PATHWAY Act Gains New Momentum for 07, with Sinkford and UUA as Key Advocates

Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-9) will be re-introducing the Protection Against the Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act. Rep. Lee explains the tremendous impact this would have on how both domestic and international funds are directed:

“PATHWAY would strike the earmark requiring that 33 percent of all HIV prevention funding be spent on abstinence-until-marriage programs and ensure that all individuals reached by U.S.-funded programs are provided with the necessary skills, information, and methods needed to avoid HIV infection.”

An Inter-Press story describing Rev. Sinkford’s support for the PATHWAY Act has been re-published on several websites, including CommonDreams.

Also on the subject of comprehensive sexuality education, there was a vague but intriguing post on feministing.com about the possibility that Rep. Waxman’s staff will try to redefine abstinence-only education.

Extension of Continuing Resolution Disastrous for Children’s Programs

I was deeply disappointed to learn today that the incoming Democratic leaders of the House Appropriations Committee have declared their intention to extend the current continuing resolution until the end of the 2007 fiscal year. Such a course would be disastrous for children’s programs, including Head Start and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Our fellow liberal religionists at the Friends Committee on National Legislation have published an excellent brief on how the continuing resolution harms children. They provide the following statistics:

“Head Start lost 10,000 federally funded slots in 2005. Funding enacted by the continuing resolution will result in 19,000 fewer children in Head Start nationally.

Child care assistance. Since 2000, 250,000 children have been effected [sic] by lost childcare assistance. That number will increase by 11,000 under funding in the current continuing resolution.”

SCHIP will also be severely impacted if no further funds are dedicated for the fiscal year 2007. What is being called “a stop-gap measure” has been passed to provide funds for part of 2007 (see CBPP 12.11.06). But the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains that without additional funding, “significant numbers of SCHIP beneficiaries will be at risk of losing some or all of their coverage and ending up uninsured or underinsured.”

After failing to pass needed appropriations bills for the 2007 fiscal year, Congress has passed a continuing resolution that will last until February 2007. Under this continuing resolution, programs are funded at or below the level at which they were funded in the 2006 fiscal year. Congressional leadership has the option of pressing for the passage of relevant appropriations bills for FY07 when they return in January.

However, the incoming Democratic co-chairs of the Appropriations Committee have now announced that they will instead urge an extension of the current continuing resolution. An article in The Hill indicates that there was significant support in the Democratic party for passing the appropriations bills in some form.

Climate Good for a Federal Minimum Wage Increase

The future looks sunnier now for a federal minimum wage increase. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has put the wage increase high on her agenda, and in a recent post-election press conference, President Bush indicated willingness to “find common ground” on this issue. The current federal minimum wage is a puny $5.15 per hour and has not been increased in 10 years! The passage of a significant federal minimum wage increase would benefit children and families currently living in poverty.

For more information on what people of faith and faith-based organizations have done and can do to support a wage increase, please visit http://www.letjusticeroll.org