Spend+rainy-day+fund,+advocates+tell+governor

= = =By Sam Butterfield= =//Published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette//= =//6/17/11//= = = = = =Social-service advocates gathered outside Piatt Place, the Downtown building where Gov. Tom Corbett has a regional office, to protest the governor's proposed budget and urge him to use of an existing rainy day fund to ensure that funding for social services remains level.= =Organized by the group Just Harvest, an organization that promotes economic equality, and the We Are One Coalition of Western Pennsylvania, an umbrella group of organizations dedicated to helping the needy, the rally attracted about 70 people who called for "SOS-squared," or "Save our Services and Spend our Surplus."= =They said the $471 million cut to the Department of Public Welfare in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives budget proposal would unduly affect the poor and impact the ability of social-service providers to aid the needy.= = = =Specifically, they called on Gov. Corbett to use a $500 million surplus to restore funding to County Assistance Offices, which oversee programs such as food stamps.= ="We know people are suffering, we know people are saying, 'We're broke,' but what we're going to see is cuts in human services," said Tara Marks, co-director of Just Harvest. "When people are in a crunch, they need these services."= ="We have 158,000 people in Allegheny using these services right now, and the governor wants to save [the surplus] for a rainy day," Ms. Marks continued. "Even though it's a beautiful day outside, it's pouring on the folks of Pennsylvania."= =The budget, introduced last month, would cut $471 million from DPW programs, including medical assistance, county child welfare, and behavioral health. The budget does not make use of a $506 million existing surplus.= =Read more: [] = = =

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