QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  “I would give anything to one day be a normal person without diabetes. I wouldn't have to work so hard just to stay alive.”

- Bryan Coble, 12, a juvenile diabetes patient, during a press conference this week in support of stem cell research legislation.

 

 

Friday Footnote #15 … February 11, 2005

A publication of The Baltimore Jewish Council.

5750 Park Heights Avenue. Baltimore MD 21215.

Phone: (410) 542-4850.

Visit our website: www.baltjc.org.

 

Contents
1. Aging in place

2. Security grants

3. Legislative update

4. Federal update

 

 

…And click here for our archive of previous Friday Footnotes.

 

elcome, friends, to another edition of the Friday Footnote, a weekly letter about Maryland politics and the Jewish community. 

This week gave many a new reason to hope for peace in the Middle East.  Our “Council Matters” e-newsletter gives you a variety of different views of the events and announcements that came out of Sharm el-Sheik Egypt.  If you don’t receive this letter, click here to subscribe.

 

This week was a also remarkable demonstration of local, state and federal government support for and partnerships with THE ASSOCIATED and its agencies, and the broader Jewish community. From services to help seniors age in place, to security funds to help us all live more safely, we were proud to play a role in fostering these collaborations.

 

In Annapolis, legislation has been submitted to make it easier for foreign travelers to buy life insurance. And a large and growing coalition this week kicked off the campaign to encourage potentially life-saving stem cell research in Maryland.

 

Please register now for our Maryland Jewish Alliance Advocacy Day in Annapolis on Monday March 7. You’ll find a registration form on this page of our new Baltimore Jewish Council website, www.baltjc.org. 

 

And as always, I hope you and your family have a pleasant and peaceful Shabbat.

 

- David

 

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Aging in place

 

You may not know it, but the Park Heights community is rapidly becoming one of the friendliest places in America for seniors to live – particularly those of modest means.  That is due in no small part to the efforts of Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc. (CHAI), Jewish Family Services, the Jewish Community Center, and other agencies of THE ASSOCIATED who have worked to build the Senior Friendly Neighborhoods project into a national model for aging in place.

 

It’s also due to the tremendous political representation we enjoy from U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and U.S. Congressman Benjamin Cardin.  On Monday we gathered at Har Sinai House, one of the Senior Friendly buildings, to thank the two of them for a third round of federal funding to support the Senior Friendly project.  Also known as a “NORC,” or naturally occurring retirement community, the project helps seniors live as independently as possible, as long as possible, by bringing a variety of services to their homes, including social work, personal care and home supports, transportation, home-delivered or congregate meals, health monitoring and prevention, socialization and volunteer programs. The program polled “satisfied” or “very satisfied” from a whopping 99 percent of community residents, according to CHAI President David Carliner.

 

ASSOCIATED Chairman Ben Greenwald and others from the community thanked Sen. Mikulski and Congressman Cardin for their success in awarding a $706,000 grant to CHAI and the other agencies to continue and enhance the program (and Mr. Greenwald got a big thumbs up from one satisfied Har Sinai House resident in attendance – his grandma.)  Here is the Jewish Times story on this very heartening event.

 

 

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Security grants

 

We brought you the news several months ago that a coalition of local government leaders, working with the state emergency management agency, had decided to establish the nation’s first non-profits grant program for security enhancements.  Sheryl Goldstein and Laura Beasley of the Council worked with dozens of Jewish institutions throughout the greater Baltimore area to coordinate security assessments and develop their applications to this program.  The results were announced this week: about $900,000 of the $1 million grant program will go to Jewish institutions to help them purchase security barriers, surveillance items, bulletproof glass and other protections to make their students, members and worshipers more secure.

 

We’re extremely grateful to Governor Robert Ehrlich, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., and the executives of the other Baltimore area local governments, whose leadership made this achievement possible.  Mayor O’Malley lists the Baltimore City recipients in this portion of his weekly email. (The Mayor was our guest yesterday at the Council’s Board meeting, where he shared his impressions – and slides – of his recently completed mission to Israel with leaders of the Jewish community, including Council 2^nd Vice President Jon Laria.)

 

Many of those grant recipients gathered in Annapolis on Wednesday to acknowledge the support of County Executive Smith, and Governor Ehrlich in the creation of this grant program.  Again, the Jewish Times was there and sent this dispatch.

 

 

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Legislative update

 

I’ve written to you before about our effort to solve a problem many have faced in our community when trying to buy life insurance. Some companies have a hard time understanding that just because someone has traveled to places like Israel does not mean they are a poor risk for insurance.  House Bill 617, sponsored by Del. Adrienne Mandel, and Senate Bill 507, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Gladden, and called the “Life Insurance Freedom to Travel Act,” would prohibit life insurers from refusing to provide coverage, or raising rates, solely because of an applicant’s lawful past travel.  Bill hearings have not been scheduled yet, but we’re hoping some of you who have experienced this problem will be able to come to Annapolis to tell your stories to legislators.

 

We were there this week when members of the Marylanders for the Advancement of Medical Research coalition joined Sen. Paula Hollinger and Del. Sandy Rosenberg to announce the submission of the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2005 (SB 751 and HB 1183).   Former governors Harry Hughes and William Donald Schaefer were among those supporting the measure.  Here are some of the news reports that came out of the press conference:

“2 Ex-Governors Back Stem Cell Research Bill,” writes the Washington Post.

“Md. stem cell bill has support of patients seeking cures,” according to this AP report in USA Today.   

And The Sun’s take was: “Bill seeks $25 million annually in stem-cell research funding.” 

 

On the budget front, legislators began the laborious process of sifting through the $12 billion “General Fund” budget.  Good news came last week for those like us looking to preserve important services funded in the budget: the legislature’s Spending Affordability Committee voted that economic growth in Maryland justifies a slightly higher spending ceiling.  That means the General Assembly will need to cut about $150 million from the Governor’s spending plan, about half the original estimates.

 

That process begins with recommendations on where to cut, from analysts in the state Department of Legislative Services.  If you’re especially interested in a particular department or agency of state government, you can click here to see the analyses posted so far.  We submitted testimony this week regarding the Department of Aging budget, where cuts in spending for several important housing and nutritional programs pose a risk to the welfare of many low-income seniors – and, for that matter, the ability of Jewish agencies to serve them.

 

Soon, I’ll begin to alert you to opportunities to write or call key legislators and share your views and those of the Jewish community on these key legislative and budget initiatives.

 

 

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Federal update

 

The big news in Washington this week was the release of President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2006 federal budget proposal.  Our friends at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs note the widespread concern about deep cuts to health care, education, child care, food stamps and other safety net programs.  (The Montgomery Gazette has this local reaction: “Leaders Warn That Federal Cuts Will Hurt.”)

Here are some specific trouble spots, as highlighted by the JCPA:

Medicaid.  The President's budget makes extreme cuts to Medicaid, cutting at least $45 billion in health care for low-income families and seniors over 10 years.  According to Families USA, in 2010 the amount cut would be large enough to provide health care for 1.8 million children or 345,000 senior citizens.  Families USA has also calculated how many children and how many seniors in your state could be covered by the amount of cuts: http://www.familiesusa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Budget_Battle_2006_splash.

 

Food Stamps.  The budget cuts food stamps by $1 billion over 10 years.  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates those cuts to mean 200,000 to 300,000 fewer low-income working families with children will receive nutrition assistance.

 

Child Care.  The budget cuts the number of children receiving child care assistance by 300,000 in 2010.  The Administration has left child care funds frozen for the last three years and does not include any more funds through 2010.  A freeze is a cut, as the Administration's own budget shows.

 

Baltimore residents have received invaluable benefits from one program in particular over the years:

 

Community Services Block Grant.  The budget requests no funding for this program due to what it calls a lack of adequately demonstrated results.  In FY 2005, $637 million was spent on this program, and an additional $65 million was spent on Community Services Discretionary Programs.  The budget also requests no funding for Community Economic Development, Rural Community Facilities, Community Food and Nutrition, Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals, and National Youth Sports. The budget proposes consolidating economic and community development programs under the Department of Commerce.

 

Attached to this week’s Footnote is a detailed analysis of the proposed budget by Patrick Lester, an old friend from the Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute, who is now at The United Way of America.

 

Our U.S. Senators Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, along with our region’s Congressional representatives, Reps. Cardin, Cummings and Ruppersburger, have been strong supporters of funding for these services.  We expect specific information on ways to communicate your desire for protecting these programs to come our way from United Jewish Communities and others.  Keep an eye out for them.

 

 

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From Mayor Martin O’Malley’s “Neighborhood News Flash”:

‘Good News: Local Homeland Security Grants Awarded’

On November 9, 2004, I was joined by now Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) Chair County Executive Jim Smith, BMC board members, Mayor Ellen Moyer of Annapolis, County Executives Janet Owens, James Harkins and James Robey, and County Commissioner Julia Gouge to announce the availability of funding through the Baltimore Region Critical Infrastructure Community Grant Program. Out of the need to protect our local infrastructure, BMC created this program to provide security resources to specific organizations. Under this program, 29 non-profit organizations have recently been selected to receive over $1 million in homeland security grant funding. Funding decisions were based on substantive infrastructure improvement programs developed by the non-profit organization in conjunction with local law enforcement. The Baltimore winners include:
 

The successful implementation of these resources will help enhance the security of our region and our residents. With improved communication, coordination and physical security, we can continue to work towards the establishment of a fully effective public-private homeland security partnership. I want to thank these community leaders for their commitment to safety and their proven ability to work together with our local first responders.

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