Human Services Coalition of Oregon

Services benefit all

HSCO is in the Oregonian twice in one week! Read our letter to the editor below published in today's paper. And Happy Holidays to all.

Services benefit all

We read, with a great deal of concern, Michelle Cole's recent article on the rise in fraudulent claims for public benefits ("Another sign of recession? More people caught cheating to get Oregon benefits," Dec. 17).

Any false claim takes vital and scarce dollars away from those truly in need. The article fails to give adequate attention to the deep need facing Oregonians today and the critical presence of public services for thousands in our state.

It is a fact that fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits are most common. But while the official unemployment rate is currently 11.1 percent, the unofficial unemployment rate is much higher when considering underemployment.

These are hard-working parents, college graduates, even seniors who may be working but are still unable to make ends meet. Medicaid claims have the second highest percentage increase year after year. Thankfully, we have taken steps to expand coverage and reform health care in this state. All Oregonians benefit from public structures like unemployment insurance and Medicaid. They are an investment in our community members and a boon to the local economy.

In today's tough economic climate, our focus ought to be on helping those in need and giving all people an opportunity to thrive.

JOHN MULLIN
Southwest Portland
STEPHANIE TAMA-SWEET
Northeast Portland

Mullin and Tama-Sweet are co-chairs of the Human Services Coalition of Oregon.

HSCO's statement on The Stump

Measures 66 and 67: Protect the hardest-hit Oregonians
By Guest Columnist
December 21, 2009, 8:00AM

It's official: Oregon now ranks second in the nation for hunger. Food stamp use in our state has skyrocketed 36 percent over the past year. Today, 650,000 Oregonians -- one in six -- rely on food stamps. Just in the Portland metro area, for example, 231,911 people are currently enrolled in the program because they have nowhere else to turn. The reason behind the rapid rise in hunger is clear: Oregon has been hit hard by the economic crisis, and the effects are rippling through our communities. That's why we must carefully consider Measures 66 and 67, which are designed to protect Oregonians who have been hardest hit by the recession from being hurt again by drastic cuts to essential services.

With an unemployment rate that hit 11.3 percent, many Oregon families are simply not able to make ends meet. That doesn't just mean more hungry families, it also means more people signing up for the Oregon Health Plan, more parents in need of temporary assistance, and more seniors and people with disabilities in need of long-term care. Measures 66 and 67 protect $1 billion in funding for critical services like these by asking big corporations and the richest 2.5 percent of households -- all of whom can afford to pay more -- to contribute a greater share in these difficult economic times. If your family makes less than $250,000 a year, you won't pay a penny more in taxes from Measure 66.

At the same time, these measures provide immediate help to those who need it most -- those looking for work. If you lost your job and received unemployment benefits in 2009, you will get a tax break on the first $2,400 you collected.

With the $1 billion protected by these measures, those who most need state-supported services -- children, the elderly and people with disabilities, and parents who can't find a job -- will get them. The Department of Human Services recently disclosed that without these funds, it could end up having to eliminate emergency cash assistance to nearly 3,000 families in which both parents are unemployed; reduce short-term support by half for families in a one-time crisis, making it difficult for parents to cover basic housing and utilities needs; and reduce its job-training service, which helps put people back to work, by $10 million.

What does this mean? When parents most need help staying afloat so they can get back on their feet, we will be taking away many of the life preservers that can help.

With demands rising for basic services, now is the worst possible time to make deep cuts that will hurt struggling families.

Oregonians deserve better than that. Measures 66 and 67 will do what's right in difficult economic times -- they protect families who have been victims of the economy and help put Oregon on a path to recovery.

John Mullin is co-chairman of the Human Services Coalition of Oregon.