Statewide Initiatives

Alabama: House Task Force on Poverty
The House Speaker in Alabama created the “House Task Force on Poverty” whichd. held its first meeting in October 2007 and expects to consider legislative proposals for the 2008 session. The Task Force is composed of legislators along with representatives of non profits and people experiencing poverty.

Connecticut: Child Poverty Prevention Council
In 2004, Connecticut legislators established a Child Poverty Council, which merged with the state Prevention Council in 2006 and became the Child Poverty Prevention Council.The Council reports annually on its implementation1 and is charged with:

• Developing a plan to reduce the number of children living in poverty in Connecticut by 50 percent by July 1, 2014.
• Establishing prevention goals and recommendations and measure prevention service outcomes to promote the health and well-being of children and families.

Delaware: Child Poverty Task Force
On August 29, 2007, Governor Ruth Ann Miller issued an executive order establishing The Child Poverty Task Force. The Task Force will:

• Develop a plan to reduce the number of Delaware children living in poverty by half by June 30, 2017.
• Establish recommendations, procedures, and priorities for implementing strategies to promote the health, safety and well-being of Delaware’s children and their families.

Iowa: Successful Families Caucus
In February 2007, Iowa legislators created the Successful Families Caucus. The Caucus, which includes 20 percent of Iowa's state legislators, has three goals:

• To create and sustain a bipartisan and constructive environment in the General Assembly to discuss issues and policy solutions for Iowa's poorest families and communities.
• To explore atypical and innovative poverty reduction solutions and initiatives that could serve as models for communities in Iowa.
• To create a state policy environment in which to engage families, communities, and institutions in developing comprehensive policy solutions for Iowa's struggling communities and families.

Louisiana: Louisiana Solutions to Poverty (SToP) Network Council
In December 2004, prior to Hurricane Katrina, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco held the first “Governor’s Summit to Solutions on Poverty.” Soon thereafter, she established by executive order the Louisiana Solutions to Poverty (SToP) Network Council, which is charged with, among other things, evaluating current laws and regulations and determine their impact on poverty reduction. SToP state officials have also established local coalitions in each of the state’s 64 parishes to engage local citizens in efforts to address poverty. By 2007, 131 community coalition meetings had been held to identify local solutions aided by 144 Louisiana citizens trained to lead local coalitions. A college campus initiative spearheaded by 25 student leaders seeks to grow student membership in the SToP initiative to 250 by 2008.

Maine: The Maine Children’s Cabinet
The Maine Children’s Cabinet has created benchmarks for a variety of social and economic indicators, including the overall poverty rate. Administered by the Maine Development Foundation, the benchmark establishes that poverty should decline and remain below the U.S. rate through 2010.

Minnesota: Legislative Commission to End Poverty
In 2006, Minnesota’s legislature established the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020. The Commission is to “prepare recommendation[s] on how to end poverty in Minnesota by 2020” by the end of 2008. The legislation calls upon to the Commission to, among other things:

• Avoid “wide disparities between those who have too little to live on and those who have a disproportionate share of the nation's goods.”
• Work together in a way that transcends political ideologies
• Acknowledge that government is neither solely responsible, nor is it removed from, the responsibility for alleviating poverty.
• The Commission is holding discussions and public hearings around the state from September 2007 through January 2008.
  

Oregon: Eliminate or Alleviate Poverty
A state law declares that it is a state goal “to eliminate or alleviate poverty.” The provision asserts that “Oregon desires to assist and enable the poor to achieve maximum feasible economic self-sufficiency. It shall be a state goal to eliminate or alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in Oregon. The state shall assist community action agencies to stimulate a better focusing of all available local, state, federal and private resources upon the goal.”

Oregon’s Progress Board releases a report  each year demonstrating both how the state’s poverty rate has fluctuated and how poverty in Oregon compares to the rest of the U.S. and neighboring states.

Vermont:
In 2007 Vermont established a Child Poverty Council to examine child poverty in Vermont and to make recommendations to the governor and the general assembly.  The Council will develop a ten-year plan for reducing the number of children living in poverty by at least 50%.

Wisconsin: Vision 2020
Vision 2020 is a campaign developed by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, the Wisconsin Head Start Association and the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association to end child poverty in Wisconsin by 2020.  The campaign plans to increase awareness of child poverty and its impacts, discuss practical solutions that address the causes of child poverty in Wisconsin, encourage others to take action and convince state policy-makers that eliminating child poverty should be their top priority.

We encourage you to submit other initiatives to reduce poverty and increase opportunity. To submit your suggestion, e-mail Jodie Levin-Epstein