Pennsylvania Conference of Bisho

Pennsylvania Conference of Bishops

September 8, 2005

To: Senator Arlen Specter, Senator Rick Santorum, Congresswomen Melissa Hart and Allyson Schwartz, Congressmen Bob Brady, Chaka Fattah, Charles Dent, Michael F. Doyle, Phil English, Mike Fitzpatrick, Jim Gerlach, Tim Holden, Paul Kanjorski, Tim Murphy, John Murtha, Todd Platts, John E. Peterson, Joseph R. Pitts, Don Sherwood, Bill Shuster, Curt Weldon

As bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America representing all regions of Pennsylvania, we write today to express our concern about poverty in the United States. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on communities of the Gulf Coast graphically and tragically revealed just a small portion of the human face of poverty dwelling in the world’s wealthiest nation.

Clearly, the $10.5 billion in emergency aid approved by Congress, the potential for more federal aid this week, and the billions more from relief efforts of charitable organizations, including our own Lutheran Disaster Response, will hardly be sufficient to meet the immediate necessities of Hurricane Katrina’s victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

While this immediate and targeted response to natural disaster is necessary, it is far from sufficient to address the systemic problems related to poverty throughout our country. Government appropriating shared tax dollars must be deeply involved in preventing and addressing the poverty that has been exposed so strikingly by media coverage of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.

The incident of Katrina has turned this nation’s attention profoundly to poverty in this country. Now our focus must expand to comprehend poverty’s true scope as well as several current events and policy proposals that illuminate our federal government’s responsibility for the poor as well as the broader common good. These circumstances include new Census data on poverty, new Pennsylvania data on wages in the Commonwealth, and several proposals before Congress to address both the needs of poor and vulnerable citizens and the sources of income which will allow our government to address them. We bear the responsibility to prod your leadership in all these matters.

As Lutheran leaders, we are rooted in a tradition that holds government to be a creation of God for the sake of human community. We cannot help but notice, in the faces of the poor in the Gulf Coast and in cities and towns across our nation, the need for our federal government to address poverty and its related problems more effectively.

Current Pennsylvania poverty related news that has prompted our communication with you includes:

the U.S. Census Bureau release of 2004 poverty data indicating that Pennsylvania is one of only seven states where more citizens are poor than a year ago. 10.9 percent of Pennsylvanians are now listed among those living in poverty, and even more of our citizens – 11.7 percent – are struggling to stay well as they live without any health insurance.

the annual Labor Day release of The State of Working Pennsylvania by Keystone Research Center revealed that falling wages contributed to a rise in Pennsylvania poverty rates by 20 percent since 1999-2000. Our lowest paid workers have lost ground for a third year in a row.

Certainly, while many factors contribute to the chronic suffering of the Pennsylvania families and individuals living in poverty, federal government policy can and should make a positive, healthy difference in their lives. As the fall session of Congress begins and you look to fulfill your role as public servants, economic insecurity continues to be a stark reality for many Pennsylvania children, families and individuals.

We are aware that the Congressional budget blueprint requires nearly $35 billion in “mandatory” program reductions. Nevertheless, we ask the following:

Medicaid: Hold harmless from further Medicaid cuts those who cannot afford medical insurance. Medicaid and those desperate for its services were hit directly by passage of the Commonwealth’s 2005-06 budget, which limited their access to care. This is not the time for the federal government to prevent medical care to those most in need in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Food Stamps: Resist attempts to undermine the structural integrity of the Food Stamp Program by approving suggested broad new and unproven waiver authority and/or the block granting of the program. These proposals have been approved by the House as a way to enhance state flexibility, but Pennsylvania has been so successful in utilizing the Food Stamp Program’s existing flexibility that we received a $5 million bonus award for achieving one of the country’s lowest error rates.

To “block grant” the nation’s most successful anti-hunger program is to shred it into 50 inconsistent pieces. Hunger is a national problem which requires a national response, consistent eligibility standards and rules across the country.

TANF: Ensure that TANF remains outside of the budget reconciliation process and pass another temporary extension to keep cash benefits and child care flowing to families continuing to struggle in poverty. We are aware that, this week, there is movement toward such an extension. While federal budget negotiations continue, poor families await a decision on whether or not they can continue to rely on help from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Changes to this program have stalled in the 107^th, 108^th and now the109^th Congress. This is not the time to restrict benefits or funding.

We realize that the above mentioned anti-poverty efforts are in various stages of negotiations in both houses of Congress. However, each and every one of you, as members of the Pennsylvania delegation, has the power to speak to leaders to influence decisions, now, that affect those in most dire need.

Estate Tax: Our final concern relates to the repeal of the Estate Tax. Gradual phase-out of this tax has already affected the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reducing income to the state by an estimated $78.7 million per year.

Repeal of this tax would shift roughly $1.5 billion per week from the Federal Treasury into the pockets of the heirs to the nation’s biggest fortunes at a time when thousands of Americans are without homes, jobs, basic essentials and also without the assurance that any of these necessities of daily life are forthcoming.

Again, we see a profound long range impact of this tax repeal, notwithstanding the immediate needs of Katrina’s aftermath. The common good will not be served by depleting our common treasury when so many compelling needs must be met now and in the future.

You will be making decisions about various social and economic policies that are bound to shape the soul of the United States for years to come. We come to you, united in a faith that compels our response to the “least of these”. We ask for your sincere and compassionate response for the days and years ahead.

In peace, seeking justice,