The Governor's Budget target the Most Vulnerable

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett unveiled a 2012-13 state budget that turns its back on the most needy.

Among the items on his chopping block is the General Assistance(GA) program, established in 1937, during the Great Depression. GA provides a maximum of $205 per month to more than 68,000 people in the state. Recipients of this program are disabled adults, domestic-violence survivors, people caring for a sick or disabled person, and those in drug and alcohol recovery program. More than 35,000 of those recipients live in Philadelphia.

The governor says he wants to "right-size" welfare, and he suggests that the system has been abused by people who should be steered from public coffers. But there is no evidence of the GA program's being misused. Even with most people out of work due to the economy, less than 0.5 percent Pennsylvanians receive General Assistance dollars. Eliminating the safety net will save an estimated $150 million annually. But the cuts will likely send the poor to already overwhelmed community agencies struggling to meet growing demands.

Eliminating this welfare program is morally and economically wrong.

The Very Poor In Need of Concern

Flush with victory after win in the Florida primary, Mitt Romney appeared on CNN Wednesday morning and said this: "I'm in the race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there."

We here at St. Francis Inn Ministries are very concerned about the very poor. We experience them every day in our ministry. We walk with them and listen to their stories.

As has been widely reported, a full 15 percent of Americans live below the poverty line (which is $18,530 for a family of three) and 6.7 percent of Americans live in deep poverty (defined as half the poverty line.) Half of all Americans are either poor or low-income, living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Unlike middle-income Americans, low-income and poor Americans often do not have the resources to recover from any economic hurdles. Without any kind of savings or other assets, these hurdles can level low-income and poor households facing very difficult circumstances, even homelessness.