Dozens of grassroots community organizations gathered at the Hartford Boys and Girls Club, along with Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, and a number of state legislators. Over 120 people attended a roundtable discussion and press conference in support of an increase in the Connecticut minimum wage – recently raised by the state legislature, which overrode Governor Jodi Rell’s veto. Later in the day in Bridgeport, over 250 residents and local elected officials took part in an event at the site of a new residential development, highlighting the need for more affordable housing in the area. Speaking to reporters, Marilyn Ondrasik, the executive director of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition, said that, “Addressing poverty needs to start right here, right now.”

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Minimum wage activists joined together on July 11 in Newark to help launch New Jersey’s Raise the Wage campaign. The state’s Minimum Wage Advisory Commission led by Governor Jon Corzine’s labor commissioner has called for substantially increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage and adjusting each year based on the cost of living so that it does not fall in value again. The Raise the Wage coalition, led by the National Employment Law Project and New Jersey Policy Perspective and made up of over 20 advocacy groups, community organizations, and workers groups, echoed the Advisory Commission’s recommendations. It is calling for increasing New Jersey’s minimum wage to at least $8.50 per hour and adjusting it each year so that it keeps up with the rapidly rising cost of food, gas and necessities.

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By the Center for American Progress’ Joy Moses

Yesterday, President Bush signed a war spending bill that includes a much-needed extension of unemployment benefits for millions of long-term unemployed Americans. This is welcome news for the 3.2 million jobless workers that the Congressional Budget Office had previously estimated would exhaust their regular unemployment benefits in 2008-09. The news is particularly welcome since the Department of Labor reported that May saw the largest increase in unemployment in over 20 years, from 5.0 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May.
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Congress Enacts and President Signs Bill Adding Domestic Items to War Funding

From the Coalition on Human Needs

Jobless insurance, veterans’ education benefits, protection against Medicaid cutbacks, and disaster relief are top domestic priorities enacted by Congress last week. These items were attached to the bill extending funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that the President signed on June 30.
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By the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights’ David Schraub

At a June 25 press conference, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D. Ill., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D. N.Y., announced new legislation that would significantly improve the accessibility of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a key program in America’s fight against poverty. They were joined at the press conference by representatives of Wal-Mart and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), both of which announced their support of the bill.
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From the Coalition on Human Needs

With 324,000 jobs lost over the past 5 months and the unemployment rate taking the biggest one-month jump in 22 years, the House voted twice in two days on legislation to extend jobless benefits for people who have exhausted state unemployment insurance. On the first try, the speedy move to the floor meant a two-thirds vote was needed for passage. That attempt fell short by 3 votes. Then on June 12 the House went through the procedural steps so that only a simple majority would pass the unemployment insurance (UI) extension. This time, the bill passed 274 to 137. Well exceeding the simple majority needed, the outcome was exactly two-thirds of those present and voting. Since two-thirds will be required to override an anticipated Presidential veto, the vote was heartening to those who recognize the growing urgency of helping the long-term unemployed.
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From the Center for American Progress

What is the Earned Income Tax Credit?

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. When the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. The Earned Income Tax Credit was responsible for significant declines in poverty and economic gains during the 1990s, but it can still be strengthened to improve its effectiveness.
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By the Center for American Progress’ David Madland

The unemployment rate jumped in May by half a percent, rising from 5.0 to 5.5 percent, the biggest increase in over 20 years, according to figures released today by the Department of Labor. The last time the unemployment rate increased by this much was February 1986.
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Speaking before activists and community leaders at North
Philadelphia’s Thankful Baptist Church, Senator John Edwards launched
the Half in Ten campaign by calling on Congress, the presidential
candidates, and all Americans to make the fight against poverty a
priority.
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