Grant Opportunity: Neighbors in Need Fund Systems Reform Grants

The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region is accepting applications for Neighbors in Need Fund Systems Reform Grants. Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations within the greater Washington region for systems reform efforts focused on strengthening the safety-net infrastructure and helping people mitigate the effects of the current economic recession. The Fund is interested in proposals that support Advocacy/Organizing and Alignment/Coalition-Building to Improve Service Delivery. Funding is available to support Implementation Grants of up to $75,000. The Fund will award a total of up to approximately $500,000 in grants.

A Grantseeker Information Session webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 15 from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. The number of participants is limited. Register online no later than Tuesday, September 8.

Click here for additional information and the full Guidelines and Request for Proposals. Applications must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. on Monday, October 5.

Action Alert: Help Preserve the Safety Net, Call the Mayor

This week, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty will be finalizing plans to address the District’s new $340 million revenue shortfall. We need to send him a message right now that he should protect key services — especially the safety net — as he works to balance the budget.

All DC residents have a stake in the city budget: if city leaders make wise choices with our shared resources, our communities will be more healthy and prosperous, and better able to weather the economic downturn.

Please call or e-mail the Mayor today to tell him that his budget-balancing plan should maintain a strong safety net. Feel free to use the talking points below, or write your own message. Call the
Citywide Call Center at 202-727-1000 and ask to speak to someone in the Mayor's Office, or e-mail mayor@dc.gov.

• The safety net provides stability. DC families and individuals are already struggling with stagnant, low wages, layoffs and rising food, energy, medical and housing costs during this economic downturn. Cutbacks in safety net programs can increase hardship, reducing
  residents' buying power, and creating the need for more costly emergency services.
• A strong safety net is good for the economy. Public investments stimulate economic recovery because the money is spent quickly and locally. Support for human capital development, the environment, and infrastructure will help DC build living-wage jobs, healthy communities, and a thriving business climate.
• Maintaining healthy communities requires raising revenue. The use of responsible revenue enhancements and DC's rainy day fund should be part of the city's approach. It will be difficult or impossible to keep safety net programs from being cut unless new revenues are
  identified. The economic downturn offers an opportunity to review DC's revenue system and to identify changes that would both raise revenue and improve our tax structure, creating a higher quality of life for all.

Please share this Action Alert with other DC residents in your networks. If you have not done so already, consider signing on to a letter to the Mayor.

Sign On to the Letter: Protect Safety Net Programs from Budget Cuts

This week, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty will be finalizing plans to address the District’s new $340 million revenue shortfall. We need to send him a message right now that he should protect key services — especially the safety net — as he works to balance the budget. In particular, we need to urge the Mayor to tap DC’s rainy day fund and to raise revenues — as more than half the states have done this year.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Sign on to the letter below by close-of-business Tuesday (See details below.)
2. Call-in or e-mail the Mayor later this week. We will post details of an action alert later this week.
   

Sign-on letter details:

Please review the letter and sign on by close-of-business on Tuesday, July 7. Also, please forward this message to other organizations or networks of organizations. To sign on, please e-mail info@coalitionforcommunityinvestment.org. Include organizational name is signing on as a group. Please include individual name and the ward of residence if signing on as an individual.

TEXT OF SIGN-ON LETTER

July 6, 2009

The Honorable Adrian M. Fenty
Executive Office of the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 316
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Mayor Fenty:

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are concerned about the potential impact of the recently announced revenue shortfall on services that DC residents rely upon. We encourage you to work with the DC Council to develop a plan that balances the budget while maintaining key investments that support residents, build strong neighborhoods, and invest in the future health and vitality of the District.

Addressing the new revenue shortfall will require the District’s leaders to make increasingly difficult budget decisions. Falling revenue collections already required $800 million in budget-saving measures in the FY 2010 budget, including cuts in virtually every DC agency. The new shortfall — totaling $340 million in FY 2009 and FY 2010 — means that an even wider range of gap-closing options will need to be considered.

In particular, we urge you and the DC Council to take steps to replace a portion of the city’s falling revenues, including using DC’s rainy day reserves and adopting revenue increases. This would be consistent with the actions taken in other states, most of which have tapped rainy day funds or adopted revenue increases this year, or both.

The following steps can help balance the District’s budget while limiting the impact on DC residents.

• Use Half of the Rainy Day Fund: Some 27 states have tapped their reserves recently, but the District has not. Using half of DC’s $330 million in rainy day reserves would cover roughly half of the $340 million shortfall for FY 2009 and FY 2010, while leaving some of the reserve for future years. The Mayor and Council also should start working now with Congress to eliminate numerous federal rules that make DC’s reserve far more restrictive than the rainy day funds in nearly every state, including a requirement to repay withdrawals in a very short time frame — two years.
• Tap Other Revenue Sources: The District’s budget includes a number of special-purpose funds that are financed by dedicated fees and taxes. Many of these funds currently have surpluses that should be used to help cover the budget shortfall. All dedicated funds should be considered, including the Ballpark Revenue fund and the Washington Convention Center Authority.
• Raise New Revenues: Fully half of all U.S. states have enacted revenue increases this year and 12 more are considering increases. The District should consider tax changes based on a number of factors, including those that would improve tax fairness or that would spread the costs partly to non-residents — such as imposing a sales tax on tickets to live performances. Tax changes should be structured to protect residents who are least able to absorb the additional burden and should instead fall as much as possible on those most able to pay.
• Preserve Safety Net Programs: DC’s unemployment rate is at the highest level in 25 years, and demand for public assistance benefits has risen significantly over the past year. Given the rise in need, the District should avoid cutting services that help with basic necessities like housing, healthcare, and food assistance. Cutbacks in safety net programs can prove to be "penny wise and pound foolish" by increasing hardship, reducing residents' buying power, and creating the need for more costly emergency services.
  

We welcome the opportunity to discuss these recommendations with you in more detail. Thank you.