[Faith & Hunger] Raise the welfare grant - do you want post cards for Spitzer?

[Dunleamark at aol.com]

Hi. 
 
Hunger Action Network has printed up post cards to be sent to Governor  
Spitzer urging him to raise welfare benefits in the upcoming state budget. If  you 
would like 100 or more, please let us know and provide your mailing address.  
We are trying to have them sent to the Governor before he releases his budget 
on  Jan. 20th.
 
Donations to help with mailing them to you are appreciated but not  necessary.
 
The Governor last week told a reporter that the welfare grant was still  
being considered and that he wanted to see if there was the political will to do  
it. He did mention that Assembly Speaker Silver had raised it with him. Dennis 
 Whalen, the Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Health and Human Services, 
did  tell me this week that there were various options being considered with 
respect  to the welfare grant.
 
The Assembly has indicated that they will propose a welfare grant if the  
Governor does not, but for a major hike to succeed, it really needs to be the  
Governor's budget proposal.
 
Thanks
 
Mark Dunlea
Hunger Action Network
518 434-7371 xt 1#
 
 
Welfare Grant, Single Payer Health Care and  Tax Reform to Highlight People’s 
State of the State Rally at Capitol on Tuesday  January 8, 2008 
The Hunger Action Network of New York State  will hold the annual People’s 
State of the State Rally at the State Capitol in  Albany on Tuesday, January 8 
at noon. 
The group is pushing for Governor Spitzer to  propose the first increase in 
the welfare basic grant since 1990.  The welfare benefit package has fallen  to 
less than 50% of the federal poverty level, with the basic grant coming to  
only $291 a month for a family of 3. 
It is also calling upon state lawmakers to  enact a single payer universal 
health care system, saying it would do the best  job of cutting health costs 
while providing quality health care to all New  Yorkers. 
Hunger Action said that Spitzer should raise  taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to 
help deal with the state’s projected budget  deficit. 
“The Governor’s agenda to help low-income  New Yorkers must not overlook the 
poorest amongst us – the over half a million  adults and children receiving 
public assistance in our state.  They too are the working poor, working  either 
at wages too low to allow them to leave welfare or working at various job  
assignments.  One of the most direct  ways that the Governor can reduce extreme 
poverty in New York is by ensuring  that welfare grant levels are not set at 
below poverty level,” stated Bich Ha  Pham, Executive Director of Hunger Action 
 Network. 
“Over the last three decades, lawmakers have  basically transformed the state 
income tax into a flat tax, where moderate  income families pay the same tax 
rate as Donald Trump. It is wrong that the  poorest New Yorkers now pay twice 
as much of their income in state and local  taxes than the wealthiest New 
Yorkers. When the Governor rules out a tax hike,  he means that he will continue 
New York’s regressive tax system that favors  the rich while under-funding 
essential services for low and middle income  families,” noted Mark Dunlea, 
Associate Director of Hunger Action  Network. 
Returning the state tax system to the rates  of thirty years ago, adjusted to 
inflation, would give 95% of New Yorkers a tax  cut while generating an 
estimated $8 billion in  revenue. 
Hunger Action said the Governor should raise  additional revenues by stopping 
the rebating of at least a portion of the Stock  Transfer Tax and expanding 
the bulk purchasing of prescription drugs. The  group also urged the State 
Comptroller to take legal action to reclaim the  potential $1 billion in unclaimed 
deposits from the bottle  bill. 
New York presently collects about $9 billion  from the Stock Transfer Tax but 
then returns it to Wall Street. Even if the  state was to keep a percentage 
of the tax it would provide a disincentive to  speculators, such as the use of 
the computer trading programs, that have  contributed to the regular triple 
figure swings in the Dow Jones  average. 
One way that New York could save money is to  enact a single payer health 
care system that would eliminate the excessive  costs, profits and paperwork 
associated with the present system of private  health insurance.  
“The state Health Department keeps on  pushing only incremental reforms in 
moving towards universal health care. This  approach invariably ends up costing 
more money while leaving millions of New  Yorkers without adequate health 
care. NY has followed the incremental path since  the failure of the Clinton plan 
in 1993, adding programs like Family Health  Plus and Child Health Plus. We 
devote more than half of the state budget to  health care while still having as 
many as 40% of New Yorkers with no or poor  health insurance,” added Dunlea. 
While it is estimated that 2.7 million New  Yorkers don’t have health 
insurance, that number almost doubles if one counts  the uninsured over a 12 month 
period. In addition, millions of New Yorkers have  inadequate insurance. For 
instance, a majority of New Yorkers who file for  bankruptcy do so due to high 
health care bills, even though most of them  actually had health insurance. 
Hunger Action urged the Governor to reject a  mandate that individuals have 
to buy health insurance like they have to buy auto  insurance. Such mandates 
fall far short of universal coverage, and stick many  moderate income families 
with expenses they can’t afford while providing them  with inadequate health 
care. 
A recent study of a single payer health care  system for the State of 
California estimated annual savings of $38 billion a  year; it is expected that a 
similar system for New York could save in the $15 to  $20 billion range. As much 
as 30 to 35 cents of every health care dollar goes to  pay for the existence 
of private health insurance while adding nothing of value  to the health care 
system.  
The  group said one way the Governor should control health care costs in next 
year’s  budget is by directly confronting the excessive waste and 
administrative  expenses imposed by private health insurance. Last year, the Governor 
tried to  do this indirectly, proposing to cut Medicaid rates for hospitals, 
saying the  public funds were being used to subsidize big discounts to private 
health  insurance companies. However, the hospitals decided instead to oppose the 
cuts  rather than reduce their discounts to the insurance companies. Hunger 
Action  said that Spitzer should take on the insurance companies directly 
through  initiatives such as pre-approval of rate hikes and higher medical loss  
ratios.







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