Pennsylvania’s war on the poor

Around 200 protesters condemning draconian cuts in Pennsylvania’s welfare funding gathered outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on April 26, as Pennsylvania Secretary of Public Welfare Gary Alexander addressed a United Way forum inside. The cuts will take effect May 1. Welfare advocates who attempted to crash the party were physically removed by building security, further fueling the anger of those targeted by the cuts.

In his 2012-2013 budget, Gov. Tom Corbett combined the funding of seven programs that serve people most in need into a single block grant fund and implemented a 20 percent across-the-board cut to these funding streams. The funds include Medical Assistance Outpatient, Behavioral Health Services, Mental Health Services, Intellectual Disability Community Base Program, County Child Welfare, Human Services Development Fund and Homeless Assistance.

In addition Corbett proposed eliminating the General Assistance program, which provides an average monthly benefit of $205 per recipient. The Pennsylvania State Legislature also slashed funding for the State Food Purchase Program, which provides money to organizations that stock food pantries.

On May 1, Pennsylvania will implement asset testing for food stamp recipients. Families with $5,500 or more in assets, or $9,000 or more for households with seniors or disabled individuals, will be disqualified from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Critics noted that this new plan dissuades poor people from saving money. Casey Morgan, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, stated, “Families need to save money to get off government assistance and achieve self-sufficiency. So it’s not only inhumane, but counterproductive to force people to drain their savings before they can get any help.” Morgan noted that one visit to the emergency room could easily wipe out a low-income family’s savings. (CityPaper.net, Jan. 10)

The cuts in funding for food stamp programs not only hurt recipients; they also hurt the general economy. The food stamp program is actually a major economic stimulus. Every dollar of public funds spent on food stamps increases the gross domestic product by $1.73.

The number of families relying on food stamps and food pantries has nearly doubled over the last few years. More than 400,000 Philadelphians now rely on food pantries. Around 40 percent of them are children. One in three people in Philadelphia relies on food stamps.

The cuts in direct assistance follow earlier cuts in medical assistance for poor and working-class families. Since August 2011, the Corbett administration has cut off more than 150,000 people, including 43,000 children, from medical assistance.

In fact, the demand for all the programs threatened by Corbett’s cuts is at an all-time high and increasing daily, as the promised “economic recovery” fails to materialize for anyone but Wall Street’s greedy 1%. n