Members of RI Senate and House Speak Out Against Meager Funding of Public Services

“Lots of folks think Welfare is what’s destroying us.  And they’re right.  Welfare IS eating a big portion of our State budget,” said Rhode Island Senator Patrick Kennedy in his address to a crowd of less than one hundred at Pawtucket’s George Wiley Center earlier this month, but it’s not the “Welfare” everyone thinks.”

“Our priorities are upside-down. Little children go to bed hungry because their moms get a grand total of $554 a month to pay for everything – food, clothing, utilities…and we dump more — lots more — back into corporations. And by mere greed they divert their assets and sap any chance of offering any of them back,” Kennedy continued.

Kennedy appeared as a member of a panel at the Wiley addressing Income and Joblessness. U.S. Senator Lincoln Chaffee offered the keynote address. Other panels meeting simultaneously to discuss Hunger and Affordable Energy included Jean Rosiello, Esq., State Representatives Art Handy, Josh Miller, Eileen Naughton, and Betsy Dennigan, and Sen. Harold Metts among many other distinguished speakers and guests.

“3,000 families will lose their sole support in June,” stated Linda Katz, Chair Welfare Reform Implementation Task Force and Policy Director, Poverty Institute, of Rhode Island College.” As the system now holds, they are only eligible for twenty-four months of services within any five-year period. If we don’t extend the gap by May – we could use Federal funds to do this – there are families who will suffer,” added Katz.

“We need to become a “Welcome Mat” in Rhode Island for business, not a “Walking Mat,” said Karen Malcom, Executive Director of Ocean State Action. “Cutting taxes for those who earn over $250,000 just won’t retain the community wealth. Right now our state pockets 85-% of the Federal dollars returned to us that our citizens should be spending for new cars, our houses, our children. It’s a fundamental battle that must be fought — just like they did on Tea Party Day,”said Malcom.

“Please. If you do nothing else today. Investigate the theory of Economic Justice, will you?” asked Senator Harold Metts, referring to Senate Bill #539 (Mandatory Sentencing). “When I first came into office, our annual budget for the Adult Correctional Institute was $5 Million dollars. In 2007 it was $178 Million. We’ve got to start to take a look at why a person has to be able to get a job once they’re out. What’s the point in usspending time and money training folks to become barbers, for example, if the law says they can’t use those skills once they’re released? That’s just nuts, yet we do it!”said Metts. “We need a process for record expungement after an allowable time. Because somebody made a mistake when they were twenty doesn’t mean they should be punished forever. We’re just setting ourselves up for failure.”

Let’s look at the Capitol Gains Earned Income Tax Credit. Let’s just get rid of it at 15-% and issue a flat tax, same as for the wealthy. It saves on administration costs, and puts money back in the pockets of those who need it most,”added Metts. “Let’s spark business for women and minorities with tax favors – it is harder for these groups to begin – and to maintain businesses. ‘We make a mistake to wait’ said Martin Luther King. Please don’t wait…contact your representatives and support these issues today,” concluded Senator Metts.