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________________________________________________________________ACTIONET
July 15, 2009
Action Alert!
09-10 Budget
Priorities
Budget decisions are
always tough. But this year's $3 billion deficit makes
decisions even tougher. Despite this, we cannot
let our elected officials ignore the fact that millions
of Pennsylvanians are also facing their own extremely
tough personal budget decisions.
Below are 3 areas LAMPa
believes are crucial to people living in or on the verge
of poverty. You do not need to be an expert!
You simply need to share your concern for your fellow
Pennsylvanians.
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Hunger |
There are 1.4 million
Pennsylvanians who do not have reliable access to
adequate food. 423,000 Pennsylvanian's are hungry.
These numbers have increased dramatically
since last year!
Click here to e-mail your State Rep., State Senator,
and the Governor to support increased funding for 6 key
hunger safety net programs.
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Health Care |
By the end of June 255,000
Pennsylvanians were on the waiting list of adultBasic
health insurance. Last year the waiting list was
83,000!
Visit the
PA Health Access Network website to learn more
about adultBasic and why it is in crisis. Visit
LAMPa's health care page to see a sample letter
to State Senators in support of House Bill 1, a plan to
expand adultBasic, which passed the House at the end of
June. You can find your State
Senator's contact information by entering your zipcode
on the LAMPa homepage and then clicking on the "state"
tab.
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Education  |
In 2008,
the PA General Assembly took the historic step of
adopting a funding formula for public education that
assured equity and adequacy for our
children. However, now the funding necessary in 09-10
to keep up with the recommendations of the formula is in
jeopardy!
Send an e-mail to your State legislators using a
form provided by the PA School Funding Campaign.
Click here to watch a short video and to add your
story and voice to a statewide message board in support
of quality education for all.
** Bonus Action:
Consider writing a letter to the Editor about one
of these issues. If you'd like some help, contact the
LAMPa office at lampa@lamp.org
or 717-545-3500. Many advocacy groups have sample
letters to the editor to get you started. Some even
have templates that fill in the contact info for the
newspapers for you automatically based on your address!
For up to the hour budget updates and model language
visit the
PA Budget and Policy Center. To write about Federal
health care reform (or better yet modify their language
to apply to state policy!) use the
PHAN letter to the editor resource provided by
Families USA.
To explore any of these
issues in more detail, visit the LAMPa homepage (www.lamp.org)
and click on the appropriate Issue Brief on the
left side of the page.
ELCA Policy
Base:
Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All;
Caring for Health, Our Shared Endeavor; and
Our Calling in Education |
