Catholic officials look for more Pataki details

Gov. George Pataki's State of the State address last week left Catholic officials in the Albany Diocese frustrated with the lack of details on issues of concern to the Church.

Bob Daggett, a volunteer advocate on public policy matters for diocesan Catholic Charities, called the speech "a very broad-brush document" with "little substance."

He did approve of some of the Governor's plans to boost jobs and the economy, but he said it won't be until the Governor issues the 2003-'04 executive budget last this month that Catholic Charities can understand those plans and how they will impact Charities' work in the Diocese.

Cuts where?

New York State Catholic Conference communications director Dennis Poust agreed. The Catholic Conference advocates for the state's bishops on public policy issues.

"We applaud [Gov. Pataki's] calls for bipartisanship," he stated, noting that Bishop Howard J. Hubbard had asked for the same unity among state legislators in his prayer to open the State Senate's 2003 term last week.

Mr. Poust said that the Governor's message made it clear that New York State is in a severe financial crisis. However, he was concerned that Medicaid had not been left out of the list of programs and services Gov. Pataki intends to cut.

"We hope, in his upcoming budget, the Governor will keep the neediest in mind," he stated. "We hope the budget isn't balanced on the backs of the poor."

Rockefeller laws

Mr. Daggett was particularly incensed at what wasn't in the Governor's address: namely, the mention of human rights and human services.

While pleased to hear Gov. Pataki's call for reform of the Rockefeller-era drug sentencing laws, Mr. Daggett noted that "that's only one of 69 objectives of the New York State Catholic Conference."

Mr. Poust told The Evangelist that the 30-year-old Rockefeller laws, which require severe sentences for relatively minor drug offenses, have resulted in "30 years of broken families, shattered lives and swelling prison populations. We would like to see action this year."

Education

On the issue of education, Mr. Poust hoped the executive budget would include Catholic-school teachers among those qualified for the "Teachers of Tomorrow" training program. He added that while about $1 million in Academic Intervention Services aid has been received, "the need is more like $10 million," and hoped the Governor would consider that, as well.

Catholic School superintendent Sister Jane Herb, IHM, echoed his concern that non-public schools aren't getting any increases in the financial assistance they receive. She was particularly worried about the lack of increases in both Academic Intervention Services and funding for computer hardware.

Regarding Gov. Pataki's plan to reform the State Board of Regents, Sister Jane said that "the appointment of regents seems very political," and "it would be interesting to look at what changes could be made."

Tax cuts

Mr. Daggett was puzzled by the Governor's plan to cut state taxes even further. After eight years of tax cuts, Mr. Daggett wondered what other state programs could be cut. Besides, he said, "if the revenue stream is down and programs keep expanding, where are you going to get the money to bridge that gap?"

"No one likes higher taxes," Mr. Poust remarked, "but you can't take tax increases off the table if you're trying to balance a budget without cutting services."

Mr. Daggett concluded: "It's going to be a very lean budget for human services, and for the poor and vulnerable."

(01-16-03) [[In-content Ad]]