Election day is this Tuesday, November 4! Polls will be open from 7:00am until 8:00pm, and if you need to check your registration status or find out where your polling place is, you can do so here. It’s especially important that you get out and vote because there is so much at stake this election.
We’ve released our 2014 Election Voters Guide to help you make more informed choices about the candidates for governor and for federal and state legislature that will be on the ballot in Allegheny County. The guide covers critical policies concerning hunger and poverty that are currently pending and will be decided by whichever lawmakers are elected. It also contains other info and links to help you successfully cast your ballot.
So why should you cast that ballot? Here are five important reasons why you should vote this November:
1. This election will determine whether or not the minimum wage gets increased:
Raising the federal minimum wage would help many families make ends meet and is an important first step in reducing economic inequality. Raising the minimum wage would also help the economy by putting more money in workers’ wallets and boosting their buying power while easing reliance on income assistance programs. The Fair Minimum Wage Act would raise the current federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016, and be set to increase regularly to keep up with inflation.
Pennsylvania legislators could also raise the state minimum wage, which would have many of the same benefits as a federal increase. Like the federal version, PA Senate Bill 1300 proposes to increase the minimum wage in Pennsylvania from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016 and index it to inflation, while allowing municipal governments (like Pittsburgh!) to increase it further. There is a similar measure in the PA House, HB 1896.
2. This election will determine healthcare coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income and disabled Pennsylvanians:
Under the Affordable Care Act (or “Obamacare”), states are encouraged to use federal funds to expand Medicaid to cover the millions of low-income Americans who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford health insurance in the marketplace. Instead of agreeing to Medicaid expansion, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett introduced his own plan to use those federal dollars in a different coverage scheme, Healthy PA.
Corbett’s plan will leave thousands of people completely uninsured and will cut benefits for Pennsylvanians already on Medicaid. It will also end outright the health insurance programs that cover workers with disabilities (MAWD) and some low-income women (SelectPlan for Women).
3. This election will determine important tax policies that help corporations and hurt families:
Tax breaks for corporations significantly reduce the government’s budget and its ability to spend. Typically, the same Congressional leaders who support corporate tax breaks also push for less spending on social programs and the public benefits that help middle-class, low-income, and poor Americans.
At the federal level, the next Congress will likely further consider both corporate tax policies and tax credits that help families in need.
At the state level, corporate tax breaks (including those for Marcellus Shale drilling companies) and loopholes mean that corporations aren’t paying their fair share of taxes in Pennsylvania, leaving individual taxpayers to contribute more.
Also, this election has the potential to determine the fate of SB and HB 76, a pair of bipartisan-supported and -opposed PA senate and house bills that would eliminate property taxes for large corporations. The bills would also make the Corbett administration’s massive school budget cuts permanent by eliminating school property taxes for individual property owners. SB/HB 76 would make up for the consequent revenue shortfall by placing more financial strain on low-income and middle class families as well as on small business: by increasing the state’s income and sales taxes and making PA one of only three states to have a full tax on food.
4. This election will affect access to food stamps in Pennsylvania:
Governor Tom Corbett (R) has supported measures that make it difficult for families in need to get food stamps. In 2012, in a supposed effort to curb fraud and abuse, Corbett put in place a food stamp asset test requiring applicants to submit additional information about their assets – or, as is nearly always the case, their lack thereof.
Food stamp fraud has been found to make up only 1% of program spending nationally, whereas 20% of Pennsylvanians who are eligible for food stamps don’t receive the benefits. Since the asset test was put in place, 111,000 households have been denied benefits. They weren’t ineligible, they just failed to provide proper documentation for the test, which is just an additional barrier for families in need.
5. This election will determine whether or not cash assistance and child care programs get necessary updates.
At the federal level, Congress has repeatedly extended Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)—a cash assistance program for needy families—as-is. They haven’t made sure benefits keep up with increasing costs of living. Since the current extension is set to expire next month, this election could affect whether TANF gets necessary updates.
At the state level, two bills (HB 2305 and HB2306) related to TANF have been introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Together, they would increase the very modest cash grant amount available through TANF (which hasn’t been increased in over 23 years!) and increase benefits designed to help newly-employed TANF recipients transition off the program. The outcome of this election could affect the likelihood of these measures being adopted.
Subsidized child care for low-income workers is a critical federal anti-poverty program that sets spending caps for the states. This amount has not been raised since 1996, limiting not only low-income families’ ability to afford quality child care but the pay of child care workers and the budgets of child care centers as well.
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