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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1983)
Portland Observer, April 13, 1983 Page 5 Washington Hot Line by Congressman Hon Wyden Q F in d in g lo p q u a lity — y e t a f f o r d a b le — c h ild care services is a critical issue f o r single parent house holds, as well as those where both parents work. A re there efforts un d erw ay to h elp those lo o k in g f o r child care services? A . Yes, th ere a re — in the C o n gress and in the Portland area. The need for adequate child care services speaks for itself. According to the Department o f Labor. during 1982. 55 percent o f all c h ild re n under age 18 had working mothers. For pre-school ch ild re n , that p er centage totalled 46 percent; for chil dren between 6 and 17. 59 percent. In a ll. some 8.5 m illio n m others were in the labor force in 1982, up from 5.6 million in 1970. In the P o rtla n d area , 4 -C , the only areawide child care referral in formation service, has been working han d-in -hand w ith local child care providers, consumers and em ploy ers over the past 10 years to help provide those services. Yet despite those efforts, all the inform ation ne cessary to figure out who needs ser vices, w here they need th em , and w hat they can a ffo rd to pay fo r them is still not available. Earlier this year, 4-C worked with Portland State University to obtain a $200,000 federal grant to conduct a study assessing how child care a f fects the workplace, as well as what the ch ild care needs are in the Portland area. U n fo rtu n a te ly , h o w ever, the grant alone w ill not be enough. 4-C does not have the final link needed to allow it to properly analyze and use the data it gathers. That missing lin k — as the P o rtla n d C ity C lu b acknowledges in a recently compiled report— is a computer system. Last week I kicked o ff a drive to help 4-C raise the SIS,000-$20.000 it needs to purchase that co m p u ter system. I talked to private sources about raising the m oney— and last week I was able to present 4-C with the first $4 ,000 to w ard that g oal, w hich was d o n ated by tw o local companies. And for once. Congress is not be hind the game. E ffo rts are u nd er way at the federal level to expand this concept. I am the cosponsor o f a b ill, the C hild Care Info rm ation and Refer ral Services Act, which sets up an $8 m illio n fed eral g ran t p ro g ram to fund new or im prove existing child care inform ation and referral clear inghouses. The clearinghouses will work with fam ilies and providers to make the most effic ie n t use o f av ailab le re sources by matching fam ilies' needs w ith p ro viders' supplies. In other words, this bill will extend what 4-C is trying to do in Portland to the na tional level. Because this legislation— and the 4-C project— will help working par ents meet their child care needs, it w ill add up for Oregon and A m e r ica. It w ill help increase productiv ity, because Oregonians will be bet ter able to id e n tify child care ser vices that meet their unique needs. A nd by increasing p ro d u ctivity, it w ill help get O regon and A m erica back on the mend. Q. What is Congress doing to ad dress the energy assistance needs o f low-income citizens? A . Congress needs to com e up with an insurance policy against bad weather and bad times for millions o f needy Oregonians and other A m ericans. T hat's why I joined Congressman Richard Ottinger (D -N .Y .) last week in introducing a b ill to provide $3 bv Rich Lochner b illio n in lo w -in c o m e energy assistance during fiscal year 1984. T he b ill would increase funding fo r the energy p ro g ram by m ore than $1 b illio n over 1983, and by nearly $2 billion over what the Rea gan A d m in is tratio n has requested for 1984. Oregon would receive be tween $35-$4O million o f the money, up fro m $24 m illio n in fiscal year 1983. This is the kind o f program the Adm inistration claims to support— a program that provides the neediest Americans with one o f the basic ne cessities o f life . A nd yet by its ac tions, the A d m in is tra tio n has left millions o f these vulnerable people out in the cold. Statistics compiled by the Health and H um an Services D e partm en t, indicate that only 7 million o f an es tim ated 21 m illio n eligib le house holds are presently receiving assist ance. And when one considers that the poor expend at least 35 percent o f their income directly on energy, it becomes evident that (here are a lot of people out there with little or no way to provide for other necessities. The increased funding level is par tic u la rly im p o rta n t fo r O reg o n , which is one o f only fo u r states to have committed all the available en ergy assistance funding by March I . The state had anticipated the funds w ou ld hold out fo r an a d d itio n a l two months. O regonians have suffered m ore than most under the current, inade quately fu nd ed , energy assistance program. During Fiscal Year 1983, the state was able to pay only $191 per family on average, compared to $200 nationally. Now the state has completely obligated its funds, and I want to make sure we d o n ’ t face a similar situation next year. I think our bill will do the trick. Governor boycotts AFL-CIO by Rich Lochner G overno r V ic to r A tiyeh w ilt not be getting his labor advice from the state A F L - C IO . The governor has just set up a Labor Advisory C o u n c il, w hich includes the b u ild in g trades, the T eam ste rs, and the Longshore Union. A tiy e h refuses to see the state A F L - C IO and m ore lib eral union leaders because o f their strong back ing for his opponent, Ted Kulongos ki, in last November's elections. The governor called his decision " a hu man reaction” at a recent press con ference. A ll recent O reg o n g overn o rs, both Dem ocratic and R epublican, have had an open-door policy, says state A F L -C IO president Irv Fletch er. " E v e n in absolute m onarchies such as Saudi Arabia the king tradi tionally has a m onthly open court, w here people can com e and slate their grievances,” Fletcher points out. " N o w we d o n ’ t even have ac cess to the throne ro o m ." The boycott means the governor lacks the A F L -C IO 's input when he proposes legislation. For example, the g overn o r w ants to set up a W ood Products Marketing Board to promote the export o f finished lum- ber. The A F L - C IO has supported the concept in the past, w hile A ti- ych's business backers have opposed it, Fletcher says. Exporting finished lumber creates many m ore jobs th an b ex p o rtin g raw logs, which is the present prac tice. Fletcher believes. The blackout prevents the A F L - C IO from speaking to Atiyeh on be h alf o f all the state's working peo ple, not just union members, Fletch er says. In the future, A tiyeh apparently w ill hear those labor views most in agreement with his ow n. The advi sory council's first meeting is sche duled for A pril 27. It's time for tax reform by Franz Schurmann, Now (hat the economic recovery has begun, Americans, according to the original Reagan economic p ro gram, should be looking forward to declining taxes. Instead, the chances are that taxes will be going up in the years ahead. H ig h taxes have usu ally been a sign that something is wrong in the body politic. They signify that gov ernm en t is g etting revenue fro m people’s pocketbooks, and not from healthy growth. W hat angers people even more is that all too often gov ernm ent cann o t ju s tify the uses made o f those revenues. In the late 1970s many Americans were clearly angry over high taxes, ■is was evident in the C alifo rn ia and Massachusetts (ax revolts. The Rea- ganiles o ffered them a program to remedy such grievances. T hey a d vanced one sim ple ex planatio n for high taxes: the massive and wasteful welfare slate. Cut it down radically (the " n e w fe d e ra lis m ” ), reduce taxes so people will invest in produc tion and not in more money ("s u p ply-side econom ics"), and go back io traditional social values which en courage people to depend on each other rather than the government — and soon g ro w th w ill resum e, revenues to governm ent rise, and taxes w ill d ro p . In d e e d , they a r gued, there even w ill be enough money left over fo r a much bigger defense effort. In fact, the recovery has virtually nothing to do w ith these prescrip tions. Except fo r p a in fu l fu nd ing cuts to poor and d isadvantaged people, the welfare state remains in tact. I.ven die-hard Rcaganiles have coinc around Io supporting a Social Security system which imposes the biggest drain on the governm ental budget. So too, the idea o f collect ing "users’ fees" from states and lo calities, which had taken for granted huge federal grants for building and m aintaining their infrastructures, has been virtually abandoned. W ith the "entitlem ents” burden as huge as ever, we now also face the spectre o f a monumental defense budget for years to come. Big en title m e n ts , coupled to a swollen defense budget in the con text o f an anxiety-ridden recovery, spell either bigger taxes or bigger de fic its (o r b o th ). A consensus is g ro w in g that m ore d e fic its could break the back o f the A m eric an economy. Thus the search is on for new revenues, evident in the contro versial plan to begin w ith h o ld in g taxes on interest income from bank accounts. Yet the President rem ains a d a mant on his defense budget, arguing that we live in a dangerous w orld. If , as the President’s O rlando, F lor ida, speech implied, we are in for a long and deadly rivalry with the So viets, then we can forget about any kin d o f econom ic reco very. T h e Vietnam war has already made clear that even an economy as mighty as America's cannot produce guns and b u tte r at the same tim e. B a rrin g some Pearl H a rb o r, U .S . citizens are going to want to know why the th rea t has suddenly become so great. T hat end can only be served through some b ro ad , genuine n a tio n a l defense debate, not sim ply through administration rhetoric. In 1981 the President spoke o f re generating a society which was at peace, not one facing war. And the m ark o f its having been " re -b o rn ” would have been permanently lower taxes. Job bill brings few jobs But if defense and entitlem ents are p ro vin g in tra c ta b le , there is another path that could bring even tual tax relief. W hile the "N e w Fed cralism" and "Supply-side econom ics" have turned out to be flops, the Reaganites never re a lly explored ways that people co u ld help each other in order to reduce the burden on the treasury. The call to go back to old values is not the key, as we are now a country o f diverse values and life-styles. But "people helping people" is something that one finds everywhere. In fact, as their pocket books s h rin k , m ore and m ore people are w orking, living and vo l unteerin g to g e th e r. In inner city ghettoes, barrios, revitalized cities and small rural towns alike. A lth o u g h many o f these people alone w ou ld q u a lify fo r “ safety net” welfare, together they form vi able economic units. Yet the only in come tax breaks they get are within the narrowest limits o f the tradition al fa m ily o f m a rrie d spouses and ch ild re n . A n d they pay the same high and regressive sales taxes as ev eryone else. W e give (ax breaks to businesses to stim ulate gro w th . W h y not give tax breaks to people who "share” in an econom ically sig n ifican t m a n ner? Sharing means performing free labor, freely given. It means less de mand on scarce housing. It means caring personally rather than insti tu tio nally. Low er income and sales taxes fo r such people in the end would save the government money. And the resulting social support sys tems would help repair one o f the most dangerous sources of instability in this society, the shred ded social fabric. Jobs aren't the main thrust o f the $4 .6 b illio n jobs b ill th at recently sailed through Congress, says Jim Tow ay, aide to Sen. M a rk H atfield (R -O re .) Rather, he says the p rio ri ties are fix in g " in f r a s t r u c t u r e ," such as dams, ports, and hospitals, and emergency re lie f " t o stop the bleeding" o f the long-term jobless. The act w ill have "alm ost no im p a c t" fo r unem ployed m in orities and w om en, says P o rtla n d U rb a n 1 eague director Freddye Pettet, ex cept for whatever training funds are provided. Construction projects will use up a h a lf to tw o -th ird s o f the $92 m illio n O reg o n w ill receive C o n stru ctio n w orkers are heavily white and male. H iring the hardcore jobless is re commended, but not required under the b ill, Tow ey says, so that c o n tracto rs w o n ’ t be b urdened w ith forms. O vertim e isn't banned, and the projects are spread out over four years, so new hiring will be limited. P ro visio ns fo r special needs o f minorities and women such as advo cacy and childcare are much more limited than previous anti-recession pro gram s, such as the m u c h -m a ligned C E T A program, Pettet says. Funds fo r a lo c al p ro je c t to help place the disadvantaged in construc tion jobs ended in November, 1981. "Y o u can't treat the job in isolation with a poor person who has multiple problem s," she said. Com bined with relaxation o f a f firm a tiv e action rules, Pettet fears Reagan administration moves signal a return to the era before civil rights and antipoverty programs. "Brlcka and mortar" or make-work? Sen. H atfield favors "bricks and m o rtar" construction work because otherwise funds would be wasted on "m ake w o rk ," Towey says Budget conscious governm ents have cut maintenance in the past decade, he says, creating a huge backlog o f re pair work. W o rk w ill begin soon on most projects, because they're just speed- ups o f plans alre a d y put o f f too lon g , he says. M o st o f the m a jo r projects are outside the P o rtla n d area. Oregon received almost twice its share o f the m o n ey, due to an amendment H a tfie ld introduced to target funds to high unemployment states. H atfield chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Towey guesses the bill w ill create " a couple th o u sa n d " jobs in O re gon. T h a t should m ake a dent in construction unemployment: jobs in the fie ld fe ll fro m 4 7 ,0 0 0 in Feb. 1980 t o 2 3 ,5 0 0 in Feb.. 1983 Oregon w ill also gel $1.4 m illion fo r sum m er y o u th job s and $1 .5 m illion for childcare. These limited social service funds were added na tionally at the insistence o f the C o n gressional Black Caucus, and civil rights and women's groups. Emergency food and shelter w ill get $10 million. Other jobs proposals, such as the Black Caucus budget and the Jobs w ith Peace c a m p a ig n , hold that hundreds o f thousands o f u seful, non-m ake-work jobs can be created in education, health, childcare and other human services. H u m an ser vices are the biggest em ployers o f women and minorities. M ore jobs per dollar can be creat ed in these fields than in construc tion, since construction pays higher wages and requires heavy e q u ip ment. Some congressional liberals say the present jobs b ill is just "Phase I " o f a larger job s p ro g ra m , but most observers see little chance for a bigger bill this year. Washington (Continued fro m page I column 2) son with his or her measure of digni ty; to supply city services as a right; to dispense jobs fairly ; to use fa ir ness, excellence and accountability in conducting city business; and to be mayor o f all the people. The new mayor must quickly ad dress econom ic developm ent w ith emphasis on deteriorating neighbor hoods and (he inferior public school system. The credit for W ashington’s elec tion goes to the thousands o f black citizens w ho registered and voted fo r the firs t tim e and fo r those young black people— ages 18 to 30 — who supported and w orked for his election. W A N N A S TA R T S O M E T H IN ? Then try th e Union A venue . . . ® BATTERY X-CHANCE • FREE Installation FROM s19.95 • FREE Battery Test •FR EE E lectrical check E achanga 3007 N.E. Union Ave. Street Beat by Lanita D u k a and Richard B ro w n 249-0101 W ith the landing o f the " C h a l lenge” in the headlines, the S tr e e t B eat team asked the public, "Should the government appropriate large sums o f money and resources to the space program?" Q Laura Davias Houaawifa Vernon Hartwell Steelworker They are going to spend the m oney on w hat they want to . They should spend it on social programs. They are not proving anything to the Russians. Remal Moore Education T hey should spend some o f th at m ilita ry m oney on the space program and less on a r mament, space exploration, and o th e r kinds o f research. W e should do more to advance the q u a lity o f life fo r a ll h u m a n kind. Private Industry should com pensate for some o f the budget. A lot o f the space p ro gram would lead to satellites and that falls under the private sector. Phillip Moore Community Profeaaional Laborer Yes, they should. W e should not stunt people's im agination in the hard sciences. It is for the good of m ankind I f anything, they should spend more money on the space p ro g ra m . T h e space program is a social p ro gram. Daryl Fogarty Manager I think they should. I t ’s to ad vance tec h n o lo g y. W e d o n 't know w here it w o u ld take us and we should ex p lo re a ll re sources open to us. Yes and no. We have to keep the Russians in check but he could belter spend the money down here. © PACIFIC NEW SERVICE. IW ) 1