Building Power in Low-Income Communities

By Nancy Berlin
California Partnership
December 2008

California and the nation are facing enormous economic crises. Wall Street is crashing, unemployment is rising, the housing market is falling, banks are withholding credit and loans, and manufacturing has slowed.  In response to this, the federal government has started bailing out banks and corporations. But much more needs to be done, not only to provide short-term relief, but to put into place the real policy changes that will be needed to address some of the underlying problems our country faces.

This year’s struggles have compelled California Partnership to examine how we work together and to come up with different models for building power in low-income communities.  We have decided to carry out our work in a new way, by examining the community values that we hold in common and using those as a lens through which to analyze the important issues that face low-income communities and communities of color.  Our community values will be the magnet that brings us together in new and unusual partnerships and the glue that holds us together through difficult struggles. This approach enables us to begin conversations with elected leaders that start to build working relationships, and forge new alliances as we fight to better the lives of everyone in our communities.

Our community values tell us that we are all connected to each other and interdependent, that our definition of community includes everyone and leaves no one behind, that we care for each other and believe in shared responsibility and shared sacrifice, that we know everyone has inherent value.  Our greatest accomplishments as a nation have come when we've worked together for the common good.
What kinds of policy changes do these values suggest?

California needs a real solution; the bailout bill is not enough.  Low-income and working families are the most vulnerable in times like these, so the solutions below focus on how to bring the most help to these communities first.

1.  Assure that the saftey net is working and in place, and covers everyone who needs it.  TANF, th new welfare program that came in after “welfare reform,”  will need to be reauthorized in 2010.  It is woefully underfunded and restrictive. The reatuhroziation process gives us an opportunity to fight for greater flexibility for states to create programs that meet their needs, and move the focus away from punitive work particiaption rates to real jobs and training programs and meaningful outcomes such as  poverty reduction.  And the block grant should be adequately funded, so the proram can help all the families who need it.

Another way to strengthen the safety net is to increase access to food stamps.  This is something we don’t have to wait for Congress to do.  Fewer than half of those eligible for food stamps actually receive them. California could dramatically increase food stamp participation by getting rid of needless barriers, such as the requirement to fingerprint applicants and for face-to-face interviews.

Increasing these two programs not only benefits the families who use them, they stimulate the economy as a whole since the TANF dollars and food stamps that families receive are spent directly in their communities to pay rent, buy groceries and other necessities.

2.  Create more and better jobs.  Unemployment has been on the rise for 5 months in a row, and even families who are working don’t earn enough to make ends meet.  An increase of the minimum wage, and indexing the minimum wage, would give an immediate boost to working families.  Stronger benefit packages that guarantee health care and paid leave to all workers will lead to greater work productivity and peace of mind.  More funds for job training – think the scale of the GI Bill after World War II – will make sure we have workers ready for the 21st century.

3.  Guarantee quality, affordable health care for everyone. If Congress can’t come up with comprehensive health care reform in 2009, they should at the very least expand health care for children by increasing funds for SCHIP and passing the Immigrant Children’s Health Insurance Act to ensure that all legal immigrant children have access to health care.  Here’s something the new president can do immediately:  sign into law the SCHIP bill that President Bush vetoed twice.

4.  Put into place tax policies that work for all of us.  Taxes are the way we take care of each other.  They are what help us pay for schools, libraries, roads and safety net programs. We need to educate ourselves and our communities about the need for more just tax policies so that we all benefit.  Some immediate ways to change tax policies to help low-income and working families would be to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit (and maybe even create a California Earned Income Tax Credit!) and expand child tax credits.  In California, we need to get rid of tax loopholes so that corporations pay their fair share, and we can begin to get rid of the structural tax inequities that have resulted in billions of dollars in deficits and cuts to vital services.

Change is in the air. Now is the time to let Congress and state legislators know what we want and need, and to hold our new administration and elected officials accountable to their election promises.  Let’s take advantage of the energy and hope of the election season to create real change and better lives for our communities.