Because…OHSU does such a great job caring for other vulnerable Oregonians?

I was home in Roseburg, Oregon, visiting my parents for the holidays, and noted that the Roseburg News Review published a good write-up about a local homeless shelter for teens and families with teens, Casa de Belen, on Christmas Eve. Casa de Belen is one of the many rural Oregon projects that receive Continuum of Care funding for serving homeless people. It addresses a very specific need in the community, one partially caused by the fact that many shelters, especially those for people fleeing domestic violence situations, do not allow teenage boys. Kudos to Casa de Belen on this favorable media coverage.

NCAF Blasts Bush’s Veto of Labor-HHS

WASHINGTON (Nov. 13, 2007) Community Action Agencies (CAAs) that administer self-help to low-income Americans nationwide are exasperated by President Bush’s veto of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education appropriations bill.

“This is the height of hypocrisy,” said National Community Action Foundation Executive Director David Bradley. “The President’s veto of Labor-HHS appropriations and passage of the Department of Defense appropriations in the same day is a clear-cut case of misplaced spending priorities. America will support investments in Iraq, but not invest in the education and well-being of U.S. children, low-wage workers and retirees.”

The bill would have increased Community Action’s core resource, the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and provided an increase for Head Start funding that many Community Action Agencies integrate with additional child and family development services. The bill also would have increased funding for senior programs that CAAs use for services such as senior centers and Meals on Wheels.

In addition, the Labor-HHS bill allocated 11.6 percent more for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, in which Community Action Agencies are reporting significant application increases. President Bush’s 2008 budget request contained a 17.5 percent cut in LIHEAP below 2007 funding levels.

“Recent forecasts of energy prices that are 11 percent higher than last year and colder months ahead have many low-wage working families worrying about how much energy they will need to stay warm this winter,” Bradley said. “President Bush’s veto is out of touch with the needs and expectations of the American people.

“The Labor-HHS appropriations bill would have reversed cuts in human services programs enacted over the past several years and would have made key reinvestments in America’s domestic priorities,” he said. “Voters expect our government to meet America’s domestic needs in a fiscally responsible way, and they expect the parties to work together to meet those needs.”

In the rest of the world, remittances are rising, up as much as 10 percent a year, according to Donald Terry of the Inter-American Development Bank. Last year, migrant workers worldwide sent more than $300 billion to developing countries — almost twice the amount of foreign direct investment. (IHT)

Two interesting developments as a result of this new environment for migrant workers are noted briefly: migrants in the US are saving more money for emergencies, and their families at home are engaging in more microenterprise, especially related to agriculture, as the flow of money from the North dries up.

International Herald Tribune article

Now, if he would just win the presidency again.

Looking for a status update on this legislation? See here.

Pending legislation would provide federal student loan forgiveness for long-term non-profit workers with outstanding student loans. Basic requirements for eligibility would be ten years working at non-profits and 120 student loan payments.

It seems good to me, but now that the idea is in my head, I wish the terms were more like Teach For America or the Peace Corps.

Read more at Arlene Spencer’s blog, thegrantplant.

Update: As of September 27, this bill was signed by the President and has now become law. See here for more details and a summary.

Other features of the bill that will be of interest to students and alumni of our expensive higher education system include the following (quoted from here.)

Story

Link: WaPo article

Punishing Food Stamp Success: The Bush Administration’s Farm Bill would reverse Oregon’s progress against hunger

The Agriculture Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote by Friday on the 2007 Farm Bill.

• The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating $543 million in food stamp benefits for about 329,000 low-income Americans over the next five years.
• Oregonians would suffer a larger share of the reductions than most states.
• Expanded use of food stamp benefits has proved key to reducing hunger in Oregon.

OCPP’s latest issue brief, Punishing Success: The Bush Administration Cuts Would Reverse Oregon’s Progress Against Hunger, will expand on these facts and answer questions such as:

• Who is hurt by the proposed cuts?
• Which congressional districts are hit the hardest?
• How many children would be affected?
• How are other anti-poverty and hunger programs affected?

Read the issue brief, in an HTML version (no charts), or a PDF version (with charts).