PathWays PA Policy Blog

Sequestration is almost here.... again. If you remember, back in 2011, Congress passed a law to cut spending. Included in the law was a deadline that was supposed to bring members of Congress to the table to negotiate a bipartisan agreement - one that would cut another $1 trillion from the federal budget across the board. (If you don't remember, check out our posts here and here .) A temporary agreement kept those cuts from taking place, but that package (the "Murray-Ryan" deal) expires in fiscal year 2016 - aka October 1, 2015. If Congress doesn’t take action, disastrous budget cuts to our nation’s most critical programs—including early education, veterans’ care, law enforcement, women’s health, and more-- will go back into effect, causing pain to millions of Americans across the country. That’s why more than 2,500 national, state and local organizations are calling on Congress to avoid the impending fiscal disaster and end sequestration. These organizations have...

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a critical life line for Pennsylvania's children, youth and families. In July, 43 percent of Pennsylvanians receiving SNAP benefits were children and youth. Nearly a quarter of a million of the Commonwealth's infants and children under the age of five benefited from the SNAP Program. The safety net for this state's fragile children and families is already frayed. Now is not the time to launch another attack on an important building block to a child's health, safety and school readiness - good nutrition. Families are already bracing for a reduction in SNAP benefits this fall as a result of an expiring provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). And then there is the squeeze of sequestration.  Even as families struggle, U.S. House leaders are prepping another assault on SNAP - this time in the form of a $40 billion (double what was rejected back in June) cut woven into benign soundi...

With the upcoming cuts due to sequestration that will affect 57,000 children in Head Start, the Center for American Progress and the National Head Start Association will hold and event tomorrow, August 28 beginning at 10:00am to focus on the impact of the cuts to the Head Start program and the need to refocus the conversation on early childhood toward one about strategic investments. Panel of guests will include: Martha Coven, Associate Director for Education, Income Maintenance, and Labor, U.S. Office of Management and Budget  Michael Linden, Managing Director, Economic Policy, Center for American Progress  Sharon Parrott, Vice President for Budget Policy and Economic Opportunity, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities  Colleen Rathgeb, Director of Policy, Office of Head Start  Space is limited, so RSVP is required!  You can also watch the live webcast!

From 11AM-Noon on Wednesday, August 7, the Coalition on Human Needs and National Council for Jewish Women will host a program call for anti-poverty professionals, local leaders, and activists about the impact of the federal budget and sequestration on vulnerable families in Pennsylvania and the potential impacts on programs and services. The discussion will surround what policies must be enacted in order to lower poverty rates and increase fairness. Please RSVP . If you have questions, please contact Angie Evans: aevans@chn.org

Your help is needed to lobby Congress to exempt VOCA, the Victims of Crime Act, from federal sequestration. VOCA is a non-taxpayer fund that does not contribute to the national debt. It is estimated that cuts to VOCA will result in 785,000 victims annually, not being able to receive the services they need! This includes victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence agencies, including Women in Transition, depend on the VOCA to assist women. Please contact your member of Congress and ask them to sponsor H.R. 2238 to exempt VOCA from federal sequestration.

Tomorrow, the House is expected to take up its Farm Bill and your help is needed protecting SNAP from proposed cuts - cuts that would cause 2 million individuals to lose their benefits entirely, 210,000 children to lose free school meals, and 850,000 households to see their benefits cut by an average $90 per month. Join advocates from across the country and call your member of Congress and urge him/her to support and protect SNAP. Pick up the phone, dial 866-527-1087 and urge your Member of Congress to speak out in support of SNAP and vote against any harmful amendments to SNAP funding.

The Coalition on Human Needs has been compiling stories about real harm. Poor people with disabilities, one step away from homelessness, who were given a rental voucher only to have it snatched back because of federal sequestration cuts. Three to five year olds dropped from Head Start, or losing summer programs. Seniors only getting home-delivered meals every other Friday. Long-term unemployed with benefits cut 10 percent or more (nearly 18 percent in California). The country needs is a comprehensive fix to all the cuts caused by sequestration - fixing the cuts that leave people hungry, threaten homelessness and health care, shortchange children's education and the unemployeds' chance at jobs, just to name some of what is happening around the country. Email Your Congressperson Now!

Folks around the country are already feeling the impact of cuts made by the sequester to workforce development programs. These programs are designed to help those out of work get retrained and hired for jobs that are available in this new economy. Programs like this are essential in helping get people back to work and earning a steady paycheck. You can read personal stories using this interactive map and also submit your own story .

You can donate today at  https://www.justgive.org/basket?acton=donate&ein=23-2001837 . Dear Special Friends of PathWays PA, As many of you already know, federal sequestration (across-the-board federal budget cuts) took effect on March 1. PathWays PA is already feeling the impact of these cuts, as federal funding for our programs supporting homeless and runaway girls has been held up in Washington, D.C. PathWays PA remains committed to helping our runaway and homeless youth through programs like Transitional Living (TLP) and the Girls SHElter. However, these programs are at risk – and so are the girls and families who have transitioned from long-term homelessness to secure and stable homes through these programs. Transitional Living Program (TLP) provides transitional living services to young women ages 16-21 years (and their children) who are not involved in the child welfare system. Girls SHElter (Basic Center Program) provides housing and offers runaway preventi...

Workforce funding is not just another line item in the budget. It is a lifeline to workers and industries all over this country. We've been telling Congress that further cuts will devastate re-employment efforts, but now your stories are needed. Tell your story about what's been lost due to cuts already and what stands to be lost if sequestration is not stopped. We will share these stories to illustrate the need for lawmakers to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not further disinvest in America's workforce. If you have questions, please contact Josh Spaulding .

Unless Congress acts within the next week, vulnerable children, families and seniors will face deep cuts in the services they depend on to put food on the table. Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of pregnant women and children will lose nutrition assistance provided by the WIC program. Seniors will receive 4 million fewer meals through Meals on Wheels. And nearly a quarter of a million people will lose the housing assistance that helps them afford a safe place to live.  Join advocates around the country and ask Congress to not harm our community and struggling families.

Sequestration is scheduled to take place on Friday, March 1, and Pennsylvania will lose $4.4 million in funds that support mostly disabled and formerly homeless adults and their families in permanent housing programs, and transitional housing for homeless persons and families. Please see this chart showing how each region in Pennsylvania might be affected. As you can see from the chart, Philadelphia alone stands to lose almost $1.5 million. We strongly urge you to contact Senators Toomey and Brady, and your Congressional House member today to speak out against this looming threat to the people and families that we serve.

Sequestration is now set to be enacted on March 1. This is a measure that was part of the original debt ceiling increase compromise. A bipartisan budget committee that was assigned to find savings, cuts and revenues available was unable to meet its deadline, so sequestration is what has followed. It is comprised of deep cuts to domestic programs such as LIHEAP and TANF as well as defense spending. Congress and the Administration are engaged in intense negotiations to prevent this from happening, however, no agreement has been reached. We need to protect critical programs that are vulnerable to further devastating cuts. Sign the letter asking Congress to avoid sequestration through a balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not include further cuts to NDD programs.

While the 112th Congress came to an agreement last night to avert huge spending cuts and tax increases, they left more decisions to be made by the 113th Congress that will be sworn in tomorrow.  Here are some of the highlights: Debt Ceiling: Even though the debt ceiling was the impetus leading to the "fiscal cliff," it remains a problem to be solved. The 2011 deal to raise the debt ceiling was expected to be a short term fix, and, as of December 31, 2012, the United States had once again hit the debt ceiling .  According to Secretary Geithner, the US can get by at the ceiling for two months.    The last time the debt ceiling was negotiated , the United States' credit rating ended up being decreased after Congress failed to come to an agreement.  The negotiation also set up automatic sequestration (funding cuts) to federal programs. Battle lines around the latest debt ceiling talks are already being drawn. Sequestration: After the Super Committee failed to ...

As we look at the deal made by Congress late last night, including what the deal covers and what it does not, it is important to know how we got to the fiscal cliff in the first place. Debt Ceiling:  The debt ceiling originally came about to prevent Congress from having to pass a new bill every time the Treasury Department wanted to float a bond.  In 1917, the first debt ceiling was created so that bonds could be issued up to that ceiling.  The limit has been increased many times over the years, most recently in 2011 . However, in order to pass the higher debt ceiling, Congress also had to agree to spending cuts to be made by the end of 2011 .  When the Congressional Super Committee could not come to an agreement , an automatic sequestration beginning January 1, 2013, came into effect. STATUS: The deal made on January 1, 2013, does not increase the debt ceiling. However, on December 21, 2012, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced that federal bo...

As many of you have heard, the "fiscal cliff" has been averted following House passage of a Senate bill to prevent large cuts in spending and large tax increases. Details of the bill are still emerging, but here is what we have seen so far: Income Tax Rates : Income tax rates will increase for single workers earning more than $400,000 and families earning more than $450,000.   Income tax rates in this bill will be considered "permanent," as opposed to the Bush tax cuts of 2001, which were considered temporary.   Payroll Taxes : Payroll taxes will increase for workers at all incomes, with the Social Security tax returning to 6.2% on a worker's first $113,700 in wages.  This tax was temporarily set at 4.2% two years ago. For a worker earning the national average of $41,000, this increase comes to about $32 more per biweekly paycheck. ( Here is our Facebook post describing payroll taxes .) Tax Credits : There will be a five year extension of the tax credits...

According to Dr. Heidi Hartmann, President of the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, it's likely to be women and kids who suffer first if sequestration   is implemented. Here's what she had to say when interviewed on the Equal Time With Martha Burk radio show. There are many, many things [that would be cut]. The Maternal and Child Health block grant, Title X Family Planning, the Child Care and Development block grant that supports Head Start, child support enforcement. Food stamps are cut to some extent, and other food supplements like school breakfast and lunch programs. There's unemployment insurance, Pell education grants, housing assistance, home energy assistance. We could go on and on.