Advocates for poor seek increase in NY cash assistance

from The Staten island Advance

By MARK JOHNSON

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — In 1995, Maureen Lane of New York City was jobless and lacked a high school diploma.

She went on public assistance, but within two years had passed a graduation equivalency test and enrolled in Hunter College in New York City. She now serves as the co-director of the college's Welfare Rights Initiative.

On Tuesday, Lane went to Albany to argue for more resources to give people like her the same chance to rise out of poverty.

Lane and other advocates say cash assistance for the poor in New York has remained the same since 1990. That means a family of three living in poverty receives $291 a month. They want that amount increased to $435 monthly. Mark Dunlea of the Hunger Action Network of New York State said that would cost the state about $30 million annually, given that the federal and local governments pick up 75 percent of the total cost.

"The benefit level is less than 50 percent of the poverty level," Lane said. "Raising a family on that in New York is painful. It doesn't help families move forward."

The number of New Yorkers receiving cash assistance dropped to 554,998 at the end of 2006 from the high of 1.7 million in April 1994, according to David Hansell, acting commissioner of the state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance.

Advocates for the poor, however, say there has not been a comparable decline in poverty, so the state's cash assistance programs now provide support to a much smaller percentage of poor families. They say low-income workers, public assistance recipients who have not been able to find or keep a job and those who are unable to work still rely on those payments to make ends meet. There were about 2.76 million New Yorkers living at or below the poverty level in 2005, down from about 3 million in 1995, according to U.S. Census data.

Spokesman Michael Hayes said OTDA has focused its efforts on getting people into jobs and off of public assistance. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has proposed a $9.2 million increase to the $1 billion fund dedicated to public assistance in his $120.6 billion budget.

"Given the resources we have, our policy is to utilize those funds toward work supports," Hayes said. "To get out of poverty, the first step is working. With food stamps and other programs available, such as home heating assistance, a person can be elevated out of poverty."

Hayes noted that the number of people getting food stamps in New York has risen to 1.8 million. That's a 37 percent increase since January 2002. About 70 percent of food stamp recipients do not receive cash assistance.

Those working minimum wage jobs in New York also automatically qualify for an earned income tax credit worth $3,000 or more a year. That amounts to $665 million a year paid by the state.

"We are mindful of those cases where people have difficulty working, but we have got to make it so work is the preferable option," Hayes said.

Dunlea, however, says more needs to be done. His group also wants the state to expand the education and training programs targeted to welfare participants and the unemployed as well as increased funding for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program and the establishment of a state Food Policy Council.