expanded unemploymentbenefits and food aid, doled outhundreds of billions of dollars tosmall businesses and sent directchecks to most Americans. TheCensus Bureau estimated that thedirect checks alone lifted 11.7 mil-lion people out of poverty lastyear; unemployment benefits andnutrition assistance prevented anadditional 10.3 million people fromfalling into poverty, according toan analysis of the data by TheNew York Times.

“It all points toward the historicincome support that was deliv-ered in response to the pandemicand how successful it was at blunt-ing what could have been a his-toric rise in poverty,” said Christo-pher Wimer, a co-director of theCenter on Poverty and Social Pol-icy at the Columbia UniversitySchool of Social Work. “I imaginethe momentum from 2020 willcontinue into 2021.”

Poverty rose much more afterthe previous recession, peaking at16.1 percent in 2011, by the meas-ure that takes fuller account ofgovernment assistance, and im-proving only slowly after that.Many economists have arguedthat the federal government did

U.S. Poverty Rate FallsTo a Record Low as Aid Helps Offset Job Losses

Success of Pandemic Relief Could BolsterDemocrats’ Bid for an Expansion

By BEN CASSELMAN and JEANNA SMIALEK

Sources: Census Bureau;Columbia University THE NEW YORK TIMES

0

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Official poverty rate

Poverty rate accounting forgovernment aid programs*

*Includes noncash andafter-tax government aid.

Continued on Page A13

“Sun & Sea,” an opera focusing on theclimate crisis, arrives in Brooklyn —along with 21 tons of sand. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Bringing the Beach InsideNorm Macdonald, 61, the show’s “Week-end Update” anchor from 1994 to 1998,was patient with a punchline. “He wasan original,” Lorne Michaels said.

OBITUARIES B14

Droll Comedian on ‘S.N.L.’

Cedric the Entertainer, star of “TheNeighborhood,” discusses his plans forhosting the awards show. PAGE C1

At the Helm of the Emmys The Inspiration4 mission, set to launchfour people into a three-day orbit onWednesday, shows the promise, andlimits, of private spaceflight. PAGE A16

‘Very Ordinary’ Astronauts

Mayor Bill de Blasio is facing growingcalls to address violence, chaos andunsanitary conditions at New YorkCity’s sprawling jail complex. PAGE A17

Rikers Crisis Tests the Mayor

Democrats introduced a plan for theUnited States to join the world in over-hauling the global tax system. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-10

Targeting Corporate Havens

Ahead of regional elections, activists inRussia are bringing domestic violenceissues to the forefront. PAGE A4

Taking a Stand Against Abuse

The acting prime minister has beenprohibited from leaving the countryuntil he answers questions about thepresident’s assassination. PAGE A9

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Twist in Haiti Investigation

Thomas L. Friedman PAGE A19

OPINION A18-19

For more than seven years, Eric Asi-mov has examined the fruit of the vinefrom all sides. Now he’s recapping a few of his key findings. PAGE D4

FOOD D1-8

Lessons From Wine School

Sheriff Tiraspol, a club from Moldova(sort of), is in the Champions League.This could be a worrying sign. PAGE B11

SPORTS B11-13

Rich Team, Poor Country

The top U.S. general called to reassureChinese officials worried that the ex-president might order an attack to stayin power, a new book says. PAGE A16

NATIONAL A10-17, 20

Fear of an Erratic Trump

KENOSHA, Wis. — In Augustlast year in Kenosha, on the sec-ond night of protests after the po-lice shooting of Jacob Blake, Sher-iff David G. Beth had his eyestrained on the city’s downtown.

Protests were raging in front ofthe city’s limestone courthouseand steps from the county jail,

where the sheriff worried aboutprotecting hundreds of inmates.Bistros and jewelry shops alongthe lakefront downtown had beenboarded up with plywood, as ifbraced for destruction. Demon-strators were lobbing projectilesat police officers, who fired backwith canisters of tear gas.

Then Sheriff Beth learned thatthe unrest was shifting to another

pocket of the city, a mile awayfrom the chaos downtown. Up-town, an economically depressedneighborhood where many Blackand Latino families lived, was

burning.The neighborhood was woefully

unprotected. Uptown had a small,pedestrian-friendly business dis-trict with a mattress store, a Mexi-can restaurant and a camera re-pair shop. It was surrounded byworn century-old houses, some di-vided into apartments.

Soon its main commercial corri-

Kenosha Community, Scarred by Unrest, Still Waits to RebuildBy JULIE BOSMAN For Some, Protests Led

to Little Change

Continued on Page A11

Senate Democrats united onTuesday around a pared-downvoting rights bill, escalating theirefforts to build a case for ag-gressive action by Congress topush past Republican oppositionand counter a rash of new G.O.P.-written ballot restrictions instates around the country.

The measure, the product ofpainstaking negotiations to bringprogressives and moderates to-gether on legislation that Demo-crats regard as crucial to preserv-ing voting access and their ownpolitical competitiveness, facessteep odds in the Senate. Thechanges are highly unlikely topersuade Republicans to droptheir opposition to legislation theyhave argued is an egregious over-reach and a threat to their party.

But it represents a bid by lead-ing Democrats to demonstrate toholdouts within their ranks thatRepublicans will never accept anymeasure to protect ballot access,and that the party’s only option fordoing so is to weaken the filibusterso that a new law can be rammedthrough without Republicans.

“Republicans formed a wall oftotal opposition against anyprogress on voting rights in theUnited States Senate,” said Sena-tor Chuck Schumer, the New YorkDemocrat and majority leader,who began the process on Tues-

For Democrats,A United PushOn Vote Rights

By CARL HULSE

Continued on Page A14

The Myanmar soldiers attackedthe village of Yay Shin, deep in thefurrows of the Himalayan foot-hills, just after dusk, descendingwith flamethrowers and heavyweaponry.

Clutching aging AK-47s smug-gled from India and Thailand,members of a self-proclaimedPeople’s Defense Force returnedfire so the rest of the villagerscould scramble into the hills, sev-eral residents said by phone.

Eight bodies of villagers werelater found, along with those ofeight soldiers who were killed inbattle. By the time the 77th and99th Battalions left Yay Shin thismonth, little of the village in north-western Myanmar remained, justsmoldering ruins of a hamlet thathad dared to take up arms againstthe military’s February coup.

Seven months after oustingMyanmar’s elected government,the country’s fearsome army,known as the Tatmadaw, is ramp-ing up attacks on a largely impro-vised armed resistance, and onthe villages where its memberslive. It is a pattern of slaughterthat the Tatmadaw has inflictedfor decades on various ethnic mi-norities, such as the Rohingya,whose forcible expulsion from thecountry the United States consid-ers to be ethnic cleansing.

Now, the Myanmar army is tar-

Fighting BackFrom Jungles

Of MyanmarBy HANNAH BEECH

Continued on Page A9

SARA KRULWICH/THE NEW YORK TIMES

A dress rehearsal of the musical “Six.” Lights went back on for many Broadway shows on Tuesday.Something to Sing About

SACRAMENTO — As Californi-ans went to the polls on Tuesday todetermine whether Gov. GavinNewsom would be removed fromoffice, the recall election had al-ready spawned another cam-paign: to recall the recall.

In a state famous for its acts ofdirect democracy, whether ban-ning affirmative action or legaliz-ing cannabis, detractors of thisyear’s special election say the re-call process is democracy gone offthe rails, a distraction from crisesthat require the government’s at-tention, and a waste of hundredsof millions of dollars.

California’s forests are on fire,with the smoke sending thou-sands of residents fleeing. Townsare running out of water from se-vere drought. And some rural hos-pitals are packed with coronavi-rus patients.

Many voters who went to thepolls on Tuesday said the electionwas an unwelcome distractionthat preoccupied Mr. Newsomand, some critics said, might haveprevented him from taking ontough decisions.

“This recall is so dumb,” saidFrankie Santos, a 43-year-old art-ist who voted in Hollywood onTuesday. “It’s so not a good use ofresources.” She said that if shecould have scrawled “absolutelyno” to recalling Mr. Newsom with-out invalidating her ballot, shewould have.

Anthony Rendon, the speakerof the State Assembly, and otherlegislative leaders have alreadysaid discussions were underwayto place a constitutional amend-ment regarding recalls before vot-ers in 2022.

“This is a system that was put inplace 100 years ago,” said Mr. Ren-

Across California on Tuesday, including at the Huntington Beach Central Library, voters decided the fate of Gov. Gavin Newsom.ALLISON ZAUCHA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

In California,ReconsideringRecall Process

This article is by Thomas Fuller,Maggie Astor and Conor Dougherty.

Continued on Page A15

Seven years ago, New Yorkersvoted decisively to empower anew bipartisan commission to dowhat self-interested politicianscould not: draw new congres-sional district lines that were notgerrymandered to favor a particu-lar party.

But as the panel prepares to un-veil its proposed maps for the firsttime on Wednesday, Democraticlawmakers in New York andWashington are already layingthe groundwork to cast themaside — plotting to use their su-permajorities in Albany to drawnew district boundaries for thenext decade that might eliminateas many as five Republican-heldseats.

The end result could drive oneof the most consequential shifts inpower in the country this redis-tricting cycle, the first since NewYork voters approved a 2014 ballotmeasure to curb gerrymandering.

Under the most aggressive sce-narios, Democrats could emergefrom 2022’s midterm electionswith control of as many as 23 ofNew York’s 26 House seats in anall-out effort to prop up theirchances of retaining control ofCongress. For the first redistrict-ing cycle in decades, Democrats

control the Legislature and gover-nor’s office, giving them the free-dom to reshape districts withouthaving to compromise with Re-publicans, who had long held alock on the State Senate.

“New York might be the biggestredistricting weapon for eitherparty in the country,” said DaveWasserman, a national electionsanalyst with the Cook Political Re-port.

Wielding it will almost certainlyraise howls of protest from Repub-licans and expose Democrats tolegal challenges and politicalcharges that they are hypocriti-cally turning their backs on theparty’s promise to end gerryman-dering, the practice that allowspoliticians to draw legislativelines in their party’s favor.

Democrats Eye Tilting New York’s Political MapBy NICHOLAS FANDOSand GRACE ASHFORD

G.O.P. Could Lose Upto 5 House Seats in

Redistricting

Continued on Page A12

Late Edition

VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 59,182 © 2021 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Today, partly sunny, humid, high 86.Tonight, mostly cloudy, thunder-storms, low 70. Tomorrow, cloudy,showers, thunderstorms, high 78.Weather map appears on Page B10.

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