CalWORKs, a program created to help children and families get out of poverty, has been decimated by budget cuts over the past five years. The result? One in four children in California are living in poverty.
The most that a parent with two children can expect to receive from CalWORKs today is $638/month. That is almost exactly the same amount as in 1989. But guess what? The purchasing power of that $638 today is HALF of what it was 24 years ago!
It doesn’t have to be that way. Assemblymember Holly Mitchell has put forward a plan that will get us moving in the right direction.
The “Mitchell Plan,” also known as the CalWORKs Child Poverty adjustment, recognizes that the majority of people benefiting from CalWORKs—three out of four—are children. And the plan asks for a 12% increase in the CalWORKs grant starting January 1, 2014.
We know that the Budget Conference Committee will meet today to discuss this issue. PLEASE CALL AND EMAIL THEM right away to say that you support the Mitchell Plan. Time is of the essence and every call matters. Our legislators are counting and recording call and emails to see how many of us care.
The Budget Committee members are Robert Blumenfield, Holly Mitchell, Nancy Skinner, Jeff Gorell, Mark Leno, Kevin de León, Loni Hancock and Bill Emmerson. Here is their contact info:
Robert Blumenfield – 916.319.2045, assemblymember.blumenfield@assembly.ca.gov
Holly Mitchell – 916.319.2054,
assemblymember.mitchell@assembly.ca.gov
Nancy Skinner – 916.319.2015, assemblymember.skinner@assembly.ca.gov
Jeff Gorell – 916.319.2044, assemblymember.gorell@assembly.ca.gov
Mark Leno – 916.651.4011, senator.leno@sen.ca.gov
Kevin de León – 916.651.4022, senator.deleon@senate.ca.gov
Loni Hancock – 916.651.4009, senator.hancock@sen.ca.gov
Bill Emmerson – 916.651.4023, senator.emmerson@sen.ca.gov
Thank you!