From: Cleary, Heather
To: City Council (San Mateo)
Subject: Support of H.R.6639 - Poverty Line Act of 2023 Date: Monday, September 9, 2024 10:11:54 AM
Dear San Mateo City Council,
I encourage you to endorse H.R.6639 - Poverty Line Act of 2023. By raising the Poverty Line, more people in San Mateo will be eligible for Federally Funded Head Start and Early Head Start programs, among other much needed critical services. This Act will support San Mateo residents receive access to Child Care. This will also help organizations such as PFS serve local families with High Quality Child Care.
Peninsula Family Service has endorsed the Poverty Line Act of 2023. Thank you for considering joining us in endorsing this proposal.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or for further information.
Best,
Heather
Heather Cleary (she.her.hers)
Chief Executive Officer
Peninsula Family Service
www.pfso.org
From: Rachel Monaco
To: City Council (San Mateo)
Cc: Tracy Weatherby
Subject: RE: Support for the Poverty Line Act (HR6639)
Date: Monday, September 9, 2024 2:38:32 PM
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Dear Members of the San Mateo City Council,
I am writing to you on behalf of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to request that your Legislative Committee and City Council choose to support the Poverty Line Act (H.R. 6639), authored by Representative Kevin Mullin.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley provides direct food assistance to more than 500,000 people every month, including 127,000 residents of San Mateo County. Our service level is 2x what it was prior to the pandemic, and we do not anticipate to see a decline anytime soon.
Additionally, our Food Connection team supports our community with applying for CalFresh, a federal nutrition benefit program. Eligibility for CalFresh, like other federal assistance programs, is based on the Federal Poverty Line, which does not take into consideration our area's high cost of living. Most households must earn under 200% of the FPL to be eligible, which is about $5.000 in gross monthly income, or $60,000 annually, for a family of four. The Silicon Valley Index, produced by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, estimates that as much as 24% of adults and 34% of children in Silicon Valley are at risk of food insecurity but ineligible for federal benefit programs due to their earnings.
Modernizing the Federal Poverty Line to reflect the lived reality of our neighbors would provide greater access to governmental safety net programs and more visibility into the level of need in areas like ours.
Thank you,
Rachel Monaco
Rachel Monaco (she/her)
Senior Manager, Policy & Advocacy
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September 9, 2024
The Honorable Lisa Diaz Nash, Mayor
City of San Mateo
330 West 20th Avenue
San Mateo, CA 94403
Re: Letter of Support for a legislative endorsement of Congressman Mullin's Poverty Line Act Dear Mayor Diaz Nash, Deputy Mayor Newsom, and Councilmembers Lee, Loraine, and Hedges, Build Up San Mateo County, a collective impact multi-sector initiative designed to preserve, expand and improve the supply of child care facilities in San Mateo County, along with partner, Child Care Coordinating Council (4Cs) of San Mateo County, is writing to support a legislative endorsement of Congressman Mullin's Poverty Line Act.
This legislation would update the way the Federal government calculates the federal poverty line by accounting for real costs and adjusting for regional differences. This would make millions of more families eligible for safety net programs, including Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), LIHEAP, and many others.
Specifically, the Poverty Line Act would:
• Replace the outdated federal poverty line so that, for the first time, it is regionally adjusted and more accurately reflects the cost of living, including housing, food, clothing, phone, internet, health care, and, for families with children, child care costs;
• Prevent any individual from losing eligibility for a program based on the new calculation methodology if they were eligible under the old;
• Ensure the poverty line is no lower than it is today anywhere in the country; • Require the Office of Management and Budget to report to Congress on how federal law should be updated to reflect the new calculation where, for example, program eligibility is based on a percentage of the old poverty line; and Ensure that the new methodology is reviewed at least once every four years to determine whether it is still reflective of what households need to meet their basic needs and to identify additional changes needed in the future.
We are excited about this legislation because it includes regional calculations, ensuring counties like ours with a high cost of living receive an accurate local poverty line calculation. In San Mateo County, the Real Cost Measure for a family of four is over $140k. We know 28% of San Mateo County residents fall below the Real Cost Measure. Many of these families do not qualify for safety net services despite struggling to meet basic needs.
We appreciate your continued leadership on this important issue and stand ready to assist you to support children and families in the City of San Mateo. If you need further information, please don't hesitate to contact us by emailing [email protected].
Most gratefully,
Christine Padilla David Fleishman
Director, Build Up SMC Executive Director, 4Cs of San Mateo County Chair, Child Care Partnership Council Access Committee
Sobrato Center for Nonprofits | 330 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 119, Redwood City, California 94065 650.517.1436|[email protected]| www.buildupsmc.org