Pataki garners mixed reaction

Calling the speech a "mixed bag," diocesan Catholic Charities associate executive director Joseph Buttigieg congratulated the Governor on his expansion of the Child Health Plus program, which provides health care for more than 260,000 children to date. He also applauded Gov. Pataki's "Built on Pride" initiative to train former welfare recipients in construction, plumbing, electrical work and other fields.

David Hamilton, associate director for Catholic Charities for the New York State Catholic Conference, which advocates for the bishops on public policy issues, agreed that "it's very important to help people become engaged in more than just busy activities" once they stop receiving welfare.

Concern over welfare

Gov. Pataki said that the welfare system had been reformed "carefully, compassionately and intelligently," but Mr. Buttigieg countered that "there needs to be a measure other than the reduction of rolls. Our experience is that people are not necessarily finding their way to financial independence; they're finding their way to our food pantries. There's been a severe strain put on our resources in the past year.

"The fact that we're focusing in on a reduction in rolls says that we're looking at the wrong point in the process," he continued. "Are they, in fact, better today than yesterday? Our experience is they're not."

Disappointment

"Moving people from welfare to work requires making sure there's child care and transportation; that jobs have a living wage; that people don't end up in a position that a couple years down the road, because they don't have medical insurance any more, they have to go back on welfare," he said.

Health insurance for adults was another item of concern. "Child Health Plus is a great program, but what about uninsured adults?" asked Mr. Buttigieg. "We have unfinished business. We have to look at the rest of the family."

Parole

"It removes any incentive for prisoners to rehabilitate themselves," he said.

Making a blanket statement that anyone convicted of a violent crime is not worthy of parole is a bad idea, according to Mr. Buttigieg, who noted: "`Violent felon' sounds like `mass murderer.' You could be talking about someone who was defending herself in a spousal abuse situation."

He is also concerned with further overcrowding of prisons, saying that prisoners are being treated as less than human. Instead of further punishing criminals, he said, society needs to look at better methods of rehabilitation.

What was not included in the State of the State address bothered the two officials most, including the Governor's lack of discussion on providing day care and transportation support for those in transition from welfare to work.

Abortion clinics

In his remarks, Speaker Silver vowed in memory of murdered abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian to focus the Assembly Majority's efforts on passing legislation to increase criminal penalties for those who block access to abortion clinics. Two bills have already been introduced to that end, and the Governor's office is drafting a third.

Catholic Conference associate director Kathleen Gallagher slammed the bills as "discriminative, duplicative and unnecessary. Their sole purpose is to intimidate peaceful protesters for speaking their message." She said that such bills limit abortion protesters' First Amendment rights, which is "unacceptable."

Ms. Gallagher further noted that the passage of bills to keep protesters away from abortion clinics would have made no difference in the case of Dr. Slepian because "he was killed at his home."

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