Press

New fight over more children's health aid

Bush vows to veto plan to cover three million

By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | July 31, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The politically charged proposal to extend health insurance to more than 3 million poor and lower-income children nationally -- one of the most ambitious domestic health proposals to come through Congress in the last decade -- unfolded yesterday in the Senate under the shadow of a formal veto threat from President Bush.

But unlike previous debates pitting Democrats against Republicans, yesterday's floor action on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, put many Republicans at odds with their president and other members of the party.

The Senate plan would expand children's health insurance by $35 billion over the next five years, while the House is expected to take up a competing proposal later in the week that could boost the initiative by $50 billion during the same time frame.

Bush, however, has vowed to veto either plan, saying that the new coverage would encourage people to leave their private insurers for a government-run program. The White House reiterated its opposition yes terday, condemning the Senate bill as essentially extending "a welfare benefit to middle-class households" earning up to $83,000 a year.

On the Senate floor yesterday, Senator Orrin G. Hatch -- an influential Utah Republican and one of two original cosponsors of the SCHIP bill that became law in 1997 -- said "mistakes" by the administration "have caused us a lot of problems here."

"We are trying to do what is right by our children, who are currently not being helped by our healthcare system," Hatch said. "If we cover children properly, we will save billions of dollars in the long run. Even if we didn't [save billions], we should still take care of these children."

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Jr., a Republican from Kentucky and a staunch White House ally, said that while the children's health insurance program has been a "tremendous success," the Senate legislation was far too generous.

"It will significantly increase taxes . . . and lead to a government-run health insurance," McConnell said. If senators allow states to add families with household incomes 400 percent above poverty levels, it would extend a federally funded benefit to those who can afford to pay for their own health insurance, he said.

The president backs a more modest increase of $5 billion for the health insurance plan over the next five years. But opponents say that as the number of uninsured children continues to climb, many states -- including Massachusetts -- would have to drop more of them from their programs.

Signed into law by President Clinton, SCHIP gives federal block grants to states, which then determine how to spend the money for health insurance on eligible children. Since then, the number of children covered by the plan has steadily increased -- 6.6 million children are now covered under the program, and the Senate proposal would add another 3.2 million. The House Plan would cover 4 million new children, but many of the 9 million children who currently do not have insurance still would not be covered.Continued...

Over the last decade, the children's health insurance initiative has "reduced the health disparities among children . . . in communities across the country," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who cosponsored the SCHIP legislation with Hatch in 1997. "This is a matter of enormous importance."

Kennedy added, "If we are interested in educating the children of this country, we have to make sure that children can hear the teacher, that children can see the blackboard."

Officials in Massachusetts, along with those in several states, are anxiously watching the political battle in Washington. The program ends on Sept. 30, giving the White House and lawmakers a deadline just two months away.

Massachusetts' universal health insurance plan depends on receiving funding from a variety of sources, including the SCHIP program. Last July, the state raised eligibility to children in families earning 300 percent of the poverty level, up from 200 percent. Currently, 90,500 children in Massachusetts are covered under the program.

In order to maintain its program and enroll more children who are eligible, the state forecasts it will need $277 million in fiscal year 2008 -- $61 million more than the fiscal 2007 allocation. While Massachusetts officials said they have no projections on the financial assistance from the Senate and House plans, Bush's proposal, by definition, would result in health insurance for fewer children.

The president's proposal would cap insurance at 200 percent of the poverty level.

"We're watching this as closely as we can," said Alison Kirchgasser, director of federal and national policy management at the state office of Medicaid, part of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. "The state is committed to covering as many people as we can. SCHIP is very important."

The measure has largely been funded without controversy until the White House insisted it would reject the expansion in the last few months. The Senate, in particular, has had strong bipartisan support for expanding children's health insurance, but the Bush administration's opposition has created much tension among Republicans.

The Senate bill would be funded by a 61-cent increase on cigarette taxes; the House measure also relies on an increase in tobacco taxes.

Senator Elizabeth Dole, a North Carolina Republican, called the legislation "not only the right policy, but it's the right thing to do." Nevertheless, she said the cigarette tax increase to pay for it was all wrong, predicting that her home-state tobacco industry "may collapse altogether" if the Senate passes the bill.

Michelle C. Bucci, a visiting health policy fellow at the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation policy institute, said the tobacco tax unfairly targets families most likely to take advantage of the SCHIP program. "Over 50 percent of smokers are poor and low-income, so this is essentially hurting the people we're trying to help," she said.

But Cindy Mann, executive director at the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, said the child health insurance program is in dire need of expansion.

"We have 9 million uninsured children," she said. "What should happen is to take a program with a strong track record and strengthen it so that we can bring those 9 million uninsured children to as close to zero as possible."

Lew Finfer, director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a federation of faith-based community organizations, said the focus now will be on Bush -- whether he vetoes legislation, and then whether each chamber of Congress would have the two-thirds majority needed to override it. "The deadline is coming up fast," Finfer said.

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com

With tug on tin ear, Patrick hears the call

By Michael Jonas | May 20, 2007 Boston Globe

After initially missing the boat on efforts to stem gang violence, Governor Deval Patrick has declared himself captain of the cause, an about-face that followed a campaign by city leaders and anti violence activists to get the new governor on board.

If timing is everything in politics, when it comes to the growing plague of urban violence, Governor Deval Patrick's couldn't have been worse.

Despite intense lobbying from a coalition of law enforcement and community leaders eager to see funding renewed for an $11 million antigang program, when Patrick unveiled his first budget in late February it included nary a nickel for the initiative begun last year by the Legislature to address the rising tide of gang violence.

Two days later, a triple shooting in Roxbury wounded two teenage males -- and the 1-year-old daughter of one of the young men. The following week, it was an 18-year-old woman killed in a shooting steps away from a Dorchester elementary school, where police leaders and teens were scheduled to meet hours later for a session aimed at boosting better police-community relations.

Then came days of headlines about a 22-year-old woman visiting from Kentucky who became the unintended murder victim in a shooting outside a late-night party on Dorchester's bullet-scarred Geneva Avenue.

The disconnect between the budget bust for antigang programs and the chaos on city streets stunned those on the front lines of antiviolence work.

"We were shocked," said Emmett Folgert, director of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, in early March following the release of the governor's budget.

Last year's funding of the so-called Shannon grants, named for the late state senator Charlie Shannon, came in response to a major push by police chiefs, prosecutors, mayors, clergy and community-based organizations.

"This was a great team, and it worked," Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said of the unusual alliance of law enforcement and community groups.

With the antigang grants zeroed out in the governor's budget, the team went back to work, prodding the administration to rethink the move and lobbying lawmakers to restore the funding, which the House did via a budget amendment adopted late last month. The Senate seemed poised to include the funding in its budget as well.

Then, 10 days ago, Patrick suddenly declared that the urban violence problem is so urgent it shouldn't wait until the budget process is complete next month. He proposed a supplemental budget plan, to take effect immediately upon passage, that includes the $11 million for Shannon grants, as well as $4 million for new police officers in Boston and other hard -hit communities.

Patrick acknowledged that his new administration had not fully appreciated the depth of support for the antigang initiative, which funded police departments and community-based programs to steer youth away from gang involvement.

Conversations with legislative leaders "helped me understand just how much support and energy there has been for the Shannon program," Patrick said in announcing the funding plan. The Legislature approved the new spending Monday.

The overall tin ear for politics that marked Patrick's early weeks in office has been well chronicled. That it seems to have included a failure to grasp the gravity of the crisis of urban violence was surprising, given his own rags-to-riches rise from the mean streets of Chicago's South Side.

But leaders of the coalition that battled to restore the antigang funding aren't looking back to point fingers now.

"We objected to something, he listened, he changed," said Folgert, the Dorchester Youth Collaborative director. "We think we have some kind of working relationship now."

"That migration came from the pressure we put forward," said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, a leader of Boston's Ten Point Coalition. "The lesson we take away from that is that we're going to have to fight for what we know is important for our communities by having all hands on deck working for peace."

Lew Finfer, a veteran Boston community organizer who directs the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a federation of six interfaith community groups, said it also shows leaders can be effective not only by leading but also by being willing to listen and change course.

"It's a win for everyone," Finfer said. "There's a dire problem going on in cities that needs resources, and people in power responded."

Michael Jonas is acting editor of CommonWealth magazine. He can be reached at jonas@globe.com.

Brockton mayor to target 'hot spots'

New strategy is launched

By Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff | February 15, 2007

BROCKTON -- In agreeing with the crime-fighting proposals put to him at a massive community meeting last week, Mayor James Harrington is backing a community policing strategy that will target the city's "hot spots."

Harrington also agreed to support a hefty increase in an after-school program that the meeting's organizers hope will help protect teenagers from the culture of violence that has led to a recent spate of murders.

A crowd of more than 500 gathered last week to discuss ways to stop violent crime and provide jobs to those in need.

The event -- held in St. Edith Stein Parish, the same church where mourners gathered after a 14-year-old from Brockton was gunned down in Dorchester on New Year's Day -- was organized by the Brockton Interfaith Community and Ministers of Color Urban Alliance. Members of the community group used the gathering to present to the mayor and police chief their concerns about the city's violence and how to stop it.

The meeting was the culmination of months of work: 25 lay leaders from seven congregations had been working on the proposals since September, after a rash of murders left three people dead in seven days.

And it was a key meeting for Harrington, who is up for reelection this fall and will have to campaign hard against Jass Stewart to keep his job. Stewart made history in 2005 as the city's first black candidate to run for mayor and earned 44 percent of the vote.

Members of the Brockton Interfaith Community took turns at the microphone, sharing their experiences with crime and posing questions to Harrington.

Frances Gibbs, a member of Messiah Baptist Church, told the standing-room-only crowd how her son and his best friend were gunned down in Brockton. The shooting left her son paralyzed and his friend dead.

"I see history repeating itself," said Gibbs. "I still see the killing of our babies in the streets of Brockton."

The Brockton Interfaith Community and the ministers alliance presented five proposals as questions to Harrington.

They asked, first, if the mayor would direct police to investigate the "hot spots" where a pattern of drug dealing, prostitution, or violence is evident -- and if the chief would meet with them in 45 days to discuss progress. The defined locations are Highland Street; Green Street; portions of Warren Avenue in the downtown area and to the south; and the corner of Warren Avenue and Pleasant Street.

Harrington said, "Yes.... This is what we want. You tell us" about the hot spots "and we'll work on it."

The group asked if the mayor and police chief would take the first steps toward a police "decentralization plan" that fits Brockton's geography and resources -- inspired by a similar plan in Providence -- and to meet again with the community group to plan the next steps on community policing strategies.

Harrington agreed to both. He and Police Chief William K. Conlon are scheduled to meet this week with the Providence police chief.

He agreed, too, to commit police officers to walking a beat, checking in on businesses and residents on a regular basis. "The police chief and myself have gone out and visited businesses in every neighborhood in the city," he said. "I've walked, with my staff, in neighborhoods where people think it's most dangerous and talked to kids. We'll continue that outreach, because that's where it's going to happen -- face-to-face talks to find out what it is we need to do to make those kids safe. So I'll be there, doing that with you."

Part of the community group strategy is to provide jobs as a way to keep the city's youth off the streets. Harrington agreed to a multipronged approach aimed "increasing youth summer jobs by 150 by 2008.

Harrington said he has sent out letters to 1,500 local businesses encouraging them to provide employment to teens this summer.

Finally, he agreed to support a $150,000 increase in funding for the 21st Century After School program, and to seek extra funding for after-school activities. He also said he is trying to raise money privately for church groups that provide youth activities after school.

The mayor, while generally in agreement with the group, seemed careful not to make any guarantees, and he stressed the importance of working together.

"This isn't about what I can do for you," he said. "It's what we can do together, in a partnership."

Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com.

State's minimum wage hike kicks in
Workers upbeat; some firms worry

By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | January 1, 2007

Zorely Allende's finances just got a little less tight.

Today, the state's minimum wage increases, and the pay of this single mother of two small children rises from $6.75 an hour to $7.50.

"Maybe I will be able to save now, so I can take a vacation," said Allende, 20, who is a cashier and cook at a McDonald's in Springfield . "I worked [every] week for as long as I can remember."

Allende is one of about 107,000 Massachusetts workers who will get a raise today, when the first phase of a minimum wage increase passed last summer begins. The hourly wages of the state's lowest-paid workers will jump again on Jan. 1, 2008, to $8 an hour, making Massachusetts' minimum wage among the highest in the nation.

On the basis of a 40-hour workweek, the workers will get a $1,560 bump this year, and $1,040 more next year.

"More and more working people are falling behind," said Noah Berger , executive director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank that recommended the wage increase. "They can be working full time, without escaping poverty. By raising the minimum wage, we'll help to make sure everybody who is willing to work full time to try to support their family can at least earn a wage that allows them to escape poverty, and that sends an important message about the value of work."

But while workers such as Allende and their advocates hail the increase, some business owners worry that the wage increase will put Massachusetts businesses at a disadvantage.

"This is a particular problem for small businesses," said Jon Hurst , president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. "I'm not going to tell you there aren't people who deserve a wage increase. But we've got to get smart and look at the effect it's having on our small businesses, and on consumers and families who [will be] paying higher prices."

In July, the state Legislature unanimously approved the minimum wage increase over Governor Mitt Romney's veto. Worker advocates had hoped lawmakers would also index future minimum wage increases to inflation, but they lost that battle.

The federal minimum wage, unchanged for 10 years, is $5.15 an hour, but that is likely to be raised by the incoming Democratic majority in Congress.

Allende lives in subsidized housing and qualifies for food stamps, but she said it is hard to give her children the things they need on the $198 a week she takes home.

"It is very, very difficult," she said, speaking by telephone through a translator for Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, the community advocacy group that also pushed for the minimum wage increase. "I can't support myself. I have to ask for money from my mother. And it's really hard work."

She said she had been working at the restaurant for two years, and had not received a pay increase. "I am excited I will finally get something," she said.

Matt Duncan will see a little more money in his paychecks, too. The Dracut high school student works four shifts a week at a Lowell Market Basket, bagging groceries for $6.75 an hour.His higher wages will make paying his car insurance premium less of a strain, he said."It definitely adds up," said the 16-year-old. "There are a few adults that work there, and [the increase is] good for them. My parents still pay for my stuff, but it's good for other employees who are on their own."

Hurst, however, said Duncan and other teenagers probably will suffer as a result of the minimum wage increase . Facing higher payroll costs, businesses will cut workers, retaining adults instead of teenagers, whom they consider less reliable and can work fewer hours, he said. Smaller businesses in particular will be at a competitive disadvantage, he said, especially when the state's minimum wage rises to $8 an hour next year."Big businesses with locations outside Massachusetts can take lower margins locally without raising prices," he said. "But if they're based here, and have higher costs here, they have one of two options: raise prices, or hire fewer people."

But Berger said Census data show that 80 percent of those who will be affected by this minimum wage increase are workers older than 20. He also said the minimum wage increase would eventually benefit local businesses."A higher minimum wage circulates more money into low-income communities, and they have more money to spend in local stores," he said. "It creates economic activity where we need it most."

And as happy as workers' advocates are at their wage increase victory, they see a huge amount of ground to make up, even after the increases.A minimum wage worker makes $13,500 annually. After today, that annual salary will be about $15,000.

Advocates say that is still an alarmingly low income, particularly in Massachusetts, where the cost of living is so high.

"These are still very low wage jobs that are hard to support families on," said Lew Finfer , director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, which lobbied for the pay increases. "When you move up the floor, that's good news for the people at the floor and just above it. But there are a lot of things that need to be done: raising wages [further] and improving education and training."

New Year adds extra jingle to minimum wage earners

By O’Ryan Johnson - Monday, January 1, 2007 - Boston Herald

From McDonald’s in Egelston Square to Burger King in Roslindale, Boston minimum wage earners are ringing in the New Year by jangling a little extra change in their pockets.

“It’s about time,” said Robert Frankin, 19, who works full time at the Seaver Street golden arches.

Franklin’s hourly pay will leap from $6.75 to $7.50, adding about $30 a week before taxes to his paycheck.

“I stay with my grandma and I pay rent,” he said. “It’s going to help pay the power bill, the gas bill. When I borrow her car I put gas in it so, it’s going to be good.”

At a Roslindale Burger King Pierre Salomon, 16, earns $7 an hour.
“I’ll probably buy a PS3, buy some sneakers, some clothes,” he said. “It’ll help with my phone bill. I have a cell phone.”

The pay raise passed last year by the state Legislature elevates the pay of more than 100,000 Bay State workers. The state’s minimum wage, which is now $6.75, will grow to $7.50 after today.

On Jan. 1, 2008, a second hike is planned that will boost minimum wage another .50, bringing the pay to $8 an hour.

The Massachusetts Communities Action Network says workers who make minimum wage will see an annual pay boost of more than $1,500. The group fought for the wage hike with several unions and community groups. The federal minimum wage has been $5.15 per hour since 1997.

Gov. Romney vetoed the minimum wage hike this summer after lawmakers approved it, but the Legislature unanimously overrode the veto in July.

- ojohnson@bostonherald.com

State wage hike arrives

By Laura Crimaldi - Sunday, December 31, 2006 - Boston Herald

More than 100,000 low-wage Bay State workers who toil in retail stores, factories and fast-food restaurants are about to get a wage hike in the new year that will increase their yearly income by more than $1,500.

“I think it’s long-awaited,” said Brenda Douyon, 19, of Mattapan, who gets paid $6.75 an hour as a trainee at Uno Chicago Grill in Kenmore Square. “I feel like it’s preposterous for someone to believe that a family can be raised on wage of $6.75, especially in Massachusetts, where the cost of living is incredibly high.”

Effective tomorrow, the state’s minimum wage will jump from $6.75 an hour to $7.50 an hour - giving some 107,000 workers an annual pay boost of $1,560, according to the Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN), which fought for the wage hike with several unions and community groups. The minimum wage will increase again on Jan. 1, 2008, to $8, the highest state minimum wage level in the nation. The federal minimum wage has been $5.15 per hour since 1997.

“This is a major step toward making work pay,” said Carl Nilsson, campaign director for Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, a statewide advocacy group that represents low-income and working-class communities. “We’re looking at a raise of over $1,000 a year for thousands and thousands of struggling families across the state.”

Gov. Mitt Romney vetoed the minimum wage hike after lawmakers approved it July 6. The Legislature unanimously overrode the veto on July 31.

Lew Finfer, MCAN director, said a report by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center shows the new minimum wage will also boost the pay for another 208,000 low-wage workers who earn slightly more than $7.50.

“It helps raise the floor, but it’s a pretty low floor,” he said.

Douyon, founder of the Boston-area youth chapter of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), said she hopes future minimum wage increases are tied to inflation.

“I think that it’s a victory for us,” she said. “Granted, it’s not indexed to inflation, which is what we wanted, but we defintiely made way.”

- lcrimaldi@bostonherald.com

BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

January 1, 2007

And now, the good news

THE YEAR is fresh and new, full of possibility -- the very definition of optimism. Amidst a steady diet of war, corruption, official obtuseness, and despair, we like to take a moment on Jan. 1 for a palate-cleanser of brighter thoughts. Before auld achievements be forgot, here is a selection of items to put in the "win" column for 2006 on issues the Globe editorial page has been tracking:

A healthy new year

The most significant accomplishment of the 2006 legislative session was the law to achieve universal health care coverage for every Massachusetts citizen -- with a mandate that nearly every citizen carry the coverage, to help share the cost and risk. Already, 29,000 people have signed up for the plans, and keeping them open and affordable has to be at the top of the state's 2007 agenda, as well.

In other health matters, communities took tentative but meaningful steps to fight childhood obesity, discouraging sugary snacks and soft drinks in school vending machines, and raising awareness of harmful trans fats. Also, the Legislature passed a bill over Governor Romney's veto to legalize hypodermic needle sales without prescriptions, which should help reduce transmission of AIDS and hepatitis C among drug addicts.

Another important legislative victory was the increase in the state's minimum wage. Beginning today, over 100,000 minimum-wage workers will earn $7.50 an hour, up from $6.75. It's still not sufficient, but it is a statement that every worker is valued.

Anti-violence forum yields plan
Officials commit to conflict resolution, summer jobs programs

By ROB MARGETTA, Standard-Times staff writer November 16, 2006

NEW BEDFORD — About 600 people gathered in the basement of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at St. James last night as leaders of United Interfaith Action gave testimony about crime and violence in the community and asked civic leaders if they would commit to initiatives geared toward solving the problems.

"We look at our young people, who have to run a gauntlet of fear and intimidation just to get an education, and we say "No more,'" said Jack Livramento, co-chairman of the interfaith group. "We are here to tell our mayor, Scott W. Lang, our police chief, Ronald Teachman, and our deputy superintendent, Dr. Ronald Souza, that there is a new direction they need to lead us down."

The officials Mr. Livramento mentioned sat onstage, as speakers from the group — an interfaith coalition based around 15 churches in New Bedford and Fall River — expounded on the night's five main topics:

Cracking down on landlords who rent to criminals.
Bolstering community policing efforts.
Putting conflict resolution curriculum into schools.
Creating more summer jobs for teenagers.
Revitalizing branch libraries.

For each topic, two or three speakers talked about how the subject affected their lives or cited research the group had done. The city officials were then asked whether they would work with them on the matter.

While speaking of deadbeat landlords, Bruce Almeida, a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, used 168 Bonney St. as an example of 27 "problem properties" the group had identified.
Since the current landlord bought the property, "There have been 147 calls to police, compared with only five calls in the previous four years," he said. "Isn't it time to do something about these problem properties? Shouldn't we remove these cancers from our society?"

Dorothy Lopes, a longtime member, offered a testimony on the effects of violence, saying she was a "close and dear friend" of Bernadette "Bunny" DePina, an active parishioner at Our Lady of the Assumption who was shot to death in her home in May.
"Such an act of inhumane violence cannot be accepted," she said.

Without much in the way of reservation, city officials in attendance agreed to the group's proposals, to overwhelming applause.
One such proposal asked Mayor Lang and Dr. Souza to commit $50,000 each toward creating conflict resolution programming this year and installing the curriculum at all schools within the next three to five years.
"When we brought these questions to the superintendent, Michael E. Longo, the answer came without hesitation," Dr. Souza said, adding that such curriculum is "almost a definite necessity."
Mayor Lang said he needs everyone at the meeting to "take a step further," by keeping children away from violent video games, music, television and movies.
"And that starts at home," he said.

The mayor and Chief Teachman also committed to helping promote a summer jobs program with the goal of placing 250 teenagers in jobs.
When presented with questions, the officials were only given the option of saying "yes" or "no," followed by a short explanation.

The only hesitant answer came from Chief Teachman when asked if he would release a community policing plan of strategy, resources, commitments and accountability. The chief said police resources aren't public information, and he wasn't comfortable with releasing information on them. But, when he said he would commit to the rest of the proposal, he was met with immediate applause.

Mr. Livramento said the community "came together to say 'Enough. We need a new direction,'" at the meeting, and thanked the gathered officials for their commitments.
"We will hold them to that 'Yes,'" he said.

OUR VIEW: Tonight's action is about setting goals

Editorial New Bedford Standard Times 11/15/06

One of New Bedford's more persuasive community organizations tonight will urge Mayor Scott W. Lang, Police Chief Ronald Teachman and Deputy School Superintendent Ronald Souza to commit to specific proposals to improve public safety.

In recent years, United Interfaith Action has been effective at holding public officials accountable on some of the most basic and pressing issues in the neighborhoods of New Bedford.

The organization, made up of several city churches of differing denominations, achieves its goals by researching solutions and setting deadlines for specific results.

The organization also is interested in working with community leaders to accomplish these goals.
In other words, it's not simply a "give me, give me" approach.

The group's membership cuts across class, language and religious lines.

In past years, it has drawn several hundred community people to each forum, which the group calls an "action."

People give personal testimony, and the forums include translation into Portuguese and Spanish for those who do not understand English.

Tonight's forum at 7 is open to the public, as always.

It will be held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at St. James Church, 233 County St.

About 500 people are expected. The carefully moderated event will be held to an hour and a half.

The mayor, police chief, deputy superintendent and other city leaders will be on hand to listen and speak about their plans for addressing the issues.

The UIA is asking for a substantial increase in the number of conflict-resolution programs in the city's classrooms.

It wants students to learn about nonviolence. New Bedford schools have existing programs.

It will be important for Dr. Souza to tell the community what has already been done in our schools and what can be done to make the city a model in teaching diplomacy, conflict resolution and the most effective strategies for avoiding violence.

The UIA also has made increasing summer jobs for youths a centerpiece of its anti-violence strategy.

Tonight, the group will ask the mayor to boost paying summer jobs for teenagers from 118 last summer to 250 next summer.

Creating summer jobs and internships, often with the help of state and federal grants, is one of the best ways to combat violence in the neighborhoods.

UIA should help bring together the groups that are working on this issue already.

Finally, UIA wants the city and Police Department to implement community policing.

UIA has researched it as practiced in other cities and wants to work with Chief Teachman to implement real community policing, not a watered-down form that we have seen in recent years.

A great deal of thought and organization goes into each of UIA's actions.

By identifying specific goals, UIA and the city has a much greater chance of seeing them accomplished.

Please consider attending tonight's forum to add your strength to this important agenda.

[MCAN was active in the coalition of community organizations and labor unions that won passage of the legislation in July to raise the minimum wage from $6.75 to $8.00 an hour.]

A life buoy for the poor

By Adrian Walker, Globe Columnist | June 19, 2006

If there is one thing Massachusetts politicians seem agreed on, at least publicly, it is that living here isn't easy, economically speaking.

The Democratic candidates for governor all seem to want to make an issue of the burden on the state's middle class.

On Saturday, I watched Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly give a speech in a field in Watertown, explaining that people on his street -- and streets just like it across Massachusetts -- are suffering because of policies that have harmed their economic interests.

I take Reilly at his word about the plight of the beleaguered middle class, for now. But there is another class of people who have a major stake in a vote that will take place this week in the Massachusetts House.

The state's minimum wage, currently $6.75 an hour , is likely to rise this year. The question seems to be how much it's going up. Last m onth, the Senate approved an increase to $8.25 an hour, with future increases tied to inflation.

The House will vote on a more modest boost, to $7.75 an hour. House leadership, beginning with Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, is said to be particularly lukewarm to the idea of indexing increases to the economy.

Governor Mitt Romney in the past has endorsed the notion of indexing. He has not taken a position on either of these bills, however , and he has abandoned more than one long-held belief since he set his sights on Washington.

If both proposed increases seem incremental, they are; if the issue itself seems minor, it is not. Some 90,000 workers would get a raise if the minimum went to $7.75 an hour, while 155,000 workers would see a boost if the minimum were raised to $8.25 . The difference between the two figures would mean an estimated $1,000 a year for low-wage workers.

Massachusetts is already significantly above the national minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. So are lots of other states, because making ends meet at that salary has become impossible in most of the country. This state's minimum wage was last raised in 1999, though that increase has failed to keep pace with inflation.

Not surprisingly, the business community isn't wild about the proposed increases, and especially dislikes the idea of indexing.

``The Legislature has tremendous power to grant tax breaks, which they have done for corporations and wealthy individuals," said Lew Finfer of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network , a nonprofit advocacy group that lobbies on issues affecting poorer residents.

``This is a chance to help lower-wage workers with those same powers the Legislature holds."

It is a sign of the times that economic issues such as health insurance and the minimum wage have garnered so much attention this year. In the elections of 1998 and even 2002, the fiscal health of the state and the people who live here was barely seen as worthy of debate.

True, there was anxiety about job loss even four years ago, but a certain financial whiz-turned-governor was going to reach out to corporate America and make it all better.

By now, concern for the economy and its impact on the state has grown considerably. But a question raised by the minimum-wage debate is how far that concern is going to reach. Yes, the middle class is getting squeezed, but if the middle class is hurting, people living at the edge of poverty can only be feeling that pain even more acutely.

The cliché is that minimum-wage jobs are predominantly held by high school juniors flipping burgers for spending money. This is not true. Many adults are trying, and mostly failing, to stay afloat on $6.75 an hour. Sometime this week, the House will decide whether to sign off on an incremental increase that won't upset anyone, or a boost that might significantly improve the standard of living for poor families. It shouldn't be that hard a decision. But it is never easy to know how far compassion reaches on Beacon Hill.

Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com.

[MCAN worked in coalition with the Black Ministerial Alliance, Boston Ten Point Coalition, and Dorchester Youth Collaborative for passage of legislation on lessening witness intimidation by gangs, funding a State Witness Protection Program at $1.5 million, and $11 million for grants to cities for law enforcement and prevention strategies.]

Pressure builds to pass bill on gangs
House, Senate versions differ

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | March 2, 2006 Boston Globe

Frustrated that an anticrime bill hasn't passed the Legislature, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and local ministers are urging the House to take action and district attorneys pushing for the measure plan to meet today with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi.

''I'm concerned that it's taken this long, candidly, to move on it," said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, who lauded the Senate for producing a bill backed by ministers, politicians, and district attorneys. ''Really the question is: What's the House going to do?"

The House was expected to take up the bill this week but postponed a vote. The bill would create a statewide witness protection program, strengthen gun laws, and restrict the release of witnesses' grand jury testimony.

The bill is among several pieces of legislation that have been held up while legislative leaders try to work out a compromise on a healthcare bill.

But Kimberly Haberlin, a spokeswoman for DiMasi, said the House received the Senate's changes only last week and that the speaker requested and received additional information from the Senate on Tuesday. ''This is a top priority," she said.

The Senate passed a version of the bill last October, and in the interim both chambers agreed to fund partnerships in gang-violence prevention. In January, the House passed its own measure and the two chambers started trying to work out the language differences between the two without forming a conference committee.

''We've hoped that we would be able to work out the language differences because the intent of both bills was very similar. That didn't go anywhere," said Ann Dufresne, a spokeswoman for Senate President Robert Travaglini.

Last week, the Senate passed another version of the bill, increasing its funding for witness protection from $750,000 to $2 million.

The Black Ministerial Alliance, Massachusetts Communities Action Network, Boston Ten Point Coalition, and the Dorchester Youth Collaborative also called on the House to concur with the Senate version -- or to set a two-week deadline to negotiate a compromise measure.

''We're trying to come to some sort of amicable agreement between the House and Senate," said state Representative Stephen Canessa, the New Bedford Democrat who sponsored the original bill in the House.

In addition to the funding for witness protection, the competing House and Senate versions still differ in two key areas.

The Senate version calls for adopting the federal perjury standard. If a witness gives two widely inconsistent statements that cannot be rectified, he could face a charge of perjury per se -- a tougher standard to challenge in court than the standard in the House bill, which would allow for such inconsistent statements to be evidence of perjury that could be more easily challenged in court by the defense.

Both versions would restrict the release of grand jury transcripts, because prosecutors say gang members and their associates try to use the testimony to intimidate witnesses to persuade them not to testify at trial.

Prosecutors are rallying behind the Senate plan, saying it offers tougher provisions to help them win convictions. Some are expected to meet with DiMasi today.

Last week, Reilly wrote a letter to DiMasi urging the House to pass a measure that includes the tougher perjury standard. ''We must not only protect witnesses, but also hold them accountable," Reilly wrote. ''Too often, witnesses to crime avoid their duties by purposefully providing inconsistent statements, knowing both the investigation and prosecution will be hindered and they will not be held accountable."