Catholics flood Capitol to lobby

Cosmo Fallarino is 83, and Imani Eichelberger is a junior at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady. What the two had in common March 14 was their first-time attendance at the annual Public Policy Forum at the State Capitol.

"I wanted to come because I haven't been to these things before. We try to do what we can," remarked Mr. Fallarino, who was representing the Knights of Columbus and his parish, St. Patrick's in Catskill.

"Our campus minister brought us. We're really here to listen and see what goes on," said Miss Eichelberger, a parishioner of St. John/St. Ann Church in Albany.

Issues of concern

The forum drew more than 1,100 other Catholics from across New York State with the same goal: to lobby state legislators about five targeted issues of concern to the Church:

* approving education tax credits for parents in religious, independent and public schools;

* promoting ethical stem-cell research, and banning embryonic stem-cell research and cloning;

* passing "Timothy's Law" to ensure equity in insurance coverage for mental illness and substance abuse treatment;

* ensuring access to health care for the poor; and

* continuing to reform the Rockefeller-era drug sentencing laws.

Education

Several participants told The Evangelist they were encouraged by the Assembly and Senate's proposal earlier this week to expand Gov. George Pataki's education tax credit plan. Both houses voted to include families in all school districts, not just underperforming ones.

For Tom Gallant, a sophomore at Scotia-Glenville High and parishioner of St. Joseph's Church in Scotia, education tax credits are an issue that hits close to home.

Although he's not yet of voting age, he said that the hundreds of young people who came to the forum would be gathering information to take back to their parents -- "and it's almost election time."

Health care

Many forum participants found hope in the State Legislature's plan to restore most of the $1.3 billion in healthcare cuts proposed in this year's executive state budget.

Albert Turo of St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam attended a healthcare rally day at the Capitol just last week, sponsored by the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS). He noted that 3,000 participants turned out for that event to protest cutting healthcare benefits, especially for the state's poorest residents.

Mr. Turo planned to reiterate that message in a meeting with Assemblyman Paul Tonko during the Public Policy Forum. "It's important to continue to remind them," he stated.

Stem cells

Concern about embryonic stem-cell research was on the minds of many forum attendees. Sister Miriam Natale, OSF, who works in pastoral care ministry at St. Clare's Hospital in Schenectady, stated emphatically that "we must pursue research in the area of adult stem cells."

Scheduled to meet with Sen. Hugh Farley, she hoped to point out that New York must also work on banking umbilical-cord blood for ethically acceptable use in research.

Donna Simone of St. Joseph's parish in Scotia said that stem-cell research would be on the top of her lobbying agenda when she met with state lawmakers later in the day.

"We can say what we think -- and by gathering together, we're hoping that's going to make a difference," she stated.

(The annual Public Policy Forum is sponsored by the New York State Catholic Conference, which advocates for the state's bishops on legislative issues. Learn more at www.nyscatholic.org.)

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