Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 1-2PM EST

The webinar is co-sponsored by Half in Ten, Coalition on Human Needs, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Community Action Partnership.

To Register visit, http://bit.ly/HV6xl3.

You are invited to The Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey’s POVERTY SUMMIT: A Call to Invest in the People of New Jersey.

Monday, May 21, 2012, 9:00AM – 12:30PM. War Memorial, Trenton, New Jersey.

The Summit will include reports on the current realities of poverty and income insecurity in New Jersey, with a special focus on Employment, Housing and Hunger.

Join community organizations, advocates, persons living in poverty, legislators, state officials and others in this dynamic dialogue.

12:30 Meet and Greet: An informal dialogue time for Legislators and Constituents

TO REGISTER: apnpovertysummit.eventbrite.com

Perhaps that is what is missing these days – a sense of neighborhood, a lack of compassion, a loss of what is “deep and simple”.

Today, I had the opportunity to visit a farm in Milford, New Jersey known as Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse. If you want some of the best artisanal cheese or even bread made from regionally grown organic grain in their wood-fired oven, go visit them. They also sell pasture raised, 100% grass fed beef.

I’m probably not the best to convey the idea of healthy and humanely grown food, the importance of supporting our local economy, all of which is incorporated in what is popularly known as sustainable farming. Perhaps you can read what the owners have to say in a section of their website titled “What We Care About”. They say it simply and deeply.

They believe in the following:
“Everyone should be able to enjoy full-flavor, well-made natural cheese, artisanal cheeses that are designed to nourish the body as well as the spirit, as opposed to industrial cheeses which are merely convenient to make and distribute.”

“Dairy farmers should be well rewarded for making the most healthful, natural milk possible, while improving their land for the next generation. To accomplish this, we believe that it is necessary to break the cycle of overproduction, where lower margins force farmers to “squeeze the cows” to produce more milk, thereby driving margins even lower, while degrading the environment, the health of the animals, and ultimately the health of the eaters.”

“Cows and other dairy animals should also live well: producing only as much milk as is healthful for them. This means that dairy animals should live out of doors, eating grass and being milked seasonally, and not indoors, being fed grain, animal by-products and hormones, and being milked to death.”

“We want to raise our children in a world where farming, and indeed all other human activity, is done thoughtfully and sustainably, with long-term well-being taking priority over immediate gain. This requires thoughtful cooperation between producers and consumers. It also requires all people to aspire to a deeper understanding of how their individual actions affect both their own future, as well as the future of all living things: enlightened self-interest.”

Amen.

Support local farming. Support your local economy. Keep it simple.

First a brief history. Due to the “Great Recession” a number of legislators felt a need to help struggling families with their utility bills. Legislation was introduced in the New Jersey Assembly in 2008. Senate bill S3064 was introduced in November, 2009. Both bodies passed the bill overwhelmingly in January, 2010 and it was signed by then Acting Governor Stephen Sweeney. The legislation provides $25 million for utility
assistance grants for qualified households. Technically, it became P.L. 2009, Chapter 207.

It was assumed that grants would commence on or about July 1, 2010 as indicated in the legislation. Instead, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) voted in November, 2010 to put the program out for bid. The Board issued a Notice of Availability of Grants, advising nonprofits in the state how they might become the program administrator. The Board of Public Utilities finally awarded the $25 million grant to the Affordable Housing Alliance, an agency located in Eatontown and issued a February 10, 2011 news release.

The Star Ledger printed an article in their Sunday, February 5, 2012 newspaper titled
“NJ Offers First Year Of Heating Assistance For Moderate Income Families”. The program finally began March, 2011 according to Michele Torres, director of the Temporary Relief for Utility Expenses (TRUE) program. In a year’s time the program has only given out $4.5 million to approximately 5400 households. Over $20 million remains available “to middle-income families who normally pay utility bills but are in a tough spot”.

Initially, the Affordable Housing Alliance partnered with five agencies in the state but has since increased the number slightly to 12. The TRUE website lists the local intake agencies as:
1) Atlantic Human Resources, 609-404-4801 (Atlantic);
2) Bergen County Community Action Partnership, 201-968-0200 ext 7008 (Bergen);
3) Affordable Housing Alliance, 732-982-8710 (Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Passaic, Sussex, Warren);
4) Camden County Council on Economic Opportunity, 856-964-6887 (Camden, Gloucester);
5) Bethel Development Corp., 856-327-9092 (Cumberland, Salem);
6) La Casa de Don Pedro, 973-485-0795 or 0796, ext 4415 or 4409, opt 7 (Essex, Union);

7) P.A.C.O., 201-217-0583 (Hudson);
8) Mercer County Hispanic Association (MECHA), 609-587-8800 (Mercer, Hunterdon);
9) Puerto Rican Action Board (PRAB), 732-828-4541 (Middlesex);
10) Morris County Organization for Hispanic Affairs (MCOHA), 973-644-4884 (Morris);
11) Ocean, Inc., 732-244-9041 ext 10 or 11 (Ocean);
12) Catholic Charities, 908-333-2271 (Somerset).

To fulfill the mission within a reasonable period of time the BPU and Affordable Housing Alliance (AHA) must increase the number of local intake agencies. AHA must rethink why many nonprofits are/were not interested in becoming a partner. Could it be due to unrealistic administrative reimbursement? Everyone involved in the TRUE program must do a better job at outreach. As one energy expert recently said to me, “The TRUE program is the best kept secret in New Jersey.” AHA must also revisit the unrealistic rules they have put in place. Would a legislator have sponsored the bill or voted for passage if he or she knew that households already shutoff would not be eligible for funds?

The statewide energy nonprofit, NJ SHARES was created so non-poor households had a place to turn to. AHA should follow their example.

His comments need a little analysis. It annoys me enough that I am going to add my two cents not that I very often discuss politics per se on this blog. When a presidential candidate talks about a group – the very poor – and says what he says, people should speak up.

In the same interview, if not to add insult to injury, candidate Romney added that we have a “very ample safety net”, food stamps, and housing vouchers. Later, on his campaign plane while speaking – some call it damage control – to reporters he said that “we can talk about whether it (the safety net) needs to be strengthened or if there are holes in it.”

Someone needs to tell this candidate a few things. 1) The safety net needs mending. 2) The food stamp program is now known as SNAP – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 3) Yes, there are housing vouchers but there aren’t enough even to house all our homeless veterans. Mr. Romney, ask a family that has been on a waiting list with their local Housing Authority or Section 8 agency about how long it takes to get a housing voucher.

Last September the Census Bureau released a poverty report in which they reported 46 million people living in poverty in 2010. The number was the largest in the 52 year history of the poverty surveys.

We need candidates who will face the fact that we have income inequality in American. It is not a question if we need to fix the safety net. It’s a question of how we can rebuild and make everyone stronger. We can no longer tolerate a 281% increase in income among the top 1% while the bottom fifth’s income rises only 16% in the last 30 plus years. (Source: Congressional Budget Office. See www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=12485 for additional proof.

Please wake up Mr. Romney.

An IRS spokesperson recently stated, “If you worked any part of last year (2011) and your income was around $49,000 or less see if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC.” It can put extra money in a family’s pocket, up to $5700. In New Jersey in 2011 552,000 households received $1.17 billion via the EITC credit, with an average refund of $2,117. For a single parent with one child it is estimated that EITC effectively raises wages by $1.25 an hour.

An EITC Tax Tip Video makes a number of suggestions. They include:
1) Use free brand name tax software through IRS’ Free File program if your adjusted gross income is $57,000 or less. For details visit the IRS Free File: Do Your Federal Taxes For Free page.
2) Utilize the services of any of the 400 nationwide IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers to get face-to-face tax help. In New Jersey there are twelve local offices located in Cherry Hill, Edison, Fairfield, Freehold, Jersey City, Mays Landing, Mountainside, Newark, Paramus, Parsippany, Paterson, and Trenton. Visit the link for locations and telephone numbers.
3) Take advantage of local and free tax preparation sites – known as VITA or AARP Tax-Aide sites – during the tax season. For a comprehensive and up-to-date list of New Jersey tax assistance sites visit the NJ 2-1-1 website. To locate the nearest VITA site, call 800-906-9887, if you do not have Internet access. In New Jersey, dial 2-1-1 or 877-652-1148 to find the closest free tax preparation site.

There are a couple tips that I also would like to pass on. They fall into the category of consumer protection and financial literacy. Does it make sense to pay $100 or even $200 to a commercial tax preparer if you can have your tax preparation done for free and get your refund via direct deposit? You should be familiar with the term “rapid refund” and currently known as a “refund anticipation check”. They are nothing more than expensive loans. In the consumer affairs community these services are known as Refund Anticipation Loans or RALs. For a good explanation of how expensive RALs are see a recent National Consumer Law Center report. Fortunately, 2011 may be the last year in the life of these loan schemes.

In the past couple years a number of VITA programs have partnered with financial institutions to enable tax filers to open accounts with the idea of getting a tax refund quicker via direct deposit. New Jersey consumers are fortunate in having available to them low-cost, low-volume basic checking services known as New Jersey Consumer Checking Accounts. If you want to promote financial literacy and encourage consumer education spread the word about consumer checking accounts.

For additional information on tax preparation programs and organizations that sponsor them, visit the New Jersey Community Resources’ NJ Earned Income Tax Credit web page.

It reads as follows: “SNAP/Food Stamp recipients can now use USDA’s National Farmers’ Market Directory to search for nearby farmers’ markets accepting the benefits. WIC and Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program participants can also find markets accepting their benefits. The upgrades are part of “serious enhancements to the data based on feedback from you – consumers, business people, producers, to name a few.” USDA hopes this will encourage more people to visit farmers’ markets “and stimulate communities through new business and healthier lifestyles.”

The article originally appeared in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Blog on December 28 under the title of “7,175 Markets and Counting: Farmers Markets At Your Fingertips”.

You can check out the Farmers Markets Search database at http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/. Enjoy and good luck finding farmer fresh produce.

New faces to the Legislature include:
Chris Brown (District 2 – Rep), Gabriela Mosquera (District 4 – Dem), Christopher Brown (District 8 – Rep), Gregory McGuckin (District 10 – Rep), Robert Clifton (District 12 – Rep), Jack Ciattarelli (District 16 – Rep), Angelica Jimenez (District 32 – Dem), Sean Connors (District 33 – Dem), Shavonda Sumter (District 35 – Dem), Benjie Wimberly (District 35 – Dem), Marlene Caride (District 36 – Dem), Timothy Eustace (District 38 – Dem), and Holly Schepisi (District 39 – Rep). If you learn of these legislators’ district office address please let me know so the web page can be updated.

Let’s see what Trenton does in 2012.

You may have heard stories in which a low-income customer contacts their utility company only to be told they will be shut off soon unless they pay a large portion of their bill. This may be allowable under certain circumstances but may not comply with regulations issued by the state’s Board of Public Utilities. A situation came to this person’s attention and it was obvious the facts did not add up. For example, the customer was advised to pay three quarters of the outstanding balance. State rules allow a protected customer to pay up to 25% of the bill and go on a budget plan. The customer indicated she was receiving welfare. She was told that wasn’t enough, that she had to be receiving energy assistance (LIHEAP) to be protected against a winter shut off. She was further advised that service can be shut off as long as the temperature does not go below 32 degrees. Not true, as the weather does not supercede state regulations.

Last month the New Jersey Community Resources website featured an article as to which groups of people are protected against disconnections. To further assist social workers and community agencies in an effort to protect vulnerable individuals and families a series of questions have been prepared when they are interviewing their clients. It should be useful in averting unnecessary shutoffs and a source of information about other energy programs. The Utility Questions Guide is available on this site. Feel free to share it.

Other useful information is available on the following web pages:
Avoiding NJ Utility Shutoffs,
Winter Termination Program,
NJ Energy Assistance Programs.

Complaints about violations of the Winter Termination Program rules should be directed to the Board of Public Utilities at 800-624-0241.

In a related matter, we should also wonder what happened to the funding promised to families almost two years ago. Legislation was signed in Trenton in January, 2010 with funds becoming available starting July 1, 2010. It is known as the Temporary Relief for Utility Expenses (TRUE) program but hasn’t been overly successful in averting shutoffs for moderate income families.

The following is part of a Customer’s Bill or Rights found on the BPU website. It reads as follows: “Winter Termination Program – If you are an elderly or low income customer having financial problems paying your bill you should request the company to enroll you in a budget plan in accordance with your ability to pay. You are required to make good faith payments of all reasonable bills for service and in return are assured of the right to have gas and electric utilities service from November 15, to March 15 without fear of termination of such service.”

Customers who receive any of the following public benefit programs are protected against utility shutoffs: Lifeline, PAAD, LIHEAP, USF, TANF, GA, SSI, or persons unable to pay their bill due to circumstances beyond their control. A person can request to be placed under “WTP protection” if they are in any of these categories by contacting their utility company. To take advantage of the WTP a customer should make “good faith” payments, enroll in an affordable payment plan, and apply for energy assistance benefits.

Additional information is available on the New Jersey Community Resources website on the following web pages: Winter Termination Program, NJ Energy Assistance Programs, and Avoiding NJ Utility Shutoffs.

Households who require the intervention from others should contact the Board’s Division of Customer Assistance at 800-624-0241, or Legal Services of New Jersey at 888-LSNJ-LAW (888-576-5529).