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E o i r o » -i m -C h 11 r , P i a l / s « c »
S
Charles H. Washington
T
A
Michael Leighton
E
d it o
C » s i TI v s D i t t e r o »
Paul Neufeldt
A s s o c u r t E d it o »
WyndeDyer
»
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D 11 r 11 h i r m > M a n í e s »
M ark Washington
F
Or n e i
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i n i c i
»
Kathy Linder
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We’re
Losing Our
Social
Safety Net
Oregon must restore
vital medical, human
services
Senate D em ocratic m em bers o f the Joint
W ays and M eans S ubcom m ittee on H u­
m an Services, including Sen. M argaret
C arter, Sen. Avel G ordly and Sen. Frank
S hields are w arning o f a
potential $6(X>-8(X)million
shortfall in funds needed
to restore a m inim um so ­
cial safety net.
T he senators d isco v ­
ered that in the next tw o
y e a rs , c u rre n t b u d g e t
proposals w ould spend
over$500m illion less than
w as spent last biennium
on program s m ost vital to
the m ost vulnerable O regonians.
“T he education com m unity has alw ays
been able to put out a num ber and rally
public opinion around its needs. But the
poorest o f the poor, the hungry, the dis­
abled, the m entally ill. and those in search
o f jo b s cannot m obilize them selves in the
sam e w ay,” S hields said.
U nder current budget plans, the state
would remove approximately 50,(XX) people
from mental health services, I OO.(XX) people
lu n d i. 2003
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Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver.
Unequal Taxation by Administration
by
Sen. Avel Gordly at a rally last week
demanding the restoration of
Oregon s social safety net.
from the O regon H ealth Plan and poten­
tially as m any a s 30,000 seniors from an
array o f residential and m edical services.
"It is critical that w e put faces to these
num bers, and recognize the drastic dam ­
age that will be done if the level o f hum an
services is not at least restored to w here
w e w ere tw o years a g o ,” Shields said.
Specific exam ples o f the extrem e inad­
equacy o f current budget proposals in­
clude a $ 13 m illion cut to
the state’s JO BS program,
even as the num ber o f
people the program serves
expands by 2,8(X) people.
T he G o v e rn o r’s pro­
po sed funding for the
T e m p o rary A ssistan c e
for N eedy Fam ilies pro­
gram is $21 m illion less
that current levels on top
o f repeated budget cuts
from special sessions and the failure o fth e
statew ide B allot M easure 28.
F unding for com m unity m ental health
services is slated to decline by over $24
m illion from w here it w as tw o years ago.
T hat represents the elim ination, o f ser­
vices forover30,(XX)adultsand over 18,(XX)
children. A budget cut o f nearly $8 m illion
from current service levels will result in
1,784 O regon ians in adult foster care facili­
ties losing their hom es and care.
J Fundingfor
community mental
health services is
slated to decline
by over $24
million.
M aude H urd
President Bush and the R epublican
C ongress ju st passed a n o th er round o f
m assiv r tax cuts aim ed at the extrem ely
w ealthy. N ow the adm inistration is q u i­
etly proposing to use a back d oor to raise
taxes on m any w orking p oor fam ilies.
T he IRS w ants to put in place new
requirem ents for m any fam ilies w ho earn
the E arned Incom e T ax C redit, req u ire­
m ents that m any honest taxpayers wi 11 be
unable to m eet. Such requirem ents could
nev er be im posed on m iddle class or
w ealthy tax payers w ithout causing the
biggest political u proar since the B oston
T ea Party.
Aside from the m inim um w age (which
C ongress allow s to lose value every year)
and the 4 0 hour w eek (w hich is also under
attack from the W hite H ouse), the EITC
is p robably our c o u n try 's m ost effective
program to lift w orking fam ilies out o f
poverty. It w as enacted in 1975 to offset
Social Security taxes paid by low -incom e
w orkers and provide an incentive to w ork.
It has done ju st that. Few program s have
m ore successfully m et their goals.
T he tax credit puts about $2,000, on
average, into the hands o f w orking poor
fam ilies with children. This constitutes a
significant boost in incom e for a fam ily
earning, say,$ 15,000or$20,(XX). In 1999the
tax credit Iifted4.7million people, including
2.6 m illion children, out o f poverty.
T he hurdles the IRS w ants to put up
include low -incom e w orking g ran d p ar­
ents, a u n ts, and uncles raisin g their
g ra n d ch ild re n , n iec es and nephew s.
T hese fam ilies are about to be deem ed a
m ore serious threat to the tax system
than Enron.
T he IRS has indicated it will ask filers
Maude Hurd speaks out against taxation inequality.
to prove they are related to the children
they are raising by subm itting m arriage
certificates that in m any cases are for
m arriages that occurred m any years ago,
took place in o th er countries o r are be­
tw een tw o people o ther than the taxpayer.
For m any fam il ies, there wi 11 be no w ay
to do this: m any states w ill only provide
m arriage certificates to the m arried couple
itself, do not provide certificates for m ar­
riages that o ccurred before a certain year,
require that som eone seeking a copy o f a
m arriage certificate provide inform ation
that the tax filer m ay not possess o r take
longer to provide a certificate than 1RS’
deadlinesallow .
Sim ilarly, people subject to these pro­
cedures will have to prove that the ch il­
dren they are raising live w ith them . M an­
ageable w ays that other program s like
food stam ps use to verify such inform a­
tion w o n ’t be allow ed here. T he likely
result will be that m any honest hardworking
fam ilies w ith children will lose the Earned
Incom e tax C redits.
Im agine ifm illionsofhom eow ners were
required to produce this sort o f d ocum en­
tation before obtaining their m ortgage
interest deduction. A proposal like that
w ould end political careers. So should this
one. It’s tim e to raise o u r voices and m ake
sure these burdensom e new rules for fam i­
lies w orking and raising chi Idren on m od­
est w ages are not allow ed to go beyond
the planning stages.
Maude Hurd is the National President
o f ACORN, the Association o f Community
Organizations fo r Reform Now, the
nation's largest community organization
o f low- and moderate-income families.
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