Hoeffel Disturbed by DPW SSI Cuts; Urges DPW To Reconsider Changes & Calls for Public Hearings

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Democrat Joe Hoeffel, candidate for PA governor, sent a letter on Friday, January 29, 2010, to Edward J. Zogby of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW). The letter is Hoeffel's response to announced changes to the DPW State Supplementary Payments to individuals and couples who receive federal Supplemental Security Income.

The letter Hoeffel sent to Zogby is as follows:

Joe Hoeffel
1420 Walnut Street, 13th Floor
Philadelphia PA 19102

29 January 2010

Edward J. Zogby,
Department of Public Welfare
Bureau of Policy, Room 431
Health and Welfare Building
Harrisburg PA 17105

Dear Mr. Zogby,

The recently announced changes to the Department of Public Welfare's State Supplementary Payments to individuals and couples who receive federal Supplemental Security Income are disturbing.

The most important role of government is fighting discrimination: against the sick, against the unemployed, against the poor. The cuts to these state payments are an unfortunate example of government acting in a most discriminatory fashion against the most vulnerable citizens of Pennsylvania: our poorest seniors and disabled citizens of all ages. Of the 345,000 who will be affected by these cuts, 67,000 are children.

The federal SSI grant does not take into account state-to-state cost-of-living differences; Pennsylvania's State Supplementary Payments help compensate for this. Yet the total grants still pay only 77.7% of the federal poverty line. Many of us equate $5 to a video rental or a latte, but for the Pennsylvanians receiving SSI and SSP grants, $5 is a meal, a para-transit ride, or a drug co-payment.

I urge the DPW to reconsider these cuts.

Moreover, the call for written comments does not allow for sufficient public response to these cuts.

I call upon the Department of Public Welfare to hold public hearings across Pennsylvania to allow those affected by these cuts and their advocates to speak directly, and I call upon the DPW to delay any implementation of these cuts until public hearings and a full review process are conducted.

Sincerely,

Joe Hoeffel