Op-Ed: Building Bridges to a Better Life

The Times of Trenton

September 3, 2008

By DANIEL SANTO PIETRO

The U.S. Census just released findings on household income and poverty for 2007. The fact that the last six years of economic growth did not result in improving the lot of the poor should cause us to reflect on the direction New Jersey is taking in managing its budget.

New Jersey's median income grew steadily to $67,035 and is well ahead of the U.S. average of $50,740, but still we hardly made a dent in the numbers living in poverty. Now in 2008 with unemployment up and prices for household basics soaring, we can expect many more to sink into poverty and others will struggle to provide the basics for their families.

Reflecting on the last torturous New Jersey budget process, we at the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey are still left with some fundamental questions. Is the final budget fair to all concerned? Were the sacrifices equally distributed to all based on their economic ability to shoulder these burdens?

No and No.

As we review the spending plan constructed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the state Legislature, we see a plan that asks too little of the state's wealthiest residents, yet punishes many of the state's working families. We see a budget that slashes the rebate for tenants, but maintains a full rebate for virtually all but the wealthiest homeowners. We do not begrudge homeowners their rebates, but where is the sense of shared sacrifice? Unless you are a senior citizen, blind or disabled, the most a tenant can receive as a rebate is $80.

We see a budget that reduces charity care by $111 million and reapportions some of the remaining funds to urban hospitals. So what happens to a person without health insurance who goes to a hospital that receives little or no charity care? It is unclear as to whether these cuts will mean a disruption in services in some areas for those with no health insurance. No mutual sacrifice here.

The state budget lowers the salary threshold so that working families earning $45,000 will have to pay about $4,000, so their children enrolled in preschool in the state's poorest districts can receive full day care. Many working parents may have to withdraw their children from preschool because they cannot pay this cost or pick them up at 3 p.m.

The spending plan cuts $400,000 from the Center for Hispanic Policy Research and Development, which comes to almost 10 percent of the agency budget. Most of the funding given to the center assists community-based, nonprofit organizations providing programs and services to the working poor, including those whose first language is Spanish. (In fact, 40 percent of those served are not Latino.) This is despite the fact that until last year the center's budget had remained virtually stagnant for much of the last decade and the Latino community is the fastest growing in the state.

Even the one bright spot from the standpoint of the working poor, the increase in funding for FamilyCare, came from the cuts in charity care, so it is uncertain to us as of this writing whether the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages. Everything will depend on the outreach that must be done to enroll the poorest residents, especially children who are U.S. citizens living in immigrant families.

At the same time that this budget takes away from working families and makes their lives more precarious, it asks little of New Jersey's wealthiest. Better Choices, a coalition of experts and advocates, suggests minor adjustments like creating a new tax bracket for those with incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 and raising the tax rate for these individuals from 6.37 percent to 8 percent. This would put $800 million in state coffers. An increase in the vehicle registration fee for gas-guzzling vehicles that put more wear and tear on our roads or taxes on lottery winnings, like those in most states, is not in the budget. These measures and others would create a greater sense of shared sacrifice.

What is even more frightening is that next year's budget picture appears even more ominous. This state cannot and should not try to fix its budget mess by cutting back programs and services to the poorest working families.

This year's budget of woe is now something we must try to live with. We are sad to report that state government must do more to fairly distribute the burdens. Sacrifice can only be shared if everyone is forced to give up something according to their means.

Daniel Santo Pietro is executive director of the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey.

Originally published at: http://www.nj.com/opinion/times/oped/index.ssf?/base/news-0/122084670577330.xml&coll=5