[Faith & Hunger] FHN. welfare mentioned at end of larger Gannet Story

[Dunleamark at aol.com]

The Faith and Hunger Network, a coalition of religious groups and  
anti-poverty advocates, called on lawmakers Monday to raise New York's welfare  
benefits, which have been stagnant since 1990. 

The hunger groups want the nonshelter portion of welfare benefits —  that is, 
money used for toiletries, clothing, transportation and other amenities  — 
raised to reflect inflation over the last 16 years. This would cost $500  
million annually, with the state footing about a quarter of the bill. 

Spokesman Mark Dunlea said that this money could be culled from several  
sources, including the $160 million the state could reap from bottle deposits if  
the Legislature passes a new bottle bill in 2007. 


Institute urges  N.Y. policy change


Dan Wiessner
Albany bureau  



(November 21, 2006) — ALBANY — Uneven growth and a shrinking  middle class 
are New York's biggest economic challenges and can only be resolved  by 
re-evaluating the state's fiscal and educational policies, according to one  economic 
think-tank. 

In a report released Monday, the Fiscal Policy Institute, a  
labor-union-backed organization, called on lawmakers and Gov.-elect Eliot  Spitzer to create a 
"coherent economic agenda" that changes the way New York  approaches economic 
development. 

The report calls for the state government to subsidize only businesses  that 
meet certain minimum standards of employee pay and  benefits.

Additionally, funds should go towards groups of businesses or  an entire 
region, not just a few large firms. Further, the state should  significantly alter 
the STAR (School Tax Reduction) program to reduce benefits  in wealthy school 
districts, the group said. 
The goal is to cut abuse and  create jobs that allow workers to enhance their 
quality of life, according to  Trudi Renwick, senior economist at the 
institute. 

"They need to look at how we're spending economic development money,"  
Renwick said. "I don't think we need to spend more money, we just need to be  smart 
about the way we spend it. It's not good enough to create a job, it has to  be 
a good job. ... It has to have benefits and give people paths to get into the 
 middle class." 

Rebuilding the middle class —which the institute's report claims is  
declining — would require not only new jobs but better education and a lower  cost of 
living. 

Calling education "the key to the ability of the next generation of New  
Yorkers to enter the middle class," the report asks state leaders to close the  
gap between schools in rich and poor districts, a disparity that is among the  
largest in the country. 

The institute wants to alter the STAR program, which provides school  tax 
relief to homeowners, by making it reflect the relationship between a  taxpayer's 
income and their property tax bill instead of basing it on county  averages. 

The Fiscal Policy Institute is not the only group aiming to influence  the 
new governor and the 2007 legislative session.

The Faith and Hunger  Network, a coalition of religious groups and 
anti-poverty advocates, called on  lawmakers Monday to raise New York's welfare 
benefits, which have been stagnant  since 1990. 
The hunger groups want the nonshelter portion of welfare  benefits — that is, 
money used for toiletries, clothing, transportation and  other amenities — 
raised to reflect inflation over the last 16 years. This would  cost $500 
million annually, with the state footing about a quarter of the bill.  
Spokesman Mark Dunlea said that this money could be culled from several  
sources, including the $160 million the state could reap from bottle deposits if  
the Legislature passes a new bottle bill in 2007. 
Spitzer proposed an  economic agenda during his campaign that mirrors some of 
the policies that the  institute is pushing.