Hunger Action Network of New York State

Hunger Alert

June 2002

in this edition:

phone calls needed to Senate on TANF Reauthorization
Annual membership meeting Sept. 23
Basic Education, Minimum Wage hike not Approved Yet
HANNYS releases education report
Community works seeks local contacts
NYS Finally releases Leavers' Study

TANF Reauthorization is hitting the Senate this week!

The Senate Finance Committee will markup a TANF reauthorization bill this week, most likely on Wednesday, June 26. The bill under consideration will be offered by Max Baucus (D-MT), most likely as a consensus bill. The bill is quite dreadful, and is similar to the tripartisan bill. It will include marriage promotion, very limited education options ("community college leading to job certification" is about as liberal as it gets, and for only a limited time), etc, ...and maternity homes for unwed teenagers! The bill will keep the current 30 hour requirement but accept Bush's 70% participation rate and "universal engagement" rule. In addition, it will require that 24 hours go to "priority work" activities, which raises the bar over current policy.

So, given that the Finance bill is close enough to the tripartisan proposal, and given that the tripartisans are generously represented on Finance, the bill probably will sail through committee with minimal controversy. The only amendment plan we've heard of is Sen. Snowe's Parents-as-Scholars amendment (which imposes a very restrictive *ten percent caseload cap* on post-secondary participation). The question is whether in the full Senate will the Finance bill proceed as "the Democratic" bill, or whether there will be a contest from the liberal wing of the Dems, which developed a set of proposals now widely circulated as the "HELP letter" (referring to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sen. Kennedy).

PLEASE CALL and FAX SENATORS ASAP!! --the URL for senators is: http://www.senate.gov./senators/index.cfm; the capitol switchboard will connect you with any Senate office — 202-224-3121. (note: email is the least effective option. Phone calls and faxes are better.)

Call Sen. Schumer and Clinton: thank them for signing onto the HELP Committee letter and urge them to hold firm on those progressive principles. If you have contacts in Connecticut, please send them this alert and ask them to call Sen. Lieberman (D-CT). Ask him to sign onto the HELP Committee letter.

At a minimum, a Democratic Senate bill must: not raise the 30-hour requirement; not raise the states' work participation requirement; include education at all levels to count as a work activity, without stipulation as to course of study; stop the clock for TANF participants who are working; count caregiving for children under age six as a work activity; exempt individuals dealing with barriers to employment from employment-related work activities; *not* include marriage promotion and sexuality/sex provisions that single out poor people for interference in intimate matters and restrict their reproductive rights; and, adopt poverty reduction as a goal for the TANF program

If you have contacts in the NE states, please send them this alert and ask them to call their Senators: * Sen. Lieberman (D-CT), (202) 224-4041 * Sen. Torricelli (D-NJ), (202) 224-3224 * Sen. Snowe (R-ME) (202) 224-5344 * Sen. Chafee (R-RI), (202) 224-2921 * Sen. Collins (R-ME), (202) 224-2523

Hunger Action Network's Annual Membership Meeting will be on Monday, September 23 in Albany

HANNYS is celebrating our 20th anniversary this year and our Annual Membership meeting promises to be an exciting time for our members and friends to celebrate our hard work and successes over the years. We also work on the issue of the existence, and indeed even increase, in hunger in New York State and challenge ourselves to work to end hunger now! Please save the date on your calendars. You can also call our offices to register early for the event. The all-day meeting will include a keynote speaker, breakfast and lunch, and workshops.

Governor is blocking action on a minimum wage. Agreement near on basic education.

Gov. Pataki continues to oppose an increase in the state minimum wage (A5132B / S4749). The Senate Republicans have agreed to raise the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour but dropped the Assembly proposal to index it to inflation. The Governor initially proposed creating a subminimum wage for young workers, then try to limit the bill to employers of less than 100, then 50 workers. Even the latter limit would exclude 95% of companies and 45% of employees. Calls are needed to Sen. Bruno (518 455-3191) and Governor Pataki (518) 474-8390.

Sen. Meier (R-Utica) has agreed to expand access to basic education (GED, ESL). Welfare participants would be informed of programs in their community at their time of assessment and would be allowed up to 16 hours of basic education programs a week to count toward their work requirement (higher at county discretion). The bill has passed the Senate but not yet the Assembly (A7933b), though action is expected shortly..

Calls to Pataki needed on the College Internship Bill

The work-study and internship bill (A.10215/S.6391) to continue to count internship as work has passed both houses of the State Legislature and been sent to the Governor's office. Please call Governor Pataki at 518-474-8390 and urge him to sign the bill into law. This bill extends the current work-study and internship law for two more years. The current law counts the hours students spend in work-study and internship programs toward the welfare work requirements and prevents interference with other education and training activities, and expires June 30, 2002.

HANNYS Releases Report on "Lack of Skills and Education in the Empire State"

Hunger Action has produced a new report documenting educational barriers faced by welfare participants in NYS. The reports provides dates on the education level of TANF recipients; for instance, 48% of TANF recipients in NY lack a high school education. The report documents the relationship between education, earnings and employment. Despite the low educational levels, less than ten percent of TANF recipients, including 6%in NYC, are in vocational or educational programs. Enrollment of welfare participants in Adult Literacy programs have dropped from 14,369 students in 1995 to 3,331 students in 2000. Based statewide and national data, the report also surveyed DSS officials in a dozen NY counties. The report also includes information on the Workforce Investment Act. A copy of the report can be downloaded here.

Looking for Help with Work Place Giving Programs

Hunger Action Network belongs to Community Works a cooperative fundraising effort of approximately 20 non-profits, which participate in workplace giving campaigns. Many member organizations are statewide while a few maintain a local presence in the capital district area. We are beginning an ambitious goal of increasing greatly our presence in private sector campaigns. If certain conditions are met many large corporations such as IBM (Armonk), Kodak (Rochester), Verizon, AT&T, AOL (NYC) etc. will allow Community Works to be listed within their corporate giving campaigns. The potential minimum benefit to Hunger Action Network in a given year could mean an additional $15,000.00 in funds.

We are asking you or someone you know who has close relationships within any major corporation please tell them about Hunger Action and forward their name, company and telephone number to Brett in the Albany office 518-434-7371 and let them know we will be calling. Lastly, if you work at a public or private organization, which has giving campaigns, and Community Works is not listed please let us know.

Welfare Leaver Survey Finally Released

The State has finally released their survey of former welfare participants on the Friday afternoon after the legislative session was supposed to end. You can download a copy at www.rockinst.org

The survey excluded anyone who returned to welfare within two months of their cases closed. Also, while they state that the survey sample was 1409 cases, only 750 individuals (53.2%) were interviewed. The response rate was lowest (43.1%) among NYC residents. The high number of nonparticipants in the survey certainly raises questions about the liability of the data, since those who are worse off economically (lack of shelter, phone, etc) are the ones most likely to be excluded.

Less than two-thirds (63%) of the respondents were currently working. For those with a job, the mean monthly wage was $1,348. Less than half of all respondents (48.2%) reported incomes above the poverty level, though the authors believe that income from EITC was underreported. Knowledge of transitional benefits for welfare participants was low. Less than half (47.9%) felt they were much better off than when they were on TANF; another 23.4% felt they were somewhat better off. 13.4% felt they were worse off.

About 64.2% of the respondents have a high school diploma or GED, while a third (35.6%) had taken some college courses. About 60% said they left welfare for a job; about 20% said they had been sanctioned or had other problems with program regulations. Households with more children were more likely to have negative perceptions. About one third of the leavers (32.9%) met the USDA definition of food insecurity. Many respondents also reported problems with paying housing and utility bills. 23% had used some form of emergency assistance (EFP, shelter, church) in the last year.

Summer Food Service Program-
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a great resource for lower-income New York families! It provides free nutritious meals and snacks to children up to the age of 18 during the summer. Unfortunately, however, the number of children who participate in the Summer Food Program drops dramatically when compared to those who utilize School Breakfast and Lunch Programs. In fact, while 14 million income eligible children benefit from sorely needed School Meals Programs, only 2 million children participate in the Summer Food Service Program. To increase participation, please tell the children and families in your community about this invaluable program. Hunger Action is available to assist you in informing your community and locating SFSP sites/sponsors in your area.

Farmers’ Markets-
Farmers’ markets are a sensible source of wholesome food for lower-income New Yorkers because they offer fresh food at a reasonable price. Furthermore, as part of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), assistance checks worth up to $20 to $24 are available to WIC recipients and income eligible senior citizens. These checks can be used to buy up to $20 to $24 worth of food at farmers’ markets. Please inform the people in your community about farmers markets and the FMNP. Both lower-income New Yorkers and small farmers will benefit greatly. For more information about farmers’ markets in your area and the FMNP, contact Hunger Action or go to www.agmkt.state.ny.us.