[Faith & Hunger] Faith Call-in to Gov. Spitzer to Raise welfare benefits - Tues. Nov. 13th

[Dunleamark at aol.com]

Faith Call in on Tues. Nov. 13th  

Urge Governor Spitzer to Raise the Welfare Basic Grant after 17  years

Lawmakers in NY have refused to raise welfare benefits since  1990. Benefits 
have declined in value to less than 50% of the federal poverty  level. By the 
end of next week, the Governor and the Division of Budget will  have made the 
key decisions about next year’s budget, even though the details  won’t be 
made public until January. The only way welfare benefits can be raised  is if the 
Governor includes it in his budget proposals.

The Faith  and Hunger Network has set Tuesday Nov. 13th for a statewide 
phone-in to  Paul Frances (518 474-2300), the Director of the Division of Budget 
(but call  whenever you can)

Message: We need Gov. Spitzer to raise the basic  welfare grant to reflect 
inflation since it was last increased since 1990.  Welfare benefits are way too 
low.

Welfare benefits (Temporary  Assistance for Needy Families and Safety Net) 
have two main components: the  shelter allowance and the basic grant. The basic 
grant is the same for each  county (e.g., $291 a month for a family of 3) and 
has not been raised since  1990. There was a slight raise two years ago in the 
shelter allowance for  children as part of a 20-year-old lawsuit where 5 
times the State’s courts have  ruled that such payments are illegally low; the 
lawsuit continues.
 
--------------------
 
Some additional background information
 
 
Faith Groups Urge Governor  To Raise Welfare Benefits 
Basic Grant has not been  increased since 1990 
Representatives of faith groups gathered at the State Capitol in Albany  
today to urge Governor Spitzer to raise welfare benefits in his 2008-09 state  
budget.  
The grant, which has not been increased by lawmakers  since 1990, has fallen 
to less than 50% of the federal poverty level and is a  significant factor in 
the high rate of poverty in New York, especially among  children and in 
upstate inner cities. An entire generation of children has grown up  since the last 
increase in the basic grant was approved as part of the state  budget 18 years 
ago. 
The basic welfare grant is now $291 a month for a  family of three; the 
shelter allowance varies by county. The groups are asking  for the grant to be 
increased to $475 to reflect inflation of more than 60%  since 1990 and then to 
have a commission examine how to raise the grant to a  reasonable level in the 
future. The federal poverty level for a family of 3 in  2006 is $17,170; for a 
family of 4, it is 20,650. 
The groups presented hundreds of letters signed by faith leaders and  members 
to the Governor asking for an increase. 
“As representatives of faith communities from across New  York State, we are 
deeply concerned about the devastating impact that inadequate  State funding 
for the basic Public Assistance (welfare) grant is having on  families in New 
York.  Today, after  set-asides for landlords and utilities, many families have 
little or no money  left to meet expenses for clothing, food, school supplies 
and other  necessities,” said Arleen Urell, Chair, Reform Jewish  Voice of 
New York State. 
The faith leaders noted that low public assistance payments contribute  to: 
    *   Hunger and homelessness  
    *   Whole families living in unsafe conditions, in  apartments with lead 
in the paint and other dangerous conditions  
    *   Children who regularly come to school too hungry  and ill-clothed to 
learn, resulting in unequal learning opportunities  
    *   Chronic  malnourishment in children and adults, which raises health 
care  costs  
    *   Excessive  reliance on food pantries  
    *   An  increase in criminal activities fueled by desperation
Speakers at the press conference included: Rev. Debra Jameson, Community  
Minister, FOCUS Churches, Albany; Robert Smith, Executive Director, Interfaith  
Impact; Rev. Jim Reisner, Westminster Presbyterian Church; Rev. Robert Linder,  
President, Interdenominational Ministers Conference of Albany and Vicinity; 
Earl  Eichelberger, Director for Human Services, NYS Catholic Conference; and 
Mark  Dunlea, Faith and Hunger Network. 
“New York’s constitution requires that State and local governments  provide 
for the aid and care of the needy (Article XVII).  Yet, the public assistance 
grant has not  been increased since 1990.  The  Catholic Conference recommends 
restoring the grant to its 1975 value, beginning  with increasing the basic 
grant to restore the value lost since 1990, noted Mr.  Eichelberger of the 
state Catholic Conference. “It is important to provide a  level of financial 
assistance that allows families to live with dignity while  they move toward work.  
As welfare  caseloads have been reduced, our Catholic agencies report 
increased demand for  emergency assistance.  Based upon  our experience, the Catholic 
Conference recommends increasing the public  assistance grant and shelter 
allowance so as to provide basic necessities and  increased access to safe, 
decent housing.” 
The Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions speak for the dignity of  people 
in poverty in God’s sight. These traditions insist that it is society’s  
responsibility to address and alleviate such inequities, and we as a state are  
failing. Every week in our congregations we see a terrible loss of hope among  
those who depend on the State for the necessities of life. We see the despair 
of  families pressed to the limits of endurance. Slowly but surely, New York's 
 inadequate support for the poor and the marginalized has developed into a 
social  crisis. Today, the New York State Constitutional mandate to support the 
poor is  no longer being met. 
With many low-income New Yorkers spending two-thirds or more of their  income 
on housing, many welfare participants are forced to use their basic grant  to 
subsidize their illegal shelter allowance payments from welfare. Since 1987,  
the state’s court, including the Court of Appeals, have ruled five times that 
 welfare benefits for housing for children are illegally low, but the case  
continues to bounce around from court to court while a few band aids have been  
applied. (This included some small administrative changes to the shelter  
allowances for children two years ago but that fell far short of resolving the  
litigation.) 
“Raising the welfare grant would not only help poor New Yorkers but would  
put more money back into the local economy. Most of the welfare grant goes  
directly to landlords and energy companies. There are of course many steps that  
our state needs to take to reduce poverty: create more living wage jobs;  
increase affordable housing; strengthen education and training programs; restore  
progressivity to the state and local tax system. But an increase in the welfare 
 basic grant is long overdue,” said Mark Dunlea, Associate Director of the 
Hunger  Action Network of NYS and coordinator of the Faith and Hunger  Network. 
“It is immoral that in the richest nation, New York leads in the growing  gap 
between the poor and rich. Nothing illustrates that gap better than the  
decline in value of welfare benefits to only half of the federal poverty level.  
No industrial democracy fails our children more than the United States,” stated 
 Rev. Debra Jameson, Community Minister of the FOCUS Churches of Albany.  
The value of the welfare grant has now fallen to less than 50% of the  
federal poverty level. The Assembly did include a small initial increase in its  
2007-08 proposed budget; Senate Democrats have introduced legislation calling  
for a 25%. 





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