Catholics prepare to lobby lawmakers on major issues

Organizers of this year's Public Policy Forum at the State Capitol, to be held March 8, plan to "put flesh and blood" on the issues about which Catholics from across New York will lobby state lawmakers.

For example, among changes to the forum's schedule will be a keynote speech by NYPD Detective Steven McDonald. A Catholic, he became quadriplegic after being shot in the line of duty in 1986, yet forgave his assailant and still lobbies against both capital punishment and embryonic stem-cell research.

In addition, the forum will include a PowerPoint presentation on the day's seven targeted issues, as seen from the perspectives of real people who would be helped by a change in New York State law:

* support for parental choice and fair funding in education,

* promotion of ethical stem-cell research and a ban on embryo experimentation,

* abolishing the death penalty,

* ensuring safe and affordable housing,

* securing funding and equity for behavioral health services,

* continuing reform of the Rockefeller-era drug sentencing laws, and

* maintaining Medicaid benefits and adequate health coverage.

Busy day

Catholics from the eight dioceses in New York State will meet with elected officials to lobby on those issues. The day's schedule also includes an opening prayer service, a Mass and award presentations.

In one segment of the PowerPoint presentation, a low-income mother from Albany will talk about her struggle to get a good education for her son.

Although she works two jobs, he attended a poorly-performing school and she was unable to transfer him to a private school until her pastor helped her negotiate for reduced tuition. She believes that New York State should provide benefits to help parents like her get their children into better schools.

The presentation will also address the case of Timothy O'Clair, a Schenectady boy who hanged himself just before his 13th birthday. His parents believe he would be alive if they had been able to access behavioral health services he desperately needed.

"Timothy's Law," a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Tonko, would provide parity in insurance benefits for such services, comparable to physical health services coverage.

Place for all

According to Kathleen Gallagher of the New York State Catholic Conference, all of these changes illustrate the forum's theme for this year: "A Place at the Table."

Every one of the struggling New Yorkers featured in the PowerPoint presentation, she noted, deserves "a place at the table," that is, the services they need.

The Catholic Conference, which sponsors the annual forum, represents the bishops of New York State in matters of public policy.

Key issues

Dennis Poust, director of communications for the Catholic Conference, addressed the targeted issues more specifically.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Ever since the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in New York State last June, some lawmakers have been fighting to revive it, while others want to make the moratorium on capital punishment permanent.

Mr. Poust said the "climate has changed" in the State Assembly since 1995, when Assembly Democrats voted to reinstate the death penalty. In particular, overturned sentences when death-row inmates were proven innocent have turned public sentiment against the death penalty.

Mr. Poust noted that President George W. Bush, in his recent State of the Union address, called for new safeguards in the application of capital punishment. When a traditionally pro-death-penalty president like Mr. Bush begins to question capital punishment, said Mr. Poust (quoting an old song), "The times, they are a-changing."

***

DRUG LAWS

New York State took a "big step forward" last year in reforming the Rockefeller-era drug sentencing laws, said Mr. Poust. He listed positive changes: reductions in mandatory prison sentences, increases to the amount of drugs leading to those sentences and allowing some incarcerated drug offenders to petition for early release based on the new sentencing guidelines.

However, he added, those changes did not allow judges to use their own discretion in sentencing drug offenders, nor did they provide new funding for drug treatment programs that would be alternatives to incarceration.

"We'd like to see that happen," he said simply.

***

EDUCATION

Forum attendees will ask that the state adopt tax credits and boost funding to allow parents to choose their children's schools, and to enable independent and religious schools to get instructional resources for students and teachers.

Though the State Legislature's first priority has been improving public schools, Mr. Poust noted that "there is a crisis in Catholic education" and cited the Brooklyn Diocese's announcement last week that it was closing 22 of its schools.

"We have to charge tuition, and poor and middle-class families are increasingly unable to afford a Catholic education," he stated. "We support a system of tax credits [so that] parents can choose the school they feel is best for their kids."

***

HEALTH

Health care is a "basic human right," Mr. Poust told The Evangelist, but Governor George Pataki's proposed budget would cut both Medicaid benefits and the Family Health Plus program for low- and moderate-income individuals and families.

The cost of participating in Family Health Plus would also increase under Gov. Pataki's plan, and enrollment and recertification would become more difficult.

Lobbyists at the forum will argue that such measures would leave more people uninsured and dependent on emergency rooms for health care, and they counter that it would "make fiscal sense" to streamline enrollment, expand outreach to those are eligible for the programs and retain current benefit levels.

***

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

Another health item on the agenda concerns funding for behavioral health services. Although the State Assembly passed a bill that would provide parity in insurance coverage for mental health and substance abuse services, the corresponding bill passed by the Senate last year was more modest.

Mr. Poust said that many New Yorkers who can't access behavioral health services end up unable to work and even suicidal.

Catholics at the forum will advocate for passage of Timothy's Law to give similar benefits for behavioral services as there are for services targeting physical health, and for more community-based behavioral health services.

***

HOUSING

Gov. Pataki's proposed budget for 2005-'06 would maintain funding for affordable housing at last year's levels, which had been drastically cut the previous year.

Mr. Poust believes that, without more funding, even more low-income New Yorkers and persons with disabilities will have to sacrifice necessities like food and clothing in order to pay for housing.

Affordable housing programs in rural areas that were cut last year especially need to be reinstated, he said, to help some of the state's most vulnerable residents.

***

STEM CELLS AND CLONING

Many people don't understand that embryonic stem-cell research necessarily includes cloning, Mr. Poust said. Every bill currently in the Legislature that would allow embryonic stem-cell research would also allow the cloning of embryos for that experimentation.

Forum participants will lobby in favor of adult stem-cell research and using umbilical cord stem cells, which have already proven successful in repairing damaged bone and tissue, reversing paralysis, and treating many diseases.

Mr. Poust called Catholic lobbying efforts in this area an "educational process" of making the ramifications of embryonic research and its lack of success clear to lawmakers.

Much to do

Catholic lobbyists believe they have a chance to make "a real difference" through this year's forum, according to Mr. Poust.

"We certainly had an opportunity to celebrate last year" when the Senate and Assembly united on initial reforms of the Rockefeller drug laws, he said as one example, and "we hope to finish the job this year. We need to do it soon."

Abolishing the death penalty in New York State is also "in our grasp," he added.

He is particularly excited because the Catholic Advocacy Network (CAN), a coalition of New York State's Catholics who regularly petition lawmakers on issues of concern, has grown to 13,000 members -- about 1,000 of whom live in the Albany Diocese.

Last year, Mr. Poust noted, attendance at the Public Policy Forum was up by 400 people from its usual number, largely due to increased participation by Catholics in CAN.

This year's forum is expected to welcome well over 1,000 participants.

(For more information on the Catholic Advocacy Network or the Public Policy Forum, go to the New York State Catholic Conference's website, www.nyscatholic.org.)

---

Albany diocesan efforts part of state-wide Church involvement

Parishes and organizations across the Albany Diocese are already getting Catholics enthused about lobbying state lawmakers:

* The diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis (OEC) and the New York State Catholic Conference co-sponsored a recent "public policy training day" for youth and youth ministers, held at the Pastoral Center in Albany. Participants learned about issues to be addressed at the upcoming Public Policy Forum and how to effectively advocate on them.

* In Schenectady, the parish cluster of St. John the Evangelist, St. Mary's and Holy Cross held a sign-up weekend in January for the Catholic Advocacy Network (CAN). After CAN director Kathleen Gallagher spoke at seven Masses during the weekend about Catholics' responsibility to be involved in advocacy, more than 500 parishioners signed up to join CAN, which sends out email bulletins alerting Catholics on current issues in need of lobbying efforts.

St. John's also offered to allow parishioners without computers to use two parish computers in order to visit the New York State Catholic Conference's website, www.nyscatholic.org, to read CAN alerts. (KB)

(2/17/05)