Politics on the Hudson

Here’s a statement from the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies over the cuts in human services that the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to vote on today, particularly because more people are reaching out for services due to the poor economy. The state has a $9.2 billion budget gap, and Gov. David Paterson has said everyone needs to share in the pain of cuts.

“The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) is appalled that in the midst of this Great Recession our state has slashed a broad array of needed services for our most vulnerable residents.  With 817,600 officially unemployed New Yorkers and many more that are not counted, the need for services is severe.  These programs help veterans, hungry clients of soup kitchens and food pantries, children, the elderly, the disabled and other impoverished children and families,” said Fatima Goldman, executive director and CEO.

“Though we understand the fiscal challenges faced by the state, we also recognize the economic challenges faced by New Yorkers who have lost their jobs, exhausted their unemployment benefits, are at the verge of losing their homes, and have to turn to essential services to feed their families, clothe their children, and pay for heat, medicine and other essentials,” she said.

“During the Great Depression, we responded by creating public works jobs for the unemployed. In the midst of today’s Great Recession, our state has responded by cutting millions of dollars for jobs programs such as the Green Jobs Corps, Career Pathways, Health Care jobs and the Summer Youth Employment program.  These budget decisions are not only harmful, they take New York off the path of economic recovery,” said Bich Ha Pham, director of policy advocacy and research.

“Despite all of the severe cuts, we are glad to see that the second phase of the increase in the public assistance grant, which had not been increased in 19 years, was not abandoned.  Adult welfare recipients work in paid jobs or work activities. These individuals sweep our parks, clean our city buildings, and otherwise work at jobs that do not pay enough for them to get off of welfare.  We should support their efforts by making sure that they and their families have a little more to make ends meet in these difficult times,” said Liz Accles, senior policy analyst for income security.