On Friday, April 16, 2010, the Half in Ten Campaign sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging their support for the Local Jobs for America Act, sponsored by Representative George Miller. This important bill would provide much-needed funding to state and local governments, small businesses, and community organizations to create over one million jobs over the next two years.

“We applaud Chairman Miller’s leadership on this bill,” said Melissa Boteach, Half in Ten’s campaign manager. “Already over 300 organizations from 43 states, including labor unions, faith institutions, civil rights organizations, service providers, and the U.S. conference of mayors, have joined Half in Ten in expressing support for this bill. We look forward to working with these groups to continue building momentum to pass the Local Jobs for America Act.”

Read the full text of the letter below.

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The Minnesota Half in Ten coalition has been very active the past month, holding several events and educating hundreds of Minnesotans on the Half in Ten campaign and our shared policy priorities.

The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition just last week held a Day on the Hill at the Minnesota state capitol, where more than 1,000 activists learned about the Half in Ten campaign and advocated on state and federal issues to reduce poverty.

Nancy Maeker, the executive director of A Minnesota Without Poverty, keynoted three Bread for the World workshop events in late February, helping to gather more than 200 letters in support of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

And A Minnesota Without Poverty also hosted a statewide gathering in late February on five sites to report on the progress toward ending poverty and to issue a call to action. Affirmative Options Coalition and Joint Religious Legislative Coalition were two of the co-sponsors for the event which drew more than 400 people in St. Paul, Duluth, Moorhead, Willmar, and Rochester, with additional supporters joining the webcast program online. The call to action highlighted coordinating the Minnesota legislative agenda with the Half in Ten issues and encouraged advocates to support the Half in Ten campaign. After the formal program, all participants gathered around tables for discussion, letter writing, phone calling—and food.

You can view photos and an introductory video from the gathering on Facebook.

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Every year, we look to Congress to pass a budget resolution. The resolution defines our country’s fiscal priorities for the year and sets the framework for the federal government’s spending decisions. This framework is essential for laying the groundwork to pursue key antipoverty policies such as job creation, the earned income tax credit, and child care.

President Barack Obama’s budget request for fiscal year 2011 offered a good model, with investments in child care and expanded tax credits for low-income families. But we are hearing murmurs around Washington, D.C. that Congress may not even pass a budget resolution this year. And if they do, deficit peacocks may make a show of fiscal responsibility—without making much of a dent on deficits—by tightening the president’s already strict limit on non-defense discretionary spending, which funds critical antipoverty initiatives.

Tell your members of Congress to pass a budget that reflects the principles of shared economic recovery! Read more »

Testimony to the Congressional Black Caucus

Half in Ten Campaign Manager Melissa Boteach testifies and shares why the extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund, summer jobs, and investments in National Service deserve serious consideration as a part of a national strategy to tackle youth unemployment and growing poverty. Read her testimony to the Congressional Black Caucus here.

Why an alternative federal poverty measure will drive smarter policies to bring more families into the middle class

By Melissa Boteach and Jitinder Kohli

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said New York City Mayor and business magnate Michael Bloomberg in 2007 describing the need for an updated poverty measure.

Now it seems he is getting his wish. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it will be developing an alternative way to measure poverty. This new method will better reflect the realities facing struggling families and ways in which current government programs can help them to get back on their feet. Unlike the traditional poverty measure, which is based in a 1960s reality, this supplemental measure will provide a more accurate accounting of household budgets and better determination of whether a family has enough resources to meet its most basic needs.

The Census Bureau has published a number of different alternative poverty data for many years and will continue to do so. But this new measure will accommodate updated research and modeling, and will be released alongside the traditional poverty data in 2011, ushering in a new public understanding of how well we are doing in ensuring that more families are able to meet basic needs and ultimately to join the middle class.

The new measure is not designed to replace the traditional measure. Eligibility for more than 80 public benefits is tied in some form to the current federal poverty measure, which will continue to be a useful tool in administering programs. Issuing a supplemental measure will not change eligibility for any government benefits or in and of itself cost the government one penny in additional poverty program expenditures.

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More than a million and a half Americans could lose their jobs if the Senate does not act soon. Millions of Americans will immediately lose their unemployment insurance benefits if the Senate doesn’t act to extend unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidies by the end of next week. And state and local governments are slashing budgets, getting ready to lay off firefighters, police officers, and teachers.

Our country cannot afford the job loss that will come from inaction. Every dollar of unemployment insurance benefits creates $1.90 of stimulus in the community. Our country will lose another 800,000 jobs if the Senate’s inaction cuts off benefits.

And if the Senate acts now, federal aid could also save jobs in essential public safety, education, and health services provided by state and local governments.

Your senators need to hear that now is not the time to procrastinate.

Demand that the Senate vote immediately to save jobs by extending UI benefits and COBRA subsidies through the end of 2010 and by providing aid to state and local governments.

The Minnesota Half in Ten Coalition – composed of Affirmative Options Coalition, the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, and a Minnesota Without Poverty - is already planning several events to build out the movement to cut poverty in half in ten years.

• Last weekend, A Minnesota Without Poverty Executive Director, Nancy Maeker, served as the keynote speaker at three Bread for the World workshops on “Bridging the Gap—Making Work Pay: Addressing the Struggle of Low-Income Workers to Make Ends Meet.” Nancy educated dozens of activists on the Earned Income Tax Credit, strategies to end poverty in Minnesota, and the Half in Ten Campaign’s goals and priorities.
• On February 27th, A Minnesota Without Poverty will hold a statewide Gathering on Five Sites entitled, “If Not We, Then Who? If Not Now, Then When?” This web-linked program will focus on the first recommendation of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty recommendation: Restore work as a means out of poverty. All five sites will share the experience of a keynote speaker, music, conversation, report on the progress toward ending poverty, and a community-wide call to action throughout Minnesota.
• On March 25th, the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) will hold a day at the state capitol where over a thousand activists will gather to celebrate JRLC’s Day on the Hill (March 25). Half in Ten issues and goals will be incorporated into this day’s agenda.

Email Nancy Maeker at [email protected] to get involved.

There are 6.4 jobseekers for every unfilled job - and that gap is growing. Two-thirds of Americans are close to someone who is out of work. And joblessness is worst for communities of color, youth, and women who head households. While the investments made through the federal economic recovery legislation have created or saved over 1 million jobs so far, the recession is so deep that more federal action is urgently needed.

Congress and the Obama Administration are working on job creation plans. What should they do? How can we build support for job creation that does not leave the poorest people behind?

Listen in to hear the answers from a January 28, 2010 webinar featuring Deborah Weinstein from the Coalition of Human Needs, Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute, Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change, and Alan Charney of Jobs for America Now!

Click here to listen

The Half in Ten Campaign believes that any strategy to cut the U.S. poverty rate in half over the next 10 years must be based on four fundamental principles: promoting decent work, ensuring economic security, providing opportunity for all, and helping people build wealth. The president’s budget released earlier this week reflects those same principles by laying out an agenda for job creation, investing in income and work supports even in the context of a discretionary spending freeze, offering an education and workforce agenda that promotes opportunity, and championing policies that will allow Americans to save and build for the future. Half in Ten urges Congress to pass a budget resolution that adopts and builds on these investments with special emphasis on job creation for low-income and minority communities.

Here’s a closer look at how the president’s budget request matches up with Half in Ten’s principles.
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Our partners in the faith community have sent a letter to Congress asking them to ensure that job-creation strategies and other policies to ensure economic recovery are inclusive of low-income populations. Check it out below!

January 28, 2010

As communities of faith united by our common religious traditions and values of justice and compassion, we see the latest unemployment numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor as a call to action. It is abundantly clear that the effects of the most recent recession will be felt for years to come, and we know the most vulnerable among us are disproportionately struggling. In December 2009, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 10 percent, with a staggering 15.3 million people unemployed. Meanwhile, the alternative measure of unemployment that includes people who stopped looking for work or were unable to find full-time employment held steady at 17.3 percent. Even as some economists state that the recession is officially over by economic terms, employers are slow to hire new staff, and workers around the country cannot find employment. In human terms, the recession is still wreaking havoc and many families feel hopeless.

As Congress prepares to take action on a much needed jobs bill, the faith community urges our leaders to be mindful of those who are at greatest risk of impoverishment and hardship in today’s economy.

As proposals are made, Members of Congress must ensure that these policies are targeted to at-risk communities, creating jobs that pay a living wage and are sustainable.

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