SEATTLE – No podremos ser electores informados mientras tengamos como principal fuente de información la catarata de anuncios agresivos que inundan las frecuencias de Washington – especialmente sin una pista sobre realmente quién los está pagando. La League of Women Voters of Washington (Liga de Mujeres Votantes de Washington) afirma que sin reglas transparentes para las campañas, los electores se quedan solos al buscar fuentes de información que no estén sesgadas.

Esta semana los electores de Washington están recibiendo por correo sus papeletas para votar. Durante varias semanas previas han sido bombardeados con anuncios políticos y llamadas telefónicas de campaña, esfuerzo que se mantendrá firme hasta el día de la votación.

Una encuesta del New York Times revela que en esta elección intermedia, el 55 por ciento del dinero gastado hasta ahora en ‘spots’ de televisión proviene de grupos que no revelan quiénes son todos sus donadores. Eso no le sorprende a Kim Abel, presidenta de la League of Women Voters of Washington (Liga de Mujeres Votantes de Washington), quien dice que la Liga apoya la Ley DISCLOSE, una iniciativa que está en el Congreso para exigir que todos los grupos con un gasto político mayor a 10 mil dólares, identifiquen a sus donantes.

“Hasta que consigamos la transparencia total sobre la propaganda y quién está detrás de esos mensajes de campaña -sentenció-, te toca a ti hacer el trabajo, comprobar datos y escuchar con oído crítico. Cuando veas un anuncio que no sea pagado por un candidato, no te confíes.”

Agrega que no es imposible encontrar información fuera de los partidos. Sus recomendaciones son la página de internet Vote411 de la Liga de Mujeres Votantes de Washington (LWVWA), el folleto para electores de la Secretaría de Estado, y el portal VotingForJudges.org (Votar por los Jueces).

En cuanto a la ley DISCLOSE, en los años recientes se han presentado varias versiones. La iniciativa actual no ha avanzado desde julio; los dos senadores por Washington la apoyan.

Abel dice que, como cualquier producto que hace publicidad, lo que busca un anuncio político es hacer que el ciudadano decida con base en sus emociones. Pero agrega que a la Liga le preocupa el intenso tono negativo de los anuncios de ataque, y también que pueda estar teniendo efectos negativos en los electores.

“Algo que sucede a veces con todo este dinero gastado en anuncios de televisión -razonó- es que la gente no se siente parte del proceso. Aún así, las personas que votan deberían entender que ellas hacen la diferencia; tu voto cuenta; el voto de cada persona es importante.”

También menciona que vale la pena asistir a un foro o un debate para ver a los candidatos en persona. Hay docenas que se celebran en todo el estado en las próximas dos semanas.

Los detalles de la ley DISCLOSE están (en inglés) en www.congress.gov.


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Today, groups working with lower-income families in Connecticut are raising awareness about the state's "benefits cliff" with a day of action.

The benefits cliff is when a person might get a raise, have a kid with a part-time job, or some other income increase which then makes them ineligible for certain benefits. The changes can have severe impacts on communities and disproportionately affect families with children.

Stephen Monroe Tomczak, professor of social work at Southern Connecticut State University, said it is part of a larger workforce problem.

"People, particularly people of low income, are in a sense disincentivized to participate in the labor force and denied adequate jobs and income when they try to do that," Tomczak explained.

Several General Assembly budget bills could have dealt with the issue but most failed, which inspired today's action, a mock funeral procession to the governor's office to eulogize the bills, including the refundable Child Tax Credit, a housing voucher funding boost bill, and a bill eliminating the asset limit on the HUSKY C medical insurance program.

Social service advocates know the bills will resurface in next year's budget process.

Rose Ferraro, program lead of health justice policy advocacy for the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, said people are taking alternate steps like going to food banks or avoiding medical care to cover lost benefits.

"Folks will lose their rental assistance and then, they will sort of have to make some tough decisions," Ferraro noted. "'Do I put food on my table or do I make sure to pay rent?' And, so it becomes a sort of untenable position."

Ferraro added interwoven state and federal funding makes it hard to reach the core of the issues leading to benefits cliffs. One eulogized bill would have established a benefits cliff pilot program. For two years, it would have provided subsistence for people who've reached the benefits cliff.

New York towns are reaping many benefits since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed.

Along with funds for larger clean energy projects, the state was awarded $158 million for the IRA's Home Energy Rebates program.

Smaller towns and villages use these grants to implement their climate action plans.

Brighton Town Councilmember Robin Wilt said an IRA grant they applied for will help upgrade the town's HVAC system.

"We will be implementing geothermal and then use a solar array to make the system close to net zero, not quite," said Wilt. "I think we'll get 55% of our energy back with the solar panels."

The bureaucratic process to access the funding was challenging, but some groups are working with the Department of Energy to improve it.

Wilt said feedback on the clean energy projects has been positive. Future projects using IRA funding include increasing walkability and sustainable redevelopment.

Critics have said the IRA includes multiple provisions to increase fossil fuel production.

Towns nationwide are using IRA grants to bolster clean energy projects.

Joel Hicks is a council member for the Borough of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

They've just applied for a grant to work on energy efficiency and solar projects with Harrisburg. He said this will have positive impacts beyond establishing clean energy.

"We were really excited at this potential," said Hicks, "because we saw that the cost savings we would have for putting in substantial solar projects on our public property would actually fund many of our other public municipal goals."

These include purchasing an electric vehicle fleet and having more efficient solid waste programs.

One thing Hicks said he wants to see in future is state and local governments helping small towns and municipalities with putting together their IRA grant proposals.

A new report analyzes Pennsylvania's existing voucher programs, that divert public funds to private schools.

This comes on the heels of Gov. Josh Shapiro's plan to create a new voucher program for K-12 students.

Diana Polson - senior policy analyst with the Keystone Research Center - said last year's Commonwealth Court decision ruled that Pennsylvania's system of funding public education is unconstitutional, therefore the state doesn't have a dollar to waste on expanding existing private-school voucher programs or creating a new one.

"The basic-education funding commission estimated the state must pay $5.1 billion over the next seven years to make sure our public schools are funded equitably and adequately," said Polson. "Meanwhile, our report finds that existing private-school voucher programs are siphoning millions from taxpayers with little to show for it."

Supporters argue that vouchers let children leave under-performing public schools and get a better education at private schools.

Polson said Pennsylvania's voucher programs have no "meaningful educational or financial accountability," so they really have no way of knowing if these programs operate as intended or are beneficial to low-income or moderate-income students.

Polson said the report reveals that the programs have grown, and just this year they will cost the state nearly $500 million.

However, these voucher programs exclude students in rural areas, because there are few if any participating private schools in these regions.

Local public schools remain the primary option for most rural families.

"We also found that private schools receiving these funds are allowed to - and do - routinely discriminate against students for reasons including disabilities, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and more," said Polson. "These programs are also exclusive. They subsidize the state's most elite and expensive private schools as well as affluent families."

Polson said the report reveals that the Independent Fiscal Office estimated that the average EITC program scholarship was $2,314, while the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit was slightly less at around $2,000.

The cost of attending one of the top 25 private schools in Pennsylvania is around $41,000 per year. This means these schools are still out of reach for many low- and moderate-income families.