Surviving Our Economic Hurricane

The arrival of hurricane season is tapping into a deep national anxiety about the potential human and economic costs of another catastrophic storm.

Three years ago, Hurricane Katrina opened our eyes to Americans who were largely invisible -- Americans living in poverty. Our individual and collective consciousness was shocked to discover how many families live one short step away from disaster. We watched in horror to see that people with few economic or educational opportunities, were not able to access transportation, food and other supports to help them survive the storm or recover long after Katrina had passed through.

Three years later and far from the Gulf Coast, many Pennsylvania families who struggle in the best of times have also been hit hard by the turbulence in the economy.

Congress soon will return to work. If they put politics aside they can do three things immediately to help families stay afloat: expand the Child Tax Credit, support an economic recovery package and provide adequate interim funding for key domestic programs.

Every day, Pennsylvania moms and dads get up and go to work -- sometimes working multiple jobs and often without health insurance. They struggle to pay $4.00 a gallon for milk, afford the mind-numbing costs of filling the gas tank, and cover out-of-pocket medical costs, all the while worrying that they are one paycheck away from homelessness. Pennsylvania families are working hard, yet many are barely keeping their heads above water.

Congress can provide Pennsylvania children and families with a degree of shelter from the storm by expanding the Child Tax Credit ( CTC). Congress needs to lower the CTC eligibility threshold from $12,050 to $8,500 in 2008. This modest, yet essential, modification would ensure that 91,659 Pennsylvania children would become eligible for the CTC and another 317,510 children would receive an increased tax benefit.

If Congress needs inspiration to set politics aside and put families first they need only look to recently released Census poverty data for 2007. America’s economy grew remarkably from 2001 to 2007. Yet, despite significant economic growth, Pennsylvania’s 2007 poverty rate was higher than in 2001, more families were living without health insurance and wages had just barely nudged above pre-recession levels. Nearly sixteen percent of this state’s children lived in poverty in 2007.

Tragically, the 2007 story only serves to underscore an even bleaker reality confronting Pennsylvania families today. The economy is weaker, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has grown to 5.4 percent, a credit crisis still threatens many families with foreclosure or bankruptcy, and more working families need food stamps to feed their children.

As the economic storm continues to churn, Congress should revisit options to get the economy moving again. It must include components that economists of all political stripes have agreed would truly stimulate the economy, including a boost in food stamp benefits. While Congress recently acted to strengthen America’s nutrition programs, the average food stamp benefit remains $1 per person per meal, despite escalating food costs. An increase in food stamp benefits would provide an immediate boost to the economy as well as a tremendous return on investment -- $1.73 for every dollar.

Finally, this Congress isn’t likely to reach agreement with the Administration on the 2009 federal spending bills that fund important low-income programs such as Head Start, LIHEAP, and child care. This means most programs will be flat funded well into the next fiscal year. Congress must provide additional funds for these key programs in the continuing resolution appropriations bill to ensure that inflation doesn’t erode the level of support provided to children and families as they await the next Congress’s action on the regular appropriations bill.

Congress must to take these three measures to help those most severely affected by the economic downturn weather the financial storm.

Joseph A. Quattrocchi is the executive director of the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center.

September 9, 2008