Budget makes hard times harder for New Jersey's poor

May 16, 2010, 7:00AM

Economic recovery is a long way off for millions of households in New Jersey. Low-income people who had begun to escape poverty have fallen into it again. Ongoing recession has caused a growing number of people, including many from the middle class, to join the ranks of the poor.

Thousands have seen a complete collapse of equity in their homes, with mortgage debt exceeding home value. Thousands more face unmanageable medical expenses after cut backs in employer-provided health insurance. Researchers at Northeastern University recently examined the loss of blue collar jobs in America and concluded that the crisis in unemployment will not be ended by a “modest recovery of the U.S. economy over the next few years.”

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie making his first budget address to the Legislature.Unfortunately, Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed budget for New Jersey includes measures that will make life more difficult for low-income people. It is the first budget in recent memory with no new funding to assist people living in poverty, and it includes this decade’s most severe funding reductions in programs that support those in need.

Last month the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey released two reports outlining proposed budget cuts that will impact people who are poor. Among them:

• The State Earned Income Tax Credit, a work incentive program that gives New Jersey’s lowest-wage workers additional income in tax refunds, would be cut by 20 percent. People use this money to cover the cost of deferred medical treatments or to catch up on bills.
• One-third of state financing for Legal Services of New Jersey would disappear. LSNJ is the state’s primary provider of free legal services for low-income people. It helps them access disability benefits, offers foreclosure prevention and assists in challenging discriminatory practices in hiring or job loss.
• Cash payments to childless adults on General Assistance are slated for elimination. Although deemed “employable,” people on GA have severely limited job skills. In tough economic times they are the first to lose employment and the last to find work. Their meager cash assistance — $140 a month — often allows them to find living space with relatives or friends, or gives them limited funds for basic necessities of personal hygiene or food
• 50,000 parents will be denied health care coverage under NJ FamilyCare. Payments made to individuals providing full-time care to disabled family members will end. State support of free and reduced-cost school meals will be cut. Funding will be eliminated for state-sponsored after-school programs. Support for developing affordable housing will be scaled back. Money for emergency heating and energy assistance will be reduced.
• Medicaid co-payments will be assessed on low-income elderly and people with disabilities who rely on medical day care services. Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled will require a $310 deductable, and co-payments for name-brand medications will be increased. We believe that the majority of these cuts will lead to higher costs in other areas of state spending. In many states, eliminating cash payments for people on General Assistance results in increased crime and homelessness. Costs of criminal activity, incarceration, and the sheltering of homeless people far exceed what might be saved by ending General Assistance

Legislators must face the fact that a large number of people in New Jersey will remain challenged by unemployment, shrinking resources, and limited opportunities throughout the coming year. In considering the proposed budget, steps must be taken to put money back into programs that protect those most at risk. As income is reviewed, shifts in spending considered or new tax revenue proposed, priority must be given to providing help for those who are truly most vulnerable.

This is not the time to reduce income or increase expenses of people for whom “recovery is a long way off”. People in poverty are continually making sacrifices. Most have nothing more to give. This state’s budgetary priorities must promote shared recovery, benefiting all.

The Rev. Bruce H. Davidson is director of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in New Jersey and co-convener of the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey.