Advocates are seeking legislative action to expand access for welfare participants to participate in education and training programs, including college, GED, English as Second Language, literacy and vocational training. They announced support for two bills that have been introduced by Assembly Social Services Committee chairperson Deborah Glick to expand access to basic education and training programs (A7933), and by Assembly Higher Education Committee Chair Ed Sullivan to increase the right of welfare participants to attend college (A7286A).

They also want more of the state's $2.3 billion surplus from the federal TANF (Temporary Assistance from Needy Family) program to be invested in programs to help welfare participants such as child care, job creation, and transportation. The Governor is proposing to use less than 10% of the proposed TANF surplus spending on employment and transitional service initiatives specifically designed to help move people from welfare to work.

"The Governor's proposed use of the TANF Surplus does not acknowledge the increased demand for supportive services for those leaving welfare and eliminates funding for the very programs the Governor claims are responsible for reducing child poverty in New York, stated Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of SENSES. "We need to fund programs and services that assist people in escaping poverty, not simply raid the TANF Surplus to help New York balance it's budget," added Deutsch.

"We need to provide for the economic security of all New Yorkers. All New Yorkers need access to a quality education, affordable housing, and health care. We should invest our TANF surplus in the Empire State Jobs bill to help welfare participants and unemployed individuals who have the greatest barriers to unemployment. We need a significant raise in the minimum wage so that those who work can support their families without using food pantries or shelters," stated Mark Dunlea of the Hunger Action Network of NYS.

"If we are serious about helping people find work that will raise them above the poverty line, there's no mystery about what needs to be done. We have to make sure that there is decent childcare available and accessible to them; we need to make sure that they are able to get back and forth to work; and we have to provide the services - education, training, counseling, support - that will help them stay with the job and advance in it. If we aren't prepared to do those things, then TANF is only about getting people off welfare and not about getting them out of poverty," said Fred Newdom of the National Association of Social Workers.

Expanding access to education and training for welfare participants, including college, is a major priority for ES2. "The only group of welfare participants who regularly find jobs that pay them enough to escape poverty are those who have a college education. We support legislative action to count time spent on education and studying as fulfilling mandated work hours. We need to strengthen the efforts of counties and HRA to identify and address the education and training needs of welfare participants so that they can become more employable," stated Cristina DiMeo of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.

Assemblymember Ed Sullivan spoke out strongly in support of assisting all New Yorkers, including welfare participants, attend college. He also stated his opposition to the Governor's proposal to use $345 million of the federal TANF surplus to pay for the Tuition Assistance Program. "The legislature may end up doing it anyway, but it is wrong. It is wrong both for welfare and for TAP. And if we do pass it, I urge New Yorkers to start calling their legislators the day after the budget passes to make sure that it doesn't happen again." Many advocates are concerned that using the TANF surplus jeapordizes the long-term funding for TAP, since the TANF surplus may not be there next year after federal reauthorization.

The NYS Dept. of Labor reports that 75% of NYC's major employers require at least two years of college for even entry level jobs. Assembly Education Committee Chairperson Ed Sullivan has introduced legislation to allow welfare participants to attend college and to have class and study time count toward meeting their 20 to 35 hours of weekly work requirements.

Assemblymember Deborah Glick spoke in support of her legislation to expand access to basic education, GED and English as Second language programs for welfare participants. "According to the NYS Education Department, over half of adult welfare participants do not have a high school diploma or GED; an estimated 40% read at less than the eighth-grade level (e.g., they can't read well enough to fill out a job application). Studies have consistently documented that earnings and employment increase with education and training." Assemblymember Glick has introduced legislation to strengthen access to basic education for welfare participants.

The ES2 campaign also supports expanded access to health care for all New Yorkers. Two years after the Governor and Legislature raised cigarette taxes to provide health insurance for one million uninsured New Yorkers, recent enrollment figures indicate that only a fraction, about 23,000, of those promised health insurance have actually received coverage. Almost a billion dollars of new cigarette taxes were collected based on the authorization in the Health Care Reform Act of 2000 (HCRA 2000). The program most successful in enrolling the uninsured is the Disaster Relief Medicaid (DRM) program established in New York City in the wake of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. DRM's streamlined application process approved 251,494 cases, covering 378,798 individuals in just 5 months, but DRM stopped accepting applications on January 31st.

"We call upon the Governor and the Legislature to make the simple, one-page Disaster Relief Medicaid application form permanent and statewide," said Joy Gould, Health Care Project Director for Citizen Action of New York. "In addition, the Family Health Plus program must be expanded to cover all adults at the same level as Child Health Plus, New York State's insurance program for children up to age 18."