| | In Memorial |  | |
On this 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's death, CAAP Update is not going to focus on the multitude of conspiracies that abound on his assassination, what would our country be like today if he not been murdered or the Kennedy legacy.
We just want to post these powerful words that the President never had the opportunity to speak:
"Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom. So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation's future is at stake.
Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause - united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future - and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance."
Excerpt from a speech JFK was to give on the evening of November 22, 1963.
|
| | CAAP Announces DSA Nominations | | |
Honoring those that have made an outstanding contribution to service for low-income families and communities in Pennsylvania...
CAAP is pleased to announce the expansion of the annual Distinguished Service Awards for 2014. For several years, CAAP has given the Sargent Shriver Community Service Award to an individual who represent all the qualities Sargent Shriver demonstrated as a champion of many social programs and organizations, including Community Action, to show appreciation for that person's work in community service.
This year, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, CAAP is expanding the Distinguished Service Awards to include a number of individual and agency based awards. CAAP members are encouraged to nominate individuals and organizations that enhance the lives of individuals and local communities through their involvement, innovation, leadership or advocacy, as well as personal and organizational generosity. The goal of the CAAP Distinguished Service Awards Program is to honor persons and organizations for outstanding performance.
Eight awards will be offered:
Sargent Shriver Community Service Award
Leader of the Year
Board Member of the Year
Outstanding Advocacy in the Field of Anti-Poverty/Community Development
Staff Member of the Year
Innovative Program of the Year
Professional Advancement Award
Public Official of the Year
The awards will be presented on April 9, 2014 during a ceremony at the CAAP annual conference in Harrisburg, PA. Nomination form can be downloaded from the CAAP website.
|
| | Life is a Highway, Just Avoid the Potholes | | |
By Kevin Zewick, Capitolwire
Declaring "a new era" in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett hailed the passage of a $2.3 billion transportation infrastructure bill as a show of effective government in the commonwealth, drawing a contrast with gridlock in Washington.
"We're showing the people of Pennsylvania that here in Harrisburg, we can get things done. We can tackle the big issues and solve the big problems," Corbett said Thursday at a press conference that concluded a whirlwind week of legislative action to get the massive infrastructure bill through the Republican-controlled Legislature.
"We've shown the nation now that our roads, our bridges and our transit systems are non-partisan. And we've shown the world that we value this over rhetoric," he added.
The Republican governor's remarks followed the GOP-controlled House's final vote on the legislation,  which passed 113-85. It passed the Senate on a 43-7 vote Wednesday.
Throughout the legislative action, union supporters panned the bill for its prevailing wage law changes and conservative hardliners opposed to the bill said it would cause the "Corbett Gas Tax Increase."
The bill generates the $2.3 billion by increasing the tax rate on wholesale gasoline purchases, known as the Oil Company Franchise Tax. The proposal would eliminate the 12 cents-per-gallon state gas tax, but many said the price is expected to rise a total of 28 cents per gallon over five years as oil companies pass down the entire increase to consumers at the pump. Corbett even agreed that at least some part of the cost will be passed to consumers.
"Will they pass some of that along? Yes," Corbett said. "There is nobody in this room, nobody in this building, and there is nobody in this state that can say how much is going to go to the pump, because it is part of an overall cost of doing business."
"Our roads weren't safe: 10,000 miles of roads need to be repaired, 4,000 to 6,000 bridges need to be repaired, structurally deficient,1.5 million children got on 31,000 school buses and will continue to do that," he said. "The longer we wait, the longer we put them at risk. The motoring public, whether it's trucks, cars, buses, coming through Pennsylvania, were all exposed to the decaying infrastructure that needs to be repaired."
Under the law, about $1.8 billion will go toward roads and bridges, nearly $500 million to mass transit agencies, and $144 million to a multi-modal fund for airports, freights and ports. Vehicle registration fees would increase, but not immediately, and be indexed to inflation.
The bill also changes the prevailing wage threshold on public transportation projects from $25,000 to $100,000. A number of Democrats opposed the legislation this week because of this change, which they said was an attack on working families. The issue divided labor unions.
On Monday, the proposal failed to generate enough support in the House. PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch at the time compared the Legislature to a gridlocked Washington D.C. Then on Tuesday, after the House took up the bill again and it passed, House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, said lawmakers didn't want to be compared to Washington dysfunction, and again on Thursday, several House Republicans who had at first not supported the bill said they wanted to get something done.
"People hate politicians that do the politically easy things to do," said House GOP Whip Stan Saylor, R-York, who opposed the bill Monday but eventually supported it. "We've stressed the fact that we do have our differences, and we do fight with [House Minority Leader Frank] Dermody and Hanna, and they fight with us, but in the end we get something done."
Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, who also changed his vote between Monday and Thursday, said on the floor doing nothing is "unacceptable."
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, a critic of the proposal, said his staff identified over 130 fee increases.
Some legislators who opposed the bill said there were other options to raising the revenue to repair deteriorating roads and bridges, like re-prioritizing spending at PennDOT, merging the Pennsylvania Turnpike into PennDOT for savings, or charging a severance tax on natural gas companies and closing corporate tax loopholes. House Democratic Caucus spokesman Bill Patton said the Democrats put a historic 48 votes, higher than any minority party had put up on a transportation vote.
There were also a few more flip-flops among House members between votes from Tuesday to Thursday: Democratic Reps. Matt Bradford, Madeline Dean, and Mary Jo Daley, all from Montgomery County; Whip Mike Hanna, D-Clinton; Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks, and Kevin Schreiber, D-York. House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, also voted in favor of the bill after opposing it earlier this week.
|
| | A Major Need | | |
The National Community Action Foundation (NCAF) is in major need of donations for its operations and for CAP-PAC.
For longer than one can remember, NCAF has been the front line protector of  Community Action, CSBG, Weatherization and LIHEAP. The legislative struggles overcome in the past are because of the tireless efforts of NCAF.
Please donate today and ensure the continued efforts of NCAF.
|
| | Going Mobile | | |
The public now has access to live coverage of the State Senate session on almost any mobile gadget and web browser.
In the past, only viewers with video players that corresponded with WMV could access these live feeds. To watch the live feed on your mobile device, visit: www.palegis.us/feeds/?q=S.
The public is encouraged to tweet your feedback of the PA General Assembly site to #PAGAwebsite
|
| |
CAAP Releases 2012-13 Annual Report
| | |
The document is two reports in one. The first section is an accounting of the Associations activities and accomplishments for the 2012-13 operational year. The second section of the publication is a summary report of Community Services Block Grant funds utilized in Pennsylvania for FY 2011. It provides the number and characteristics of clients served at individual member agencies. Download the 2012-13 CAAP Annual Report & CSBG Summary. |
|
|
Collective Impact Forum
| | |
FSG, a non-profit consulting firm, and the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions have announced the launch of the Collective Impact Forum - a resource for practitioners and funders who are using the collective impact approach to achieve large-scale systems change.
The initiative aims to increase the effectiveness and further adoption of collective impact to address social and environmental problems, and reinforce ways in which collective impact is different from other forms of collaboration. The Collective Impact Forum includes communities of practice, in-person convening and an online community and resource center launching early next year.
 Since the 2011 Stanford Social Innovation Review article introduced the concept, collective impact has grown into a transformative movement. Though collective impact has proven to be a powerful approach in tackling a wide range of issues in communities all over the world, many practitioners lack the resources and connections they need to be successful in this work. The Collective Impact Forum provides them with access to tactical tools, training opportunities, and the shared knowledge of peer networks.
|
|
|
Head Start Director Leaving Post
| | |
Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, the director of the Office of Head Start at the Department of Health and Human Services, announced today that she is leaving her post. Her last day in the office will be Nov. 22.
"I want to thank each of you for your support throughout my tenure and especially for your commitment to the poorest children and families across this country," she wrote in an email to colleagues. "I know the work is not always easy, but I have seen and felt the impact that each of you has  had on making the program better. Together we have implemented dramatic reforms that have raised the quality of services that children and families are receiving today and into the future. It has been a privilege to serve in this administration, that knows and understands that the children who go to the best Head Start programs have an experience that can affect the rest of their lives."
Sanchez Fuentes began serving as director in October 2009. Before that, she was the executive director of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association. She also worked for the Education Development Center as an early childhood specialist for the International Systems Division and provided technical assistance to projects in Honduras, El Salvador and Egypt. Under her tenure, Head Start has undergone some of the most dramatic changes in the program's 50-year history, with new accountability measures for centers taking effect during the last year. The program also recently had to cut seats for about 57,000 children because of sequestration.
|
| | Happy Thanksgiving to our Members and Friends | | |
- The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.
- They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
- The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621. He invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians to the feast.
- The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.
- Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not foods present on the first Thanksgiving's feast table.
- Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese are thought to have made up the first Thanksgiving feast.
- Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.
-
Sarah Josepha Hale, an American magazine editor, persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday.
- Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving.
- The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's.
-
In 1939, President Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would take place on November 23rd, not November 30th, as a way to spur economic growth and extend the Christmas shopping season.
-
Congress to passed a law on December 26, 1941, ensuring that all Americans would celebrate a unified Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year.
-
Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He "pardons" it and allows it to live out its days on a historical farm.
- In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.
-
Each year, the average American eats somewhere between 16 - 18 pounds of turkey.
-
Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.
|
|
