Anti-Poverty Groups Cite Need for Fairer Budget, Progressive Tax Reform

Applaud Governor’s Proposal to Raise Welfare Grant, Expand Access to Medicaid

Anti-poverty organizations said today that hunger and unemployment have been rising steadily in New York State in recent months, swelling the lines at emergency food programs.

The groups, while praising Gov. Paterson for proposing a welfare grant hike for the first time in eighteen years, said that lawmakers need to invest more in strengthening the state’s safety net and economic infrastructure. The groups urged the Governor not to cut the state supplement for the SSI benefit that helps the blind, disabled and elderly poor. The groups also urged quick Congressional action on a comprehensive economic stimulus package that includes financial assistance for the state as well as higher food stamp benefits and extended unemployment insurance.



Many of the groups called for both Congressional and state action to cut health care costs by eliminating the costly and wasteful role of our present system of for profit private health insurance.



“Let’s remember that much of our present financial crisis is due to the greed and misdeeds of Wall Street and the financial community. People are losing their homes, their jobs and their life savings and so far the government has focused on bailing out those who created the problem rather than the victims. We need New York State lawmakers to stand up for Main Street rather than protecting Wall Street,” stated Mark Dunlea, Executive Director of Hunger Action Network. Hunger Action supports having the state keep at least of a portion of the $9 billion it rebates annually from the stock transfer tax to help reduce speculation on Wall Street.

"I can think of no better way to begin shoring up the State's safety net for its poor than increasing the public assistance grant. We thank the Governor for doing this especially during these difficult fiscal times." said Housing Works President and CEO Charles King. However, King adds "Poor people have waited almost 20 years for this increase and we are hoping that this increase will be triggered at the beginning of this fiscal year.

The Governor is proposing to raise the basic welfare grant of $291 a month (for a family of 3) by 10% a year for the next three years starting Jan. 1, 2010. The groups hope that lawmakers will at least adopt the Senate Democratic proposal of an immediate 25% hike, as well as increasing the earned income disregard to allow welfare participants who work to keep more of their increased earnings.



”Since emergency feeding programs have seen a 35% increase in usage over the last year, it is encouraging that Gov. Paterson, in a short 10 month tenure, has boldly put forth a plan that seeks to work toward the NYS constitutional mandate to care for the neediest of New Yorkers. By proposing a $4.4 million increase in funding for food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters, as well an increase to the state's welfare/public assistance grant of 30% over a 3 year period, Gov. Paterson has showed moral leadership in a time of an ill economy that calls for difficult budget choices. We must encourage our legislators to follow the Gov.'s lead by passing a budget that reflects care for the neediest among us,” said Rev. Debra Jameson, Community outreach minister at FOCUS churches in Albany.



Many expressed concerns however about the deep cuts in many human service and educational programs.



“New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness is disappointed that the Governor wants working class New Yorkers to shoulder the burden of this budget deficit. While the Governor calls for "shared sacrifice," his budget seems to allow for mostly "spared sacrifice." Increasing fees and enormous cuts in state spending on education, healthcare, and state services could be mitigated if the Governor had simply chosen to listen to the majority of New Yorkers calling for an income tax increase on the wealthiest 5% of New Yorkers. Over 100 Economists from around the state have urged the Governor to adopt a balanced approach to closing the state deficit. An income tax increase on the wealthiest would be less harmful to the state's economy then massive cuts to state spending. We need to keep as much money in the local economy as possible in order to effectively get out of this recession and close the budget gap,” said Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness.



Hunger Action has been pushing for an overhaul of the state’s welfare to work programs, which the federal government has consistently ranked as one of the worst in the country in helping move participants into employment.



“It is time for the state to acknowledge that its Jobs First approach, with a heavy reliance on workfare, has been a failure. Especially with so many of the adults remaining on welfare having multiple barriers to employment, we need to focus more on creating real job experiences such as transitional jobs and wage subsidy programs, combined with job training and education. And if New York is going to continue to be one of the few states that employs the costly approach of county administration of social service programs, the state has to get tougher in improving local performance and ensuring that clients’ rights are protected, ” added Dunlea.



The groups want to restore funding to the HIV Welfare-to-Work funding that the Governor is proposing to cut. HIV Welfare-to-Work ranks high on OTDA's list of "Mission Driven Programs" - providing living wage jobs with comprehensive benefits to scores of graduates yearly, which in effect takes them voluntarily off the welfare rolls. The small appropriation of $1.2 million (or less) realizes significant savings compared to the amounts of benefits paid. The groups also want to expand the Career Pathways program started last year by the State Assembly to strengthen education and training assistance to low-income individuals as they become employed.



The groups want a hike in the state minimum wage to $10 an hour, and a hike in, and extension of, unemployment benefits. They support a Green Jobs / Green Homes initiative to weatherize and energy retrofit up to one million homes, creating up to 30,000 new jobs while reducing energy bills and greenhouse gases. The program would be funded through savings on utility bills. The groups want the state to create up to 8,000 transitional jobs for hard to employ individuals, including welfare participants.



The groups are disappointed that Governor Paterson has not yet reduced the time frame for issuance of expedited food stamps in emergencies from five day to the next business day after application, something which would not cost the state any more and was done during the Cuomo administration. The groups are also disappointed that the administration has allowed NYC to continue to require fingerprinting for food stamp applicants while discontinuing it in the rest of state for working households due to the lack of any evidence of fraud.



Dr. Andy Coates of the Capital District Chapter of the Physicians for a National Health Program explained the value of a single payer universal health care system, an expanded Medicare for All.



"New York, like the rest of the world, faces a great economic crisis. Private health insurance is a drag on our economy, wasting hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Single-payer health reform would bring a massive economic stimulus, creating healthcare jobs, allowing people to change jobs and plan retirement more freely, liberating money that now goes to out-of-pocket health expenses. Single payer has the weight of evidence and the momentum of public opinion. We should all support HR 676, the single payer bill in Congress."

“Eliminating for profit health insurance through a one program pays all bills approach could save $350 billion a year nationally, or $25 billion for New York. Paying for health care shouldn’t be a financial gamble for taxpayers, employers or consumers. With HR 676, Congress could ensure that quality health care is the birth right of every American, while freeing up huge sums of money to help stimulate our economy. Our governments’ fiscal woes makes it more important than ever that our political leaders take action now,” noted Coates.



Doctors, nurses and consumers have joined together to urge President-elect Obama to stand up to the special interests and enact a single payer health care system nationally. In NY, the state expects to shortly complete a study on how the state could best provide health care for all residents. If Congress fails to enact a single payer universal health care system, advocates want New York to enact its own system.



Medicaid Matters New York (MMNY), a coalition of over 130 groups representing those most affected by Medicaid discussions – Medicaid consumers – applauded the Governor's continued commitment to improving health care for all New Yorkers, including expansion of Family Health Plus and elimination of some of the barriers to getting and keeping coverage, particularly in tough economic times.



“While we are concerned about how some of the cuts will affect actual consumers, we are pleased that the Governor has continued the 'patient first' agenda that has been moving New York toward a more efficient health care system. In order for our public dollars to pay for actual care and services that are vitally important to low-income New Yorkers, we need a system that spends Medicaid funding wisely and efficiently," said Lara Kassel,

Advocacy Coordinator of MMNY.



Justin Cunningham, Executive Director of StateWide Senior Action, spoke out against the “cuts to home health care, elimination of 6,000 nursing home beds, reduced Supplemental Security Income payments, and changes that weaken the EPIC (Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage) Program. While these proposed actions seem alarming when discussed by the policymakers and state officials, when examined on the level of the individual senior and for caregivers they are simply unacceptable. The SSI state supplement has not been increased for 20 years, yet the governor is proposing to cut it over 25% for individuals and couples living alone in the community and 45-70% for those living with others.”



“Governor Paterson won’t discuss enacting a temporary millionaires’ tax, but he plans to cut SSI and essentially make up part of the budget deficit by taking from the poorest elderly and persons with disabilities in the state. This is simply unacceptable. Let us not forget the wisdom of our parents and grandparents- the seniors we must care for now and in the coming years who ask Governor Paterson not to be “pennywise and pound foolish,” Mr. Cunningham observed.



“The governor says that he fears that wealthy New Yorkers will leave the state if we increase income taxes on the rich. We believe what will drive people out of NYS are bad schools, deteriorating hospitals, and dirty streets. This budget will cause a reduction in the quality of life for many working families in NYS that could be avoided by asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share of taxes,” added Mr. Deutsch



New York's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in November from 5.7 percent in October as private-sector employers cut 23,500 jobs. The state Labor Department said Thursday that was the largest decline in private-sector jobs in seven years and the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate since April 2004.



In Nov. 2008, USDA reported that 691,000 children went hungry in America sometime in 2007, while close to one in eight Americans struggled to feed themselves adequately even before this year's sharp economic downturn. USDA said that the number of children who suffered a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat was more than 50 percent above the 430,000 in 2006 and the largest figure since 716,000 in 1998. A November 11th story in the NY Times reported that in the four months since June, demand for food aid has risen 20 percent in areas of the country with the healthiest economies and more than 40 percent in areas with the weakest.

The demand for emergency food is up significantly in the Capital District. The FOCUS breakfast program at the Westminster Presbyterian Church saw an increase during their first week from 65 people fed daily in 2007 to 140 in 2008. In October, the number of households using their food pantry program increased from 250 to 280. A Nov. 17 story in the Albany Times Union reported that in September, 60 percent more residents sought food at the Saratoga EOC Food Pantry than last September. Over that period, pantry visits were up 50 percent in Bethlehem and Rensselaer, 39 percent in Cohoes and 32 percent in the Albany hill towns of Knox and Berne. The New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s (NYCCAH) Annual Hunger Survey found that emergency food providers served 28% more people in 2008 than they had in the previous year. In the 2007 The state’s largest soup kitchen, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in NYC, the largest in the state, served an average of 1254 meals on weekdays in 2008. Last year they served an average of 1163 meals each weekday, the highest number in their 26 year history.