Politics on the Hudson

   With the Census Bureau slated to release new poverty tomorrow, activists are revving up their activities to try to get Gov. Paterson and the Legislature to raise the basic welfare grant – something they haven’t done since 1990.

Hunger Action Network of New York is planning a rally and press conference tomorrow in Harlem to point out that the grant, $291 for a family of three, is now only half the federal poverty line.

The group also wants the minimum wage raised to $10 an hour, universal health care, higher taxes on the wealthy and more state help to pay heating bills.

Administration officials have pointed out that while the welfare grant hasn’t gone up, help for the working poor, including tax credits, have increased.