Sample Letter to Your Governor

December 2002

Dear Governor:

Even though the holiday season is a time of celebration and hope, (insert exact number of your state's poverty population from the chart or make an estimate such as "tens of thousands of") women, children and families live in poverty in our state.  Far from celebrating, these families are struggling to survive.  They need cash assistance, counseling and rehabilitation services, help finding housing, transportation, childcare, training and jobs, if they are to have the opportunity to obtain economic security.  The bottom line is that they are being abandoned or traded off at the national level as federal funds are being diverted to address terrorism, the upcoming war, tax reductions for the wealthy, and the budget deficit.  Impoverished families need you to speak out on their behalf when you talk to the Bush Administration and Congress, especially on the issues of welfare reform, tax policies and any proposed reductions in domestic and human needs programs.  Please put these families near the top of your agenda and make reducing poverty in our state one of your New Year's resolutions.

As you well know, our state and many others are facing budget shortfalls totaling $58 billion or more in Fiscal Year 2003. This crisis is already forcing states to make difficult program cuts and fund reallocations which will have devastating effects for the poor – especially if there is no consistent, guaranteed and fully-funded federal support for our anti-poverty/anti-hunger programs.  Individual activists and community-based advocates have pushed hard, but with little success in this conservative climate.  WE NEED YOUR VOICE AND YOUR LEADERSHIP.

The 1996 welfare law set up Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) in order to provide federal funding for cash and other assistance to needy and low income families in our state.  Congress has temporarily "continued" TANF through March of next year and will take up TANF reauthorization and funding upon its return in January.  It is crucial that you weigh in now to ensure that, during these difficult economic times, TANF's authorization is extended with the fewest sanctions and restrictions, and that funding is raised, not reduced.  Now more than ever, Congress must not limit states' ability to provide important safety net programs, including education, training, domestic violence counseling and substance abuse services just to name a few.  If required work hours are extended, then you must demand that caregiving for one's own children be counted as the work it is.

Governor, you must speak out to ensure that our state has the resources and flexibility it needs to provide poor families with the support systems and the boost needed to attain economic security.   Please contact, either as an individual state leader or with other governors, the President and our congressional delegation to insist that Congress reauthorize TANF at full funding and with sufficient flexibility to address the needs of impoverished women, children and families.  This couldn't be more important, especially during this holiday season and as we face many uncertainties about our economy and safety in the upcoming new year.