Bishop's conference hits budget

Two elements of the new state budget have drawn fire from the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops in matters of public policy:

* a $1,000 tuition tax deduction that had been proposed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer was eliminated, and

* $600 million has been allocated for research that will include stem-cell research on humans.

Tuition aid

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a close ally of the state's teachers' unions, refused to consider the tuition aid, said Richard E. Barnes, executive director of the Catholic Conference.

"This measure, a direct benefit to the hard-working families who seek a better future for their children, was turned back by Sheldon Silver and the state's teachers unions," he said.

He added that "the Speaker could not see fit to give parents of children in independent and religious schools, who save the state $7.5 billion every single year, a deduction that amounts to about $68 per child."

As a result, "New York education policy will continue to be largely more of the same, and children will continue to suffer in communities all over the state, particularly in communities of color."

Stem cells

The Catholic Conference also condemned the agreement by Gov. Spitzer and the Legislature to spend $600 million on research that will include human embryonic stem-cell research.

"This agreement is both fiscally irresponsible and morally indefensible," Mr. Barnes charged. "For the first time, the state will be directly funding research that kills innocent human life. Furthermore, taxpayers will now fund human cloning research aimed at creating new embryos to kill."

"All of those legislators who voted in favor of this budget now must fully come to terms with what they have done: sanction the experimentation and destruction of developing human beings," said Mr. Barnes. "This is a tragic moment for New York State."

(4/12/07) [[In-content Ad]]