http://www.progressivestates.org/dispatch Thursday, February 8, 2007In Today's Dispatch:
National Leaders Gather to Fight Voter DeceptionAs we highlighted in our November dispatch, voter deception reared its ugly head again in the 2006 election:
This Friday, a national gathering of political and civil rights leaders (whose main sponsors are People for the American Way and the NAACP, with Progressive States as on co-sponsor) will gather in Washington, D.C. to address this rising new threat to voting rights. A large focus of the meeting will be passing laws banning these kinds of voter suppression tactics, including Senator Barack Obama's federal Deceptive Practices bill, SB 453, introduced last week, which would:
State leaders need to step up and pass versions of the federal bill in every state, since, obviously, a lot of rightwing candidates are afraid of what will happen if people they have try to disenfranchise actually get to vote. For example, Indiana State Senator Jean Breaux has introduced SB 492 to make voter deception a Class D felony in Indiana and more states need to join the effort. Let's give them something to really worry about by passing these anti-deception laws in the states. To learn more if you can't make it to D.C., listen in to the webcast beginning at 10am on Friday at: http://images.pfaw.org/homepage/votersuppression-live.ram
Report: US Joins Lesotho and Swaziland with Worst Policies for FamiliesTo the embarassment of a country with leaders that bill themselves as supporting "family values," a new report by the Project on Global Working Families finds that US federal policies are some of the least supportive of families in the world.
The small bit of good news is that the report only focuses on federal policy -- and states have either acted or are moving to make up for the embarassment of anti-family federal policies. For example, 36 states protect breastfeeding in public and eleven states specifically protect breastfeeding in the workplace. In 2002, California pioneered the first paid family leave law in the country, offering parents up to six weeks of paid leave for childbirth, adoption or care of a sick family member. This week, the New Jersey Senate Labor Committee approved a bill, S2249, to offer tweve weeks of up to $502 in weekly family leave benefits to all employees, which could make New Jersey the second state with paid family leave. Washington legislative leaders with bipartisan support also introduced HB 1658 to guarantee give weeks of paid leave. As for paid sick days, only the City of San Francisco requires private employers to guarantee paid days off for employees, but lawmakers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine, Montana, Michigan and Maryland are pushing paid sick days measures this year. States aren't quite making up for the pathetic reality of federal policy, but like the minimum wage, they are taking the lead, promoting the idea that the U.S. should actually value families, not just mouth empty "family values" rhetoric.
Kids are collateral damage in immigration witch huntWell, the feds have done it again. They've stepped in where states are doing good work and messed things up. In an effort to prevent illegal immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid, new federal citizenship identification requirements are instead causing US citizens to lose coverage and increasing state Medicaid administrative costs. Children are the biggest losers. The rules, which impose burdensome requirements to show proof of citizenship for Medicaid, are part of the right-wing's immigration witch hunt and were designed to prevent "false allegations of citizenship" in Medicaid enrollment. Even though the Bush Administration reported no abuses of the kind, it went along with the House and Senate and incorporated the rules in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act. ID Rules Cause Enrollment Declines and Increase State Medicaid
Costs States contacted by the Center repeatedly said that the enrollment declines are coming from citizens, not from illegal immigrants, and that the proof of identity requirements often pose the greater barrier. 69% of enrollment declines in Wisconsin weren't because applicants couldn't show proof of citizenship but because they didn't have the necessary proof of identity. These rules may seem simple for most families, but for rural families unable to travel to Medicaid offices and custodial grandparents who do not have birth certificates for their grandchildren, the rules create insurmountable barriers. Furthermore, the enrollment declines are not due to economic factors or employment status of families because enrollment in food stamps, which is more susceptible to such conditions, have increased, according to the report. Along with declining enrollment, the new rules are increasing state Medicaid costs at a time when the Bush Administration is proposing additional cuts to the program. Because applicants must show original documents, like birth certificates, efficient enrollment procedures like mail-in applications and on-line enrollment are no longer feasible. Illinois projects increased costs of $16 million to $19 million in the first year to comply with the requirement. Rational Approaches to Immigration and Health
Care Reform Similarly, in a position that has drawn the ire of conservatives within his party, Governor Schwarzenegger wants to include illegal immigrants in his plan for universal access to health care. In a speech announcing his plan in January, he said:
In the absence of a fair and rational federal immigration policy, states must once again lead and pick up the pieces where the federal government has failed. Research RoundupImmigrant Entrepreneurs, Youth Justice, Elder Care, Energy Efficiency, and Living WagesFrom New York to Los Angeles, new immigrant entrepreneurs have emerged as key engines of urban growth, according to the Center for an Urban Future, with first generation immigrants creating a massive number of new businesses in these communities. Despite all the rhetoric around Americas supporting "lock them up and throw away the key" criminal justice policies, a new poll by the National Council on Crime and Deliquency finds that while most Americans think youth crime is a problem, 7 in 10 think putting them in adult correctional facilities increases future crime and 91% believe that rehabilitation and treatment for youth helps prevent future crimes. Think the health care costs of taking care of an aging population is costly? So are the lost wages and drop in the female labor supply of women at midlife, since women are often key Elder Caregivers, as a new report by the Urban Institute details. Florida is an example of a state falling behind the rest of the country in adapting to new energy challenges, according to a report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, but shifts in policy could cut traditional electricty use by 45 percent by 2023. While raising the minimum wage if a good thing, most families need more-- and real living wage jobs are not easy to find in Northwestern states, as detailed in new reports by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations. National Leaders Gather to Fight Voter DeceptionProgressive States Network, Cleaning up Election Day Disasters People for the American Way, The New Face of Jim Crow: Voter Suppression in America Federal Deceptive Practices Act, SB 453 Center for Policy Alternatives, Model Voter Protection Act Indiana SB 492, Voter Deception bill Report: US Joins Lesotho and Swaziland with Worst Policies for FamiliesProject on Global Working Families, Work, Family and Equity Index: How Does the US Measure Up? Progressive States & MomsRising, Providing Paid Family Leave Progressive States Network, Paid Sick Days Resources National Partnership for Women, Paid Sick Days for All: An Advocate's Tool Kit NCSL, 50 State Summary of Breastfeeding Laws Kids are collateral damage in immigration witch huntCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities - New Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Requirement is Taking a Toll: States Report Enrollment is Down and Administrative Costs Are Up Stateside Dispatch - Illinois Policies to Bring Immigrants into Economic Mainstream National Immigration Law Center - Immigrants and the US Health Care System Eye on the RightIt seems more could be at stake in the gay marriage debate if states follow the lead of a Michigan appeals courts. It ruled that the state's gay marriage ban prohibited public employers from providing health insurance to employee's domestic partners. Although Alaska took the opposite stance, ruling it unconstitutional to deny partners health insurance, the issue has yet to be addressed in 20 states. Most ironic of all, the same voters who passed the ban also support the partner benefits being denied by the court. 3 Steps Forward1. MN: Automatic voter registration proposed for Minnesotans 2 Steps BackJobs & InternshipsCheck out current opportunities with Progressive States on the Jobs & Internships Page. MastheadThe Stateside Dispatch is written and edited by: SuggestionsPlease shoot me an email at jbacino@progressivestates.org if you have feedback, tips, suggestions, criticisms, or nominations for any of our sidebar features. John Bacino Progressive
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