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July 17, 2006

First, the Good News

Last week the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) released its audit on the Human Services Department (HSD) and Office of Workforce Training and Development (OWTD), and their efforts to move New Mexicans off of welfare and into work. The report is a mix of good news and bad. The good news: Some 64 percent of New Mexican welfare recipients are working. Nationally, the rate’s only 48 percent. Hey, we’re above the curve on something for a change! The bad news: Work is not lifting most of them out of poverty.

The report lists a combination of factors – highest among them, a lack of education and job training means lots of these folks are getting stuck in low-wage, dead-end jobs. Inadequate childcare assistance and the inability to postpone employment while receiving treatment for a mental illness are others.

New Mexico Voices for Children has been working on a number of policy initiatives that would help working poor families lift themselves out of poverty. Among them is a statewide raise in the minimum wage. Raising the income level at which parents are eligible for childcare subsidies as well as the level at which their benefits cease, and adding a state earned income tax credit, are others.

What You Can Do:

• Contact the LFC and ask them to support these initiatives. This link takes you to the LFC’s membership page where you can get contact info for each member:
• http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/committeedisplay.asp?CommCode=ALFC
• Educate yourself by reading the HSD audit (it’s actually more interesting than you might think) at: http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/lfc/lfcdocs/perfaudit/NM%20Works%20and%20Workforce%20Reforms%20Final.pdf

Making Lousy Lemonade

The idea of making the best of a bad situation – as in, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ – is a noble one, to be sure. But in the case of last week’s ‘good news’ about the federal deficit – that it’s not as big as expected – hardly qualifies as lemonade. Still, President Bush took the opportunity to claim that his tax cuts for the wealthy do indeed pay for themselves – despite a new analysis from the U.S. Department of Treasury showing that they don’t. James Horney, a Senior Fellow with the Center for Budget Policy and Priority, explains it all in an easy-to-follow essay you can read here: http://www.cbpp.org/7-11-06bud.htm

Budget Cuts Redux

There’s no question that President Bush will be serving up his deficit lemonade to Congress as that body continues debate on whether to make the tax cuts permanent. But that’s not the only sour idea being batted about within the Capitol. President Bush requested that funding for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) be cut by 30 percent in the FY 2007 Appropriations bill. The SSBG funds community services for our most vulnerable children and represents about 12 percent of the government’s entire child welfare spending. The appropriations bill is currently working its way through committee in both the House and Senate, and so far both have rejected the president’s proposed cuts.

We’ll be watching this bill as it winds its way to the floors for debate and voting, and we’ll keep you updated.

Race Matters Task Force

Join us on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss the recommendations that resulted from the RACE MATTERS conference and how to take those recommendations forward. Visit http://www.nmvoices.org/racematters.htm for more information and to register.

Your financial support is critical to our work. Please consider making a contribution today at http://www.nmvoices.org/donate.htm