Be patient, keep up your efforts and wait for the economy to improve.
That was the message from Northern Virginia legislators to social justice
advocates gathered recently at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington.
The annual Richmond Legislative Wrap-Up session — co-sponsored by Social
Action Linking Together (SALT), the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness (VCEH),
Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE) and the Virginia Coalition
of Latino Organizations (V ACOLAO) — drew 10 state legislators and about
75 other participants.
Following an opening prayer by Father Gerry Creedon, St. Charles pastor and chair
of the diocesan Peace and Justice Commission, and remarks by Jeff Caruso, director
of the Virginia Catholic Conference, SALT coordinator John Horejsi observed that
none of SALT’s priorities for the 2008 legislative session were enacted.
Among them were a pilot program proposed by SALT and VCEH to help homeless working
families move from shelters to rental housing, and a modest increase proposed
by SALT in benefits to parents and children on Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families (TANF).
TANF recipients have had one 10 percent increase in their benefits since 1985,
Horejsi said, and their benefits are now less than a quarter of the federal poverty
level. Yet the TANF caseload is down 58 percent since 1995, while federal TANF
funding to Virginia has remained constant. As a result, the state should have
ample federal money available to fund SALT’s priorities, Horejsi argued,
even given the tight state budget.
He asked the audience to imagine the public outcry if Social Security recipients
had received but a single cost-of-living adjustment in their benefits since 1985.
“What more can we do?” Horejsi asked the legislators.
VCEH’s Sue Capers asked the same question with respect to the pilot proposal
for rental assistance. She noted that thousands of poor and unemployed Virginians
are turned away from homeless shelters every year, in part because the shelters
are housing families with working parents whose income is insufficient to afford
the high cost of rental housing.
In response, legislators praised SALT and the other organizations for their advocacy
efforts and encouraged them to persevere. Del. David Englin, D-45, who had patroned
the pilot rental assistance program in the House, noted that Catholic social
teaching has much in common with the values of his Jewish faith. Advocacy is
valuable in educating legislators to those values, he said, even if the current
budget climate makes it difficult to fund worthwhile initiatives.
Del. Brian Moran, D-46, agreed. Quoting John F. Kennedy’s “a rising
tide lifts all boats” metaphor, Moran encouraged advocates to continue
lobbying for social justice issues so that, when the economy improves and additional
state revenue is available, the legislators will be familiar with the issues.
Del. David Albo, R-42, and Sen. George Barker, D-39, both noted that the 2008
General Assembly did manage to approve increased funding for education, mental
health and Medicaid. Barker complimented SALT on its willingness to tackle difficult
issues, the breadth of its bipartisan outreach, and its persistence.
