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Bush’s
Welfare Plan Places Undue Financial Stress on States &
Ignores Poverty
Senators Clinton & Schumer need to speak out!
The welfare proposal
announced by President Bush on January 14, 2003 is wholly
inadequate in dealing with poverty, especially given the weak
economy and the states’ current fiscal crises.
President
Bush’s proposal mirrors the House of Rpresentatives’
welfare bill passed last year, and would require states to
have 70 percent of people receiving welfare working 40 hours
a week (six hours more than the national average for all women
with young children). Bush based his plan on the notion that
welfare reform to date has been an unmitigated success, without
addressing federal government data showing that many who have
left welfare remain mired in poverty. The plan provides little
access to education and job training, which are proven routes
out of poverty. With unemployment approaching record highs,
this proposal will force mothers into workfare and low-wage
dead-end jobs, if jobs can be found at all.
Compounding the
problem, the Administration’s welfare plan freezes funding
for welfare programs and child care. Right now in New York
State, only 18.6% of all eligible children receive child care
assistance. With the New York State budget gap at $2.5 billion
this current fiscal year and at least $10 billion the next
fiscal year, services are likely to be reduced and poor children
and families will be placed at risk.
WHAT
CAN YOU DO?
Put Pressure On Our New York Senators
Call,
Fax & Email Senator Hillary Clinton
Tel: 202.224.4451 Fax: 202.228.0282 Email: catherine_brown@clinton.senate.gov
Call, Fax & Email Senator Charles Schumer
Tel: 202.224.6542 Fax: 202.228.3027 Email: christine_parker@schumer.senate.gov
Message:
"I am calling on Senator Schumer/Clinton to ensure
that any TANF bill includes:
- No increases to the current 30 hour a week work requirement;
- Education and job training must count as work;
- Increased child care funding to $11.25 billion per year;
and
- Expansion and enhancement of child care protections to ensure
that no mother is forced to leave her child without quality
care."
January
21, 2003
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