Even
though work still isn’t complete on last year’s budget (Congress is still negotiating the tax cuts which it included),
this year’s budget process is already underway. Earlier this month, President
Bush initiated this year’s budget debate with the release of his 2007 Budget, which outlines his priorities for the
year. Much like last year’s budget, the President’s 2007 budget again
emphasizes military spending and additional tax cuts at the expense of critical human needs programs.
Now
that the President’s budget is out, Congress has begun work on the annual budget resolution (for an explanation of the
budget process, please click here). The House and Senate Budget Committees are planning to “mark-up” the budget resolution within the next two
weeks. Senators and Representatives need to hear from YOU that the President’s
priorities are not the right priorities for the country and that our nation deserves a better budget.
ACTION NEEDED:
1. Write
your Senators and Representative urging them to support a better budget. A sample letter is available on our action website for you to edit and send. (The letter will appear under the issue title “The President’s Budget” –
if you don’t see this on the site yet, check back later in the day)
2. Have
your organization or community sign-on to budget letters being circulated by national coalitions:
NEWS FROM THE FIELD
This
week we also wanted to highlight a couple of issues that members of our listserv have brought to our attention.
STOP
IRS TARGETING OF THE POOR
Back
in January several newspapers ran articles about the IRS freezing tens of thousands of tax refunds of low-income filers who
claimed the earned-income tax credit (EITC). These low-income filers were audited
at higher rate than other filers (rather than focusing on corporate and higher income returns where the bulk of the near $300
billion in uncollected taxes lies) and a report from the IRS’ own national taxpayer advocate indicates that a majority
of them showed no evidence of any kind of fraud. Advocates suggest sending a
letter to IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson to stop this unfair targeting. A sample
letter is provided here. For more information, click here.
SUPPORT
LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
From
the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) – Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) has re-introduced the Child Protective
Services Student Loan Forgiveness Act -- R 127. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to create a demonstration program
designed to bring more highly trained individuals into the child welfare system and keep them in the field for longer periods
of time. Only students who obtain either a BSW or MSW and are employed in a state child welfare agency, or public or private
agency under contract with the state, would be eligible. Loan forgiveness would begin in the third year of employment.
This
legislation is still in search of a Republican co-sponsor and needs more co-sponsors overall in order to move forward. NASW
has a sample letter that you can edit and sent to your Representatives here. For more information, please click here.
