Anti-poverty bill may gain steam

from the Fayetteville Observer

John Fuquay

RALEIGH — An anti-poverty bill that could provide millions of dollars to North Carolina counties may have a better chance of congressional approval this year than it has seen in two previous attempts.

The bill would create the Southeast Crescent Authority, which would be modeled after the Appalachian Regional Commission that has lifted millions of people from poverty in a region that includes the North Carolina mountains.

The proposed authority, which is rooted in North Carolina, would serve seven southeastern states, including the southeastern two-thirds of the Tar Heel state.

The idea was developed in 2001 in a study at East Carolina University and has twice been submitted to Congress. Both times, the legislation was derailed by other bills.

Now the bill has been refiled by U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican.

“It’s always had bipartisan support,” McIntyre said. “There’s never been any problem with it; it’s just been held up because of some other economic development bills.”

He said the House Subcommittee on Economic Development unanimously supported the bill in 2005, but it was held up last year because of other bills before the committee.

“I’m very optimistic about it this session,” he said.

McIntyre has been involved with a bill to create the authority ever since it was proposed in the ECU poverty study six years ago. He introduced it again on the session’s opening day Jan. 4, and Dole introduced her bill — identical to McIntyre’s — earlier this week.

The bill initially would provide $40 million annually for five years, and could be reauthorized in subsequent years. The seven-state region includes 429 counties, including the entire Cape Fear region, but only about half the counties would be poor enough to qualify for aid.

“We here in the seven southeastern states have been hit with the highest levels of unemployment and the highest levels of poverty,” McIntyre said. “We need a federal focus on economic development and job opportunity.”

Al Delia co-wrote and presented the ECU study and has testified twice before a House committee in Washington about the bill. Based on results of the 1965 Appalachian Regional Commission, he said the appropriated money has had a 10-fold benefit and cut poverty in half.

“With the Crescent Authority, we have that same opportunity. For every federal dollar, there is a 10-to-1 match from private sector money and local government money,” Delia said. “That could provide almost $60 million a year in each state for some of the most poverty-stricken counties.”

Delia, who has left ECU and is now president of N.C.’s Eastern Region development agency, said he believes the new Congress may be more receptive to the bill. Democrats now control both chambers and want to end the military presence in Iraq.

“I think the focus in Congress is changing with more emphasis on domestic issues and legislation,” he said.

Dole said the Crescent Authority would help a region plagued with many social ills.

“Some areas in the rural South fall behind the national average in education, economic opportunity, health-care access and infrastructure. This is unacceptable and must be remedied,” she said in a statement.

Staff writer John Fuquay can be reached at fuquayj@fayobserver.com or (919) 828-7641.