Labor-HHS-Education

Social Services Block Grant Coalition Calls on President to Increase Funding for Fiscal Year 2002

The Social Services Block Grant Coalition
ORGANIZATIONS IN SUPPORT OF HUMAN SERVICES

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As a coalition of diverse groups including many faith-based organizations, organizations representing state and local governments, non-profit groups and groups representing the interests of children, the elderly, people with disabilities and vulnerable families, we are writing to you to ask for your support of bipartisan legislation to restore funding to $2.38 billion for the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), the Social Services Block Grant Restoration Act S. XXX and H.R. XXXX.

As a former governor, you know that SSBG (Title XX of the Social Security Act) is a vital block grant to support state and local efforts to provide a social safety net that serves many vulnerable children and families, the elderly and single adults. It is a safety net that is operated not only by state human service agencies and city and county governments, but also by many faith-based and charitable organizations-that has been its history since 1967.

In 1996, when the federal budget was running deep annual budget deficits, SSBG was reduced from an annual level of $2.8 billion to $2.38 billion. That change was part of the 1996 welfare reform act (PL 104-193). That cut to SSBG resulted in a $2.9 billion reduction in the federal spending. As you know, the 1996 law also allowed for a restoration of these funds in fiscal year 2003 when SSBG was scheduled to be restored at $2.8 billion per year. In 1998 Congress and the Administration enacted a transportation reauthorization that further reduced SSBG funding to $1.7 billion annually. Again, this was done to assure that the annual federal budget deficit would not be increased. That act also limited the state's ability to transfer funds from the TANF block grant into SSBG to no more than 4.25 percent (instead of the original 10 percent limit).

Mr. President, we feel that a restoration of full funding for SSBG as proposed in H.R. XXXX and S. XXX meets your priorities. It will restore SSBG in a time of budget surpluses and return those surpluses to the community and taxpayers. SSBG is a flexible block grant that addresses the needs of children and families, the elderly and vulnerable adults and helps them avoid more expensive government assistance by remaining in the community in the most independent setting possible.

We hope you will support the Social Services Block Grant Restoration Act and support increased funding for SSBG.

Very truly yours,

Alliance for Children and Families (ACF)
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
American Network of Community Options and Resources
Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies
Coalition on Human Needs (CHN)
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Center for Women Policy Studies
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
Generations United
Georgia Rural Urban Summit
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, ELCA
Migrant Legal Action Program
National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
National Association of School Psychologists
National Center on Poverty Law
National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
National Council on Aging
National Employment Law Project
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Priorities Project
National Puerto Rican Coalition
Network, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
United Cerebral Palsy Associations
United Jewish Communities
United Methodist Church-General Board Church and Society
Voice for Adoption
Wider Opportunities for Women
Women's Law Project
Women Work! The National Network for Women's Employment

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