The Leaguer Volume 20, Issue 14 Jan. – Feb., 2016

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

Inside This Issue About Our Next Meeting Reservation Form From the Board Crude Oil as Cargo Capitol Beat Suffrage at the Opera House Education Investment Incentives Act Fact Check.Org Calendar Membership Form

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LWV Chautauqua County PO Box 42 Fredonia, New York 14063

Poverty in Chautauqua County: Cause, Effect and Cure

February 10th at Noon

Kasia Resturant

183 East Main Street, Fredonia

in Chautauqua County

Roberta Keller – Executive Director of C.O.I. (Chautauqua Opportunities Incorporated) Kathy Parks – Director of Volunteers and Programming CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) Chautauqua County

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Poverty in Chautauqua County: Cause, Effect and Cure Meeting Reservation Form

Kasia Resturant on 183 East Main Street, Fredonia February 10th at Noon

Luncheon cost is $15.00 ____One half flat bread cheese or pepperoni pizza ____One half turkey and swiss ____One half ham and swiss ____One half hummus and portobello sandwich. Plus a cup of soup of the day (please specify if you want a vegetarian soup) Choice of chocolate caramel brownie or white brownie Name___________________________________phone________________email_____________________ Make checks payable to LWV Chautauqua County. Mail reservations to Mary Croxton, 22 Gillis St., Fredonia, NY 14063 or cntact her at mcroxton51@gmail.com or call (716) 679-1774. If you wish to attend the program only, contact Mary Croxton and arrive at 1pm.

Some Facts About Poverty from Robert Reich

• A full-time worker with two kids needs at least $30,135 this year to be safely out of poverty. That’s $15 an hour for a forty-hour workweek.

• Any amount below this usually requires government make up the shortfall – using tax payments from the rest of us to finance food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, and other kinds of help.

• The ranks of the working poor are growing because wages at the bottom have dropped, adjusted for inflation. With increasing numbers of Americans taking low-paying jobs in retail sales, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, childcare, elder care, and other personal services, the pay of the bottom fifth is falling closer to the minimum wage.

• At the same time, the real value of the federal minimum wage is lower today than it was a quarter century ago.

• In addition, most recipients of public assistance must now work in order to qualify. • Bill Clinton’s welfare reform of 1996 pushed the poor off welfare and into work. Meanwhile,

the Earned Income Tax Credit, a wage subsidy, has emerged as the nation’s largest anti-poverty program. Here, too, having a job is a prerequisite.

• The new work requirements haven’t reduced the number or percentage of Americans in poverty. They’ve just moved poor people from being unemployed and impoverished to being employed and impoverished.

• While poverty declined in the early years of welfare reform when the economy boomed and jobs were plentiful, it began growing in 2000. By 2012 it exceeded its level in 1996, when welfare ended.

• At the same time, the ranks of the non-working rich have been swelling. America’s legendary “self-made” men and women are fast being replaced by wealthy heirs.

• Six of today’s ten wealthiest Americans are heirs to prominent fortunes. The Walmart heirs alone have more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans combined.

The tank-cars used to transport Bakkan oil from the west are not strong enough to withstand accidents, and a number of trains with as many as 125 tank-cars cross western New York every day. The extracting companies are not willing to go to the expense of reducing the flammable gasses in the oil, and these gasses caused the devastating explosion in Quebec in 2013. The bridges over which the trains pass—3,000 in NY State—have only one person assigned by the Federal government to inspect them and many are unsafe. Moreover, track inspection has failed to identify urgently needed repairs: it was a defective rail which caused the horrible accident in West Virginia that polluted the river into which the tankers fell. Nationwide, the last few years have seen about ten tank-car accidents every year. Regrettably, Julius Leone, Director of Emergency Services for Chautauqua County, was unable to give his talk on local preparedness because of emergencies on the Thruway which demanded his attention in the severe weather. What can be done? Existing law requires gasoline producers to exchange their current tankers for stronger models by 2023. Senator Schumer has introduced legislation to require the exchange within two years, and also to demand flammable gas reduction and provide more bridge inspectors and funds for bridge repair. However, the Senate has not acted on these bills. :Governor Cuomo could prohibit tank cars carrying Bakkan crude oil from traveling the rails in New York State, but that would certainly result in the companies’ taking the State to court. The speakers urged those present to sign a petition to Governor Cuomo to stop the trains and also to lobby in support of Senator Schumer’s initiatives.

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From the Leadership Team… Thank you to all who have renewed with memberships. We will continue to bring to the public educational/controversial programs so we can all be informed voters. There’s always a lot of “goings-on” with our League, even in the busiest of holiday months. The program committee is meeting regularly and has put together important hot topic luncheons with dynamic speakers. During a blast from lake effect snow, our numbers were strong to hear about crude oil on our rails. Here is a link to a wonderful 5 min. video about small towns and oil trains. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qth9duz0fKQ&feature=youtu.be No less important is the upcoming meeting on poverty in Chautauqua County. The chair of programming, Gen Ludemann, is requesting interested members to assist her and her committee to decide hot topics, speakers, and venues. Please contact her at 672-4771 or genl@netsync.net. With a big audience on hand to see the movie “Suffragette”, we were on hand too to remind everyone that the “League of Women Voters is the only living legacy of the movement that got women in this country the right to vote. We are that legacy because our founders understood that in order to succeed in the long run, the energy of a movement must be translated into sustained civic engagement by those involved in the movement.” Warmly, Marcia Merrins, editor, Minda Rae Amiran, Priscilla Bernatz, Gen Ludemann, Marcia Merrins, Judy Reynolds, Rose Sebouhian, Tillie Solomonson, Linda Warner

Despite the blinding snow, about forty hardy League members, concerned citizens, and local officials attended the meeting at the White Inn on January 13 on the transport of crude oil by rail through our County. The meeting was organized by Genevieve Ludemann and Diane Hofner. The speakers, Jordan Nicholson, on behalf of Senator Schumer and Charlie Bowman of the Environmental Task Force of the WNY Peace Center presented an alarming picture of the dangers facing us.

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posted FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2016 by Barbara Bartoletti, LWVNY Lobbyist This legislative session got off to an unusual start. The Governor has apparently decided he likes giving his State of the State and budget messages together. The State of the State message was exactly a week later than usual; the interesting aspect of this is that the legislative session actually had already started on Monday the week before. What is significant about the delayed State of the State was that one of our top priorities for opposition, the Education Investment Tax Credit (ETC) came out of Rules Committee in the Senate without ever having gone through a Tax or Education Committee. Within 20 minutes it was on the floor and passed. So much for public input or thoughtful deliberation. The League was in the gallery for the debate. Fifteen Senate Democrats voted against it, up from last year’s opposition. Similar to last session, it appears this will be a top priority for the senate Republicans going into budget negotiations with the Governor. A full breakdown of how our senators voted can be found here https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2015/s1976a Wednesday was the real beginning of school in legislative lingo; it was when legislators and lobbyists all gather for the day for the State of the State and the many receptions happening that day. It’s like getting dressed up for the first day of school and it’s always fun to see everyone after they’ve been away from Albany for 6 months. The League’s day started early with a reception hosted by NOW New York and attended by many female legislators. It was a perfect opportunity for Jennifer, our new Policy Director, to meet many of the legislators we will work with this session. We stopped by Assembly Speaker Heastie’s reception and spoke briefly with our legislative friends on the Elections Committee. It was then on to the State of the State in the Convention Center, but first we had to go through the now normal screams and shouts from many protesters who now line the Concourse, hoping to be heard by legislators on their way to the State of the State. The Convention Center was crowded and not as cold as it was last year. Governor Cuomo had just been introduced and had begun his message when there was shouting from the floor of the Convention Center where legislators are seated. I did not even have to stand up to look to see who it was; I knew it would be Assemblyman Charles Barron. Mr. Barron has had a lengthy acrimonious relationship with the Governor and is very outspoken about children in poverty and their inability to receive a sound basic education. Because he is a legislator, the state police were reluctant to escort him out of the Convention Center, so he and Mr. Cuomo shouted at one another. Finally, Majority Leader Joe Morelle (Rochester) came to the rescue and with some gentle nudging escorted Mr. Barron out of the Convention Center. This was not before there were loud boos among the audience. It would appear the Governor won that round. As is quite normal with the Governor, his package of ethics reforms was placed at the end of his message. This year the Governor also finished his address with a passionate and very genuine plea for a 12-week paid family leave. He used this opportunity to talk about the death of his father in a way not often heard from this Governor in major addresses. He then went on to talk about his longtime companion, Sandra Lee, and her battle with breast cancer. On everyone’s seat was a lapel pin with a pink ribbon signifying the battle against breast cancer. It ignited a standing ovation for Sandra Lee and gave the Governor the opportunity to ask for an expansion in breast cancer prevention measures. The rest of the day was spent enjoying one reception after the other, including Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin’s reception, the Comptroller’s reception, and the Republican Majority Leader’s reception. Dessert is always served at the final reception at the Attorney General’s Office. Of course all that fun now shifts quickly into hard work as the budget testimony begins and the beat goes on.

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Suffrage at the Opera House This broadside is a copy of the “ad” used to promote a lecture titled “Woman from Savage to Suffrage”. I have to say this fascinated me decades ago when it was discovered during the renovation of the Opera House. As a matter of fact, our League had t-shirts made with this title at that time! With the showing of Suffragette, the League decided to be present in the lobby to register voters and generally answer questions about the suffrage movement in the US. I thought it was time to actually research the poster and went to the Observer. John D’Agostino was interested and although only a preliminary search, we came up empty handed. On his suggestion, I went to Reed Library and found a trove of wonderful tidbits that I will share in future Leaguer issues. I discovered this recap of the presentation by Rev. H. J. Adlard who was a Unitarian minister at the Adams Memorial Church. The speech was given on October 31, 1915 two days before the vote for suffrage (Nov. 2). Over 300 people filled the downstairs part of the Opera House.

Marcia Merrins

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The League of Women Voters of New York State has urged the New York State Senate to oppose the “Education Investment Incentives Act” (EIIA). The EIIA is a $150 million measure that is skewed heavily toward private and charter schools. The EIIA primarily favors taxpayers who desire to support private schools of their choice. Donors would receive a tax credit worth 90% of the taxpayer's qualified contributions, UP TO$1,000,000. There is a significant financial implication attached to this legislation; $150 million for calendar year 2016, $225 million in calendar year 2017, and $300 million for each calendar year thereafter beginning in 2018. The League believes that existing charitable deductions are a more appropriate means of encouraging educational philanthropy and, by contrast, do not result in as significant a decrease in tax revenue. In light of the Legislature’s ongoing failure to fulfill the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit’s aims, the League supports the direction of taxpayer dollars primarily toward students attending public schools in high-needs school districts. This bill does the opposite. The League believes that this bill is inconsistent with our position in favor of progressive taxation as a means of financing public education because the taxpayer dollars allocated for tax credits in the bill could be used more efficiently. Tax policy as a means of encouraging giving for educational purposes should be limited to the availability of charitable deductions, not tax credits. This measure also thwarts the Legislature’s collective decision-making to target tax dollars to public school students most in need. The League believes that education aid should to be allocated through a democratic and transparent legislative process. The League of Women Voters of New York State strongly urges opposition to S.1976A creating the Education Investment Incentives Tax Credit and any other new tax measures that support private school tuition and urge its defeat.

Finally, if you want a reference tool to help sort out "fact from fiction", go to FactCheck.org., a nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. This site monitors the factual accuracy of what is being said by major political players. It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of

Pennsylvania which was established to create a community of scholars that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.

Good News! On behalf of a coalition to which we belong, our member Diane Hofner has won a grant of $2000 from Freshwater Futures to educate the public about the nuts and bolts of solar power and to explain its economic and environmental benefits, especially in relation to clean water and climate change.. The funds themselves are deposited with the LWVNYS Education Foundation, which will administer the grant in cooperation with our treasurer, Priscilla Bernatz. Any additional contributions should be by check made out to the Foundation and sent to Priscilla at P.O Box 42, Fredonia.

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS

THA

NK

YO

U T

O O

UR

AD

VER

TISE

RS

Kniti Griti Works

Pottery

672-4275 knitigritiworks.com 679-1981 www.fredopera.org

Dunkirk & Fredonia Yoga Center 672-6697

Supporting Your Journey in Health & Wellness carolyngrady.com

Fairmount House ANTIQUES, COLLECTIBLES, GIFTS

12 E. Fairmount Ave. Lakewood

708-8549

DARWIN’S Health Club, Inc.

43-57 Water Street, Fredonia

679-1591

FEBRUARY 10 at Noon at Kasia Restaurant - “POVERTY IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY: Cause, Effect, Cure Mail reservations to Mary Croxton, 22 Gillis St., Fredonia, NY 14063 or contact her at mcroxton51@gmail.com or call (716) 679-1774. FEBRUARY 22 – BOARD MEETING at 1:30 p.m. at Rose Sebouhian’s, 6 Venture Circle, Fredonia. MARCH MEETING TOPIC – Disability Legislation APRIL MEETING TOPIC – Waterfront Development and the Environment

Fredonia Baptist Christian Nursery School

“Investing in Their Future”

Volume 20, Issue 10 Page 8

League of Women Voters of Chautauqua County

Management Team

Minda Rae Amiran Priscilla Bernatz Gen Ludemann Marcia Merrins Judy Reynolds

Rose Sebouhian Tillie Solomonson

Linda Warner

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY lwv@lwvchautauqa.org, 672-4275

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