March 28, 2008
APP Events Upcoming!
Let me start today by blatantly promoting two upcoming events sponsored by APP. The first is the forum we will sponsor for faith leaders in the southern part of the state – Poverty and the Alabama Faith Community. This will take place on Thursday, April 10 at Spring Hill College in Mobile.
Intended to provide resources about poverty for faith leaders, this event will feature Wayne Flynt and others who will speak to the nature of poverty in Alabama and what congregations can do to address it. Click here for more information on our website.
The second event is Alabama Possible, our camp for high school students. The basic purpose of the camp is to enlighten future leaders about poverty in our state and to encourage their involvement in addressing poverty.
You can learn more about Alabama Possible on our website as well. Help us identify students who can come!
Alabama’s Congressional Delegation and Poverty Legislation
This recent article tells us about a report on U.S. congressional state delegations and their support (or lack of support) for poverty program legislation. It turns out that Alabama is not alone in that those states that report higher levels of poverty get a low level of support from their own congresspersons and senators concerning anti-poverty legislation. In other words, if your state has a lot of low-income folks, it’s likely that your delegation is voting against legislation aimed at helping those folks.
This is a disturbing, but perhaps not too surprising, correlation. I suspect it reflects the general suspicious attitude in states like Alabama. Even though the War on Poverty resulted in a significant reduction in poverty, there is a general suspicion of governmental programs that address poverty.
The full report from the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law can be downloaded here. Take a look and join me in thinking about the larger ramifications of what these figures reveal.
Legislative Issues in our State
In the meantime, our legislature is in session with a few poverty-related issues on its collective plate. One is the proposal of tax reform in legislation proposed by Rep. John Knight.
Part of that plan calls for removal of the state portion of tax on food. Here is one editorial in support of that idea. And here’s another.
Constitutional reform has gathered some steam, but does face some difficulties. Still, there’s opportunity here to make long-term changes for the good in our state.
And Montgomery is staring also in the face of revenue shortfalls that threaten every service the state provides. That struggle is reflected in the governor’s proposed budget, one that cuts deeply into provisions for the most needful programs. The Anniston Star writes that the governor’s proposal reflects the wrong priorities.
The Impact on Regular Folk
While the lines of the legislative process move on, sluggish though they may be, regular people struggle with new challenges every day.
Here’s a national article that describes the difficulty of just buying gas, especially when jobs are so far away. The piece focuses on Camden, Alabama in Wilcox County, the poorest county in the state. But we can be confident the situation is reflected in many places across the state, especially in the more rural parts of Alabama.
And here’s a story that reminds us of how difficult it is to make ends meet with a job that pays minimum wage. Even in the state’s wealthiest county, there’s an effort to maximize those federal programs for the poor, a reminder of how legislation can make a difference.
Then there’s the challenge of replacing jobs that have been leaving the state in high numbers. This article describes the situation in a place I’m quite familiar with. Chambers County is where my family’s roots run deep. Both my parents grew up there, and my mother’s folks worked for decades in the textile mills in the area. Now many of those jobs are gone, 2500 jobs being lost last year in the city of Valley alone, most of those being textile jobs.
But there’s hope with the Kia plant being built nearby in Georgia. Some of those jobs will likely go to Alabama folks.
In the meantime, the gas is still expensive everywhere, even if you don’t have a job to go to these days.
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