As poverty in the United States continues to affect millions of people across the nation, city and state governments are finding themselves in an ongoing battle trying to unearth the right answer to an already growing problem. One city’s initiative to create new, and innovative antipoverty projects that will help its residents, can serve as a model not only to other urban areas across the country trying to fight poverty, but the nation as a whole. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg examined the city’s efforts in establishing programs designed to combat poverty at a recent event hosted by the Center for American Progress.

New York City’s Crusade Against Poverty

In an interview with economist Rebecca Blank from the Brookings Institution, Sally Steenland from campaign partner, the Center for American Progress, probes the role that faith has in making sound economic policy and defending the interests of those less fortunate. Click here to read the full transcript of the interview.

Writing for campaign partner, the Center for American Progress, Alexandra Cawthorne looks at how the historically disproportionate rates of unemployment among black men worsen in tough economic times and the social ramifications had by these trends. Click here to read the full report and her recommendations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program will receive up to $5 billion of emergency funding to help families affected by the economic downturn. This new Emergency Fund is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and will directly go toward assisting States, Territories, and Tribes that have seen an increase in TANF caseloads or program expenditures.

TANF is a block grant program that provides assistance and work opportunities to low-income families by awarding states federal funding to develop their own public assistance programs.

The Emergency Fund will be subject to the same rules and regulations as the TANF grant fund, and will provide funding to eligible jurisdictions through FY2010. All States, Territories, and Tribes that have experienced increased participation or program costs in the past two years are eligible to apply for the Emergency Fund.

The TANF Emergency Fund will help jurisdictions expand and improve much needed assistance programs, and is an example of a recovery initiative directly aimed at helping families most impacted by the recession.

Last week, while the House of Representatives debated Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Resolution, the Congressional Progressive Caucus introduced an alternative budget that features our goal to cut poverty in half in ten years. For the past three years, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has presented an alternative budget that, among other provisions, proposes significant investments in economic recovery and social welfare programs. Included in this year’s Progressive Caucus Budget was a $90 billion per year investment over the next ten years, dedicated to the goal of cutting poverty in half in ten years. These monies would increase funding for various programs that aid in decent affordable housing, anti-hunger programs, and more quality child care. Half in Ten thanks our allies in the Progressive Caucus for using their budget to continue the conversation around a half in ten goal.

CPC Introduces Alternative Budget

President Obama’s proposal for the 2010 Federal Budget includes dramatic strides in the fight against poverty and for increased opportunity. We must ensure that these important steps remain in the budget legislation as it moves through Congress.

• Call your Senators now at (202) 224-3121 in support of President Obama’s budget priorities.
• Ask organizations you belong to to sign a statement in support of the President’s budget priorities.

The budget makes investments we need to rebuild the economy from the bottom up, opening up access to jobs in renewable energy, transportation, health care, and education. It puts us on a path towards health care for all Americans. The budget builds on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide protections against some of the worst ravages of the recession, making tax credits permanent that will lift at least a million children and their families out of poverty.

It invests in Head Start; education for low income students; Pell Grants to make college more affordable; better nutrition for low-income children; and affordable housing. It recommends fair sources of revenue to pay for these investments responsibly, while recognizing the needs of low and moderate income families.

But there is no guarantee that these priorities will stay in the budget as Congress sets to work on it. Members of Congress need to hear from us that fighting poverty and increasing opportunity must be be key principles of the budget.

• Call your Senators now at (202) 224-3121 in support of the President Obama’s budget priorities.
  
• Ask organizations you belong to to sign a statement in support of the President’s budget priorities.

Learn More: The President’s Budget: A Dramatic Shift in Priorities from the Half in Ten partner Coalition on Human Needs

Read more »

Joy Moses of The Center for American Progress has written a piece that introduces the many poverty-fighting aspects of Obama’s proposed budget.

The budget includes measures ranging from a commitment to end childhood hunger by 2015, to increased funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, to extending aid for veterans at risk of homelessness.

Click here to read Moses’ article, “Helping Those Most in Need.”

From the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank

Click here to access this Economic Snapshot on EPI’s website with references.
Click here to download EPI’s report, Outsourcing Poverty: Federal Contracting Pushes Down Wages and Benefits (Adobe Acrobat required.)

Kathryn Edwards
Economic Policy Institute

The federal contract workforce—government workers paid with federal dollars but employed by private business—is swelling in size. Although the number of directly employed federal workers has remained steady at 2.7 million since 2000, federal contract workers have grown from 1.4 million to 2.0 million.The cause for this increase is the federal government’s expanded outsourcing of its operations. Read more »

On February 13, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law. Half in Ten wrote a letter to the Obama Transition Team in December 2008 outlining several important ways to stimulate the economy and reduce poverty at the same time. The final recovery package incorporates several of our suggestions. Read more »

February 11, 2009

James Kvaal & Ben Furnas
The Center for American Progress

Recession, Poverty, and the Recovery Act
Millions Are at Risk of Falling Out of the Middle Class

Click here to download the full paper.

The American economy is in a recession that is 14 months old, and the downturn appears to be growing deeper and more severe. Approximately 1.8 million Americans lost their jobs in the past three months alone—nearly 20,000 a day. It’s increasingly looking like “the worst recession since World War II” may be a best-case scenario.

The economic downturn means hard times for millions of Americans. If unemployment rates reach double-digits, as some economists fear, nearly 7 million people will lose their jobs, more than 7 million will lose their health coverage, and more than 12 million will fall into poverty.

The economic recovery legislation before Congress would cushion the blow for the most vulnerable families by cutting taxes and strengthening the safety net, while boosting the economy and creating jobs to make the middle class stronger and larger. Helping struggling families is not only the right thing to do in hard times; it is also one of the most cost-effective ways to fight the recession. Aid for low-income families generates five times more economic activity than aid for high-income families, according to some estimates, because these families are more likely to spend the money immediately on necessities rather than saving it. Read more »