Website for the PA Council of Churches Advocacy Program

Archive for July, 2010

30
Jul

Nearly 3000 unemployed were recently hired into the Way to Work Program in Philadelphia, funded by the federal stimulus program. Unfortunately, the program runs out Sept. 30, 2010, even though significant levels of unexpended funds are available to pay to employ jobless Pennsylvanians. The 3000 who were hired will be laid off then, even though they have only been employed for 2 or 3 months. Thousands more are waiting to be hired right now all over Pennsylvania.

 

A bill will be moving early next week in the Senate that needs to include the extension of the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund (TANF ECF), which is funding hundreds of thousands or jobs nationally and recently in Pennsylvania. The word on the Hill is that they have not been hearing from people about this issue.  Pennsylvania needs these jobs.  Please call Senators Casey and Specter today.

 

Senator Casey’s office: (202) 224-6324 (other contact information at http://casey.senate.gov)

 

Will Hansen:  will_hansen@casey.senate.gov

Gillian Mueller:  gillian_mueller@casey.senate.gov

 

Senator Specter’s office: (202) 224-4254 (other contact information at http://specter.senate.gov)

 

John Myers:  john_myers@specter.senate.gov

 

Message: Please support an extension of the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund. Pennsylvanians need jobs now, and the TANF ECF has already helped to provide jobs for unemployed Pennsylvanians. Getting Pennsylvanians back to work provides economic benefits to our society, but more importantly, gainful employment is also a means to affirm the dignity and worth of workers.

 

Why your action is needed NOW: The Senate is planning to take up a bill on Monday (August 2) to extend FMAP and to provide funding to states to save teachers’ jobs. This bill DOES NOT include the TANF ECF and there is no way to add it.

 

The Senate is still negotiating on the small business and extenders which may go together or separately. This is probably the last vehicle left on which to get the TANF ECF. It is imperative that the TANF ECF get into this bill. States have weighed in heavily on the FMAP and teachers but have not focused on the TANF ECF. Senate staffers have indicated they have had few recent calls about the TANF ECF.

 

The Senate goes out for August recess after next week and does not come back until September 13th when they will have a full calendar of must-pass bills. Time is running out and options for moving the TANF ECF decrease every day.

 

Other Actions You Can Take:

 

More information: According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (http://www.cbpp.org):

 

The subsidized jobs programs that states have created through the TANF Emergency Fund are a bright spot in an economy that is producing new jobs at a very slow pace, but some of these programs have already stopped taking applications in anticipation of the fund’s September 30 expiration, and most programs will shut down or significantly scale back their operations on that date.

 

Unless Congress extends the fund, tens of thousands of people across the country will lose jobs — potentially raising the unemployment rate in places with particularly large programs, such as Illinois and Los Angeles. Such job losses are both troubling and unnecessary: the House has twice passed extensions that were fully offset to avoid increasing the deficit, but the Senate has thus far failed to act.

 

Read more at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3240.

 

Related Podcast:  The Need for Extending the TANF Emergency Fund at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3236

 

NY Times Article on the Program: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/business/economy/29workers.html?_r=1

Category : Economic Justice | Take Action | Blog
30
Jul

From the Education Policy and Leadership Center (http://www.eplc.org):

 

Early this year, Raj Chetty, a Harvard economist (http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/chetty), and five other researchers examined the life paths of almost 12,000 children who had been part of a well-known education experiment in Tennessee in the 1980s. The children are now about 30, well started on their adult lives.  The researchers found (http://obs.rc.fas.harvard.edu/chetty/STAR_slides.pdf) that students who had learned much more in kindergarten were more likely to go to college than students with otherwise similar backgrounds. Students who learned more were also less likely to become single parents. As adults, they were more likely to be saving for retirement. Perhaps most striking, they were earning more. All else equal, they were making about an extra $100 a year at age 27 for every percentile they had moved up the test-score distribution over the course of kindergarten. A student who went from average to the 60th percentile — a typical jump for a 5-year-old with a good teacher — could expect to make about $1,000 more a year at age 27 than a student who remained at the average. Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28leonhardt.html?_r=3&ref=todayspaper for the complete New York Times article.

Category : Children | Education | Blog
30
Jul

From the Education Policy and Leadership Center (http://www.eplc.org):

 

A new report released earlier this month by the Alliance for Excellent Education (http://all4ed.org/) indicates that lowering the high school dropout rate among students of color will greatly increase the nation’s economic vitality.  According to the study’s findings, students of color made up a significant portion of the estimated 600,000 students who dropped out from the Class of 2008 in the nation’s forty-five largest metropolitan areas. The Alliance report examines the scenario of cutting the number of these dropouts in half and what that would mean in terms of economic gains for just one class of dropouts.  The report estimates the likely contributions that the 300,000 “new high school graduates” would add to the nation’s economy are:

 

  • Increased earnings of $2.3 billion in an average year;
  • Increased home sales of an additional $5.9 billion in mortgage capacity over what they would spend without a diploma;
  • An additional 17,450 jobs from the increased spending in their local areas;
  • An increase in the gross regional product by as much as $3.1 billion;
  • An additional $1.6 billion spent and an additional $636.6 million invested each year;
  • An additional $1.58.6 million spent on vehicle purchases; and
  • Increased tax revenues of $249.7 million.

To read the full report and specific statistics for each of the US metropolitan areas studied (including Philadelphia, PA), go to http://all4ed.org/publication_material/EconMSAsoc.

Category : Education | Blog
30
Jul

From Public News Service-PA (http://www.publicnewsservice.org):

 

July 30, 2010

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Oil companies mean big business in Pennsylvania, but a new report from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF, http://www.nwf.org) warns they can also spell big trouble. From seeps and spills, to fires and explosions, oil-related accidents in the past decade in the state have left 10 people dead, three dozen more injured, and caused a lot of environmental damage, according to report author, Tim Warman.

 

“We have problems at every step of the use of petroleum products. Generally, the public doesn’t hear about these, outside of their local area, until you have a big disaster.”

 

Warman, the executive director of the NWF global warming solutions program, says a map included in the report offers a visual of where oil disasters are happening.

 

It shows there have been accidents in every state in America. If you look at the Gulf of Mexico where the BP spill is, you can’t really see the Gulf through the number of small dots we have indicating where accidents and leaks have occurred.”

 

The industry defends its record. B-P officials, for example, said recently that their mission statement involves “safe and reliable” operations.

 

According to Warman, Congress needs to get behind safer and cleaner energy choices and lift the cap that limits oil and gas company liability - a move independent producers claim would put them out of business.

 

“The report, I think, tells a really important story. It’s a story that the petroleum industry is inadequately regulated, and they do not take full responsibility for the problems that they cause.”

 

In 2008 alone, three incidents at Sunoco’s refinery outside Philadelphia released tons of nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and other dangerous compounds into the air. Warman says the study reveals that the B-P Gulf Coast oil leak is not an isolated incident, and that the oil industry is guilty of broken promises to limit well blowouts, underground tank leaks and worker injuries and deaths.

 

The report, “Assault on America: A Litany of Petroleum Company Destruction,” and additional information are available at http://tiny.cc/9bdgy.

 

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/15234-1

Category : Environment | Resources | Blog
29
Jul

Check out the Actions, Events, Opportunities, News Posts, and Resources below—just click on the links under each category to get to the information. We’ve placed the most critical issues under Important Actions and Issues.

 

We understand that there is a lot of information here. Please know that you aren’t expected to act on everything! Just choose the issues that are most important to you and take action. Sometimes you will be directed to action pages of other organizations—don’t worry! These are organizations that we work with regularly and who share a common interest.

 

Please consider contacting your legislators to thank them when they support your position as well, or to express your disappointment when they don’t. We don’t follow up with them often enough. They need our feedback to understand how we feel. Go to our Take Action page (http://www.pachurchesadvocacy.org/index_files/Page630.htm) to find links to contact information for your legislators.

 

Our website is updated regularly—please visit to find updated links, resources, etc. at http://www.pachurchesadvocacy.org. It is a work in progress, and issue pages continue to be created as time permits. If there is something you would really like to see that isn’t there, please contact us at s.strauss@pachurches.org.

 

And finally—If you appreciate this ministry, we would very much appreciate your support; you can learn how by clicking here. 


 

IMPORTANT ACTIONS AND ISSUES—Urgent!

 

Support Action on the National Housing Trust Fund NOW

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4141

 

Federal FMAP Funding in Jeopardy—Act Now to Save It

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=3997

 

Support the Chesapeake Clean Water Act—REMINDER; Action Needed NOW

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5415/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3235

 

Urge House and Senate Leadership to Move Economic Impact Study Resolution re: Single Payer Health Care to a Vote

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=2512


 

Important News!

 

AZ Anti-Immigrant Law Blocked by Washington

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4119

 

Unemployment Benefits Restored for Millions of Workers

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4079

 

Significant Birthdays for Medicare and Social Security—Celebrate with a Bulletin Insert

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4127

 

Large Health Insurers Discuss Creating Organization to Influence Elections

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4138

 

Former NAE Lobbying Richard Cizik Starts New Evangelical Group with Focus on Common Good

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4154


 

Council Poverty Study Guide Now Available!

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=3606


 

Download the Council’s “Get Connected” Bulletin Insert at http://www.pachurchesadvocacy.org/index_files/web_attachments/Get_Connected_insert.pdf for information about how members of your congregation can connect with the Council’s e-advocacy network.


 

ACTIONS

 

Please visit our “Take Action” page at http://www.pachurchesadvocacy.org/index_files/Page630.htm for the most up-to-date listing of all current actions you can take by category. Categories include: New Actions; Children and Families; Economy and Economic Justice; Education; Environment; Government Reform; Health Care; Housing; Human Rights; Hunger; Immigration; Torture; Women.

 

You can also check out our Weblog Take Action page at http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?cat=10.

 

Posted below are the NEWEST ACTIONS you can take.

 

FEDERAL

 

Time to Break through the Politics and Act on Climate

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=3114

 

Toxic Chemicals Safety Act Introduced—Support Principles on Toxics (interfaith version now available)

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4046

 

Support Fair Food and Protect Florida Tomato Pickers

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4033

 

Oppose Nuclear Expansion, Support Solar Roofs

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4076

 

Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act—Urge Your Representative to Become a Co-Sponsor

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4085

 

House Approves National Criminal Justice Commission Act—Urge Senate to Act

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4102

 

Support Economic Justice for the World’s Poorest through Debt Relief

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4112

 

STATE

 

Drilling Moratorium Needed to Protect PA’s Forests—Contact Your Senator

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4053


 

EVENTS

 

For a full listing of events, go to the Events Calendar at http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?page_id=92.

 

Here are the NEWEST EVENTS added to the Calendar.

 

Reshaping Pennsylvania’s Housing Market—August 5, Tannersville

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4040

 

Recital for Peace—August 12, Lancaster

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4066

 

Reshaping Pennsylvania’s Housing Market—September 16, West Chester

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4040

 

Reshaping Pennsylvania’s Housing Market—September 23, Williamsport

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4040


 

OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES TO LEARN AND ACT

 

This is a current listing of opportunities and resources to participate in national conference calls, calls for comments on policies or legislation, and activities that individuals/congregations can engage in aside from Actions.

 

Invest in Kids Video Contest—Deadline August 16

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4150

 

Grant and Rebate Program Opportunities for Improving Energy Efficiency

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4147

 

Resources for Fracking Information

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4073

 

The Recession Generation:  New Report from the Coalition on Human Needs

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4144

 

Ask a Working Woman Survey 2010

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4088

 

PathWays PA Resource Library Blog

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4094


 

NEWS POSTS

 

Please visit our weblog (http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?page_id=24) for the latest news and information. For previous News Summaries, click on the “News Summaries” link on the right side of the page.

 

Subscribe to our weblog via RSS (What is RSS?) or e-mail.

 

No Happy Anniversary for Minimum Wage Workers July 24

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4100

 

Passage of the Wall Street Reform Act Brings Housing Dollars to PA

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4036

 

Senate Appropriations Chair Supports Severance Tax with Commitment to Growing Greener

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4049

 

Gulf Oil Spill Highlights Problems with the U.S. International Tax System

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4056

 

Small Businesses Launch Campaign Against Offshore Tax Havens

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4060

 

Wealthy Americans Come Out in Favor of a Robust Estate Tax

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4063

 

Commentary: The Case for a Strong Estate Tax

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4109

 

Public Integrity Commission Proposed

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4069

 

Coalition Statement on Public Education Critiques Administration Policy

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4082

 

Health Insurance Reform Legislation Has Positive Impact on Maternal and Child Health

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4091

 

Legal Actions on Oil and Gas Activities, Mountaintop Mining

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4106

 

LIRS Celebrates House Passage of Legislation to Provide Permanency to Vulnerable Haitian Orphans

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4115

 

U.S. Faith Community Hails House Passage of Legislation to Reduce Sentencing Disparity Between Crack and Powder Cocaine

http://pachurchesadvocacy.org/weblog/?p=4124



SUPPORT THE COUNCIL’S ADVOCACY WORK

 

Link up with fellow faith advocates through our Advocacy Ministry’s Facebook group, Pennsylvania Council of Churches Advocates at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39350713796.

 

If you received this message from a friend, sign up for Pennsylvania Council of Churches Advocacy e-mails at http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5415/t/5044/signUp.jsp?key=794.

 

Financial support for the Council’s Advocacy Ministry is always welcome! Go to our online support page at http://www.pachurches.org/Payments%20&%20Gifts/online_registrations_payments.htm and enter “Advocacy Ministry Support” under “Comments.”

 

And finally…PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL!

Category : News Summaries | Blog
29
Jul

From National Public Radio, Fresh Air (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128776382):

 

For 10 years, the Rev. Richard Cizik was the chief lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents roughly 30 million constituents across the United States.

But he was forced out of that position in December 2008, after remarks he made on Fresh Air (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97690760) about his support of gay civil unions, among other things.

 

On Wednesday (July 28), Cizik returned to Fresh Air to discuss how his life has changed since he left the association and why he started a new group called the Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good (http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/), which he hopes will be an alternative to Christian groups that focus on the culture wars.

 

Cizik says he has no regrets about what happened to him after appearing on the show.

 

“In so many ways, this has been good for me,” he tells Terry Gross, adding that his support of same-sex civil unions wasn’t the only reason he was asked to leave the NAE.

 

“It was a sum total of everything [I said on Fresh Air],” Cizik explains. “It was speaking out on behalf of creation care, climate change, a broader agenda—speaking out on a host of levels that just offended the old guard. Civil unions, well that was just one part of it.”

 

Cizik says that he still strongly believes that same-sex couples should be allowed to obtain civil unions.

 

“While I haven’t come to a conclusion on [gay marriage], I am convinced that you can’t deny rights to people based on their sexual orientation. It’s wrong,” he says. “It’s even wrong, I think, as Christians to take that position. Because we should support human rights for all people even when they don’t agree with us.”

 

He also explains how he believes the evangelical movement has changed in the past several decades—and why he believes the evangelical movement is overdue for another ideological shift.

 

“Most important, [we need to become] independent of partisanship and ideology rather than subservient to partisanship and ideology,” he says. “Evangelicalism [has] become so subservient to an ideology and to a political party that it needs, as I say, to be born again.”

 

Listen to the entire interview at http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=128776382&m=128822506.

Category : Civic Engagement | Blog
29
Jul

From the Every Child Matters Education Fund (http://www.everychildmatters.org/):

 

While the environment, jobs, and consumer protection are the hot button issues at the center of the 2010 midterm elections, Every Child Matters believes that children and families ought to be made a priority during this year’s campaign season. That’s why we are sponsoring a contest that challenges child advocates to create a non-partisan video illustrating why children should be a political priority in the upcoming elections.

 

Invest in Kids Video Contest Guidelines:

 

  • The videos should be between 30 seconds and two minutes in length.
  • Videos will be judged based on creativity, strength of message and accuracy of information.
  • All videos should address the question: Why should the government invest in kids?
  • Every Child Matters hopes to use the video to promote our message of making children a political priority, so it is key that the videos be non-partisan and contain no copyrighted material
  • First place: $750; Second place: $500; Third place: $250
  • Deadline for submissions is August 16, 2010

For more information about the Invest in Kids Video Contest, go to http://www.everychildmatters.org/National/Campaigns/Invest-in-Kids-Video-Contest.html. This page provides more detail on guidelines, age of entrants, media types accepted, etc. Questions should be sent to contest@everychildmatters.org.

 

Thank you for your help in making children a political priority.

Category : Children | Blog
29
Jul

From PennFuture (http://www.pennfuture.org):

 

Utility Energy Efficiency Programs Offer Big Savings

 

Electric utilities across the state are offering energy efficiency rebate programs to residential, commercial, non-profit/government, and industrial customers as part of their Act 129 requirements. Don’t miss out on the close to $250 million available statewide for incentives to replace inefficient lighting, appliances, heating and cooling systems, and more. Visit the links below to find out what your utility offers.

 

If your utility isn’t listed above, it’s because the energy savings law (Act 129) exempts smaller utilities from having to comply. But some may develop energy efficiency and conservation programs similar to those required for the larger utilities. Here are some of the companies that are exempt. Check with yours for more information.

 

Grant Brings New Life to Keystone HELP

 

The Keystone Home Energy Loan Program (Keystone HELP) offers below market rate financing to qualifying homeowners to make energy efficiency improvements on their homes. The program has been widely successful over the years, offering close to 6,500 homeowners finance over $42 million in energy saving improvements.

 

Now, thanks to a $441,000 grant awarded to the Pennsylvania Treasury Department by the Rockefeller Foundation, Keystone HELP will see some much needed new money. Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord recently announced that half of the grant money will be used to support a secondary market sale of the Keystone HELP loans. Selling the current portfolio to private investors will allow the Treasury to invest in additional loans.

 

The other half of grant will be used to support the creation of a new investment tool to allow for the Treasury to provide innovative financing packages to Pennsylvania colleges and universities to improve their energy efficiency. Stay tuned for more information.

 

To learn more about Keystone HELP visit http://www.keystonehelp.com/index.php.

 

Home Heating Equipment Rebates Still Available

 

In April, thanks to funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced the start of an $11.9 million rebate program for non-electric ENERGY STAR qualified residential water heaters, furnaces, and boilers. As of July 20, almost 80 percent of the funds were still available.

 

While it’s hot outside today, now is the time to invest in upgrading your inefficient heating system before these funds run out. Heating and water heating systems make up almost half of the energy consumption in your home. Upgrading to a high-efficiency system will help save you money all winter long.

 

To learn more about the Pennsylvania Home Heating Equipment Rebate Program and see a list of qualified products, visit http://www.paheatingrebates.com. Interested homeowners should keep in mind that the rebates cannot be combined with utility energy efficiency rebates for the same piece of equipment, but you can use the federal tax credit.

Category : Environment | Resources | Blog
29
Jul

From the Coalition on Human Needs (http://www.chn.org):

 

The Center on Human Needs recently released a new report called The Recession Generation: Preventing Long-Term Damage from Child Poverty and Young Adult Joblessness.

 

Without immediate action, there is growing evidence that the effects of the Great Recession will linger for years, causing lasting damage to a generation of children and young adults, according to this new report. The report cites research findings and interviews with service providers and low-income people about the hazards of growing up or coming of age in poverty and during hard times. The report also includes descriptions of programs that help, and policy recommendations to reduce the damage from the Great Recession.

 

Read the report (25 pages):  http://www.chn.org/pdf/2010/RecessionGeneration.pdf

Read the press releasehttp://www.chn.org/pdf/2010/RecessionGenPR.pdf

Read the Huffington Post blog:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-weinstein/the-recession-generation_b_661056.html

Category : Children | Human Needs | Resources | Blog
29
Jul

From the National Low Income Housing Coalition (http://www.nlihc.org):

 

The U.S. Senate, which so far has been unable to approve $1.065 billion in initial funding for the National Housing Trust Fund, has another opportunity to do so in the coming days.  Advocates should urge their Senators to take action on the National Housing Trust Fund before they adjourn for the August recess.

 

The Senate could approve $1.065 billion by passing the “extenders” package this week, either on its own, or as an amendment to H.R. 5297, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-5297) or another appropriate bill.

 

The “extenders” are the provisions that were part of H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, that were stripped out last week in order to pass separately the Unemployment Insurance provisions of H.R. 4213.

 

These “extenders” are simply extensions of a variety of business-related tax credits that must be renewed each year. They are non-controversial. The cost of these renewals would be offset by closing several tax loopholes. These offsets would also provide $1.065 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund and associated vouchers. Also included in the “extenders package” are the extension of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) 9% exchange program and two important LIHTC Gulf Coast provisions.

 

The Senate Leadership needs to get these provisions to the floor. Adding them as an amendment to H.R. 5297 is one option.

 

Call your Senators toll-free at 877-210-5351. Remind them of the effects of the recession and housing crisis in your community, and tell them you want the funding for the National Housing Trust Fund to be approved now. Tell them you want the “extenders” bill with the $1.065 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund and Low Income Housing Tax Credit provisions passed this week.

 

Please call this week even if you have called before. Your Senators need to hear from you!

Category : Human Needs | Take Action | Blog