BUDGET VOTE DELAYED AGAIN!
Keep up the good work! Your calls have forced House
leaders to delay the budget vote for at least another week as they continue to scramble to find enough votes. However, pressure
to pass a budget is mounting and a vote could happen this week (most likely on Thursday).
In addition, the second part of last year's budget
reconciliation battle is resurfacing as an agreement on the tax reconciliation package has been reached by House and Senate
negotiators. This agreement would provide an additional $70 billion in tax cuts, primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans,
and comes on the heels of the devastating reconciliation cuts to Medicaid, child support, foster care, student loans and other
programs.
President Franklin Roosevelt once said, "The test of
our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those
who have too little." With current tax and budget policies moving us in the wrong
direction, it is critical that advocates continue speak out to ensure that programs that help families and children do not
once again face the chopping block and that our government has adequate resources to provide for the needs our country is
facing.
ACTION NEEDED
1. Write your Representative and urge her/him to oppose
any proposal that forces cuts in human needs programs and to vote against the tax reconciliation conference report. A sample
letter is provided at our action website for you to edit and send.
For a reflection on economic decisions and Catholic
social teaching, please visit this Education for Justice webpage (Education for Justice if a project of the Center of Concern)
For more information on the budget and taxes, check
out our latest budget update.
MAY IS FOSTER CARE MONTH
In recognition of the wonderful work that many Good
Shepherd agencies are doing in foster care and with youth who have been involved in the foster care system, we wanted to highlight
resources and action ideas celebrating Foster Care Month 2006. The Foster Care
Month website lists a number of ways for you to be involved personally as within your agency or community.
It also has many educational resources that can help you raise awareness of the needs within the foster care system.
In addition, Wednesday May 10th has been
designated as a special call-in day in support of kinship care (grandparents and other relatives raising children whose parents
cannot care for them) and to urge Senators to co-sponsor the Kinship Caregiver Support Act.
The Kinship Caregiver Support Act, S. 985, is a bipartisan bill that authorizes the federal government to make kinship
navigator grants to assist caregivers to connect with services for children, and authorizes states to provide Title IV-E payments
to kinship caregivers (an arrangement currently prohibited by Department of Health and Human Services regulations). Current
co-sponsors are Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), John Kerry (D-MA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Barack Obama
(D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
ACTION NEEDED
Please contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor
this important piece of legislation that will make it easier for children to find safe and stable homes, by allowing kinship
caregivers access to the resources they need to care for the children. A toll-free number has been provided, 1-888-233-1221,
which will connect you to the Capitol Switchboard at which point you can request to speak with your Senators.
For more information on Kinship Care, please visit
the Child Welfare League of America.
MAY
13TH IS WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY (info from HandCrafting Justice)
On May 13th we should all take a moment to consider
the time and energy that went into each and every product we consume, be it food, clothing or anything else. Who made this product? Were they paid a living wage? Do they have humane working conditions? We
here at HandCrafting Justice and Fair Trade Uniforms, two projects of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, work to provide goods
and works of art from around the world where we can rest easy, knowing that the women and men who make these goods are on
a path to improving their lives and the lives of their families. Please, visit
our websites for more information: www.handcraftingjustice.org and www.fairtradeuniforms.org or visit the Fair Trade Resource Network’s site for events and information about World Fair Trade Day: http://fairtraderesource.org/.
