Jericho Trumpet
January 2003 Issue:
 Budget Deficit Forces Hard Look at State Funding
JERICHO Partners to Address Healthcare Reform
Editorial By Sister Simone Campbell
Thanks to JERICHO's 2002 Donors
Budget Deficit Forces Hard Look at State Funding
The California budget deficit of $35 billion (according to the Department of Finance) presents no easy solutions. There are few mirrors and little smoke that can be used to cover a deficit that exceeds one third of the total state spending. The relatively small gains that housing, health and social services made during the mid to late nineties will surely be undone.
If a crisis can also be an opportunity, this one has a chance of broadening the predictable partisan discussion of cuts or taxes to one that includes a comprehensive analysis of how California is funded. One theory has it that historically there has been a "three legged stool" approach with a balanced amount of revenue from sales tax, property tax and income tax. With the passage of Proposition 13 twenty-five years ago, the property tax leg shriveled. With the "bust" in the dot com market the income tax has now also shriveled. This leaves the state with a "structural imbalance" in revenue.
There is a crying need for leadership on this issue to create the political will to change this imbalance. We invite all JERICHO members to participate with staff in stirring up the legislature on this critical issue for the future of our state.
It is still too early to know which revenue-enhancing options will gain momentum in the coming weeks. One thing is certain, however. A budget that is balanced primarily or exclusively on the basis of program cuts is not good for California and would unfairly place the burden on poor people in the state. Jericho's position has always been that fairness requires a "share the pain" approach. New revenue must be found to offset the severe service cuts that would come without it.
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JERICHO Partners to Address Healthcare Reform
Even in this budget crisis, discussion of health care reform and universal access to healthcare continues. Almost every week newspaper articles highlight the numerous problems with quality and access within the existing "system". Jericho's ongoing commitment to universal healthcare will become its primary focus in the coming year.
One of the reasons that healthcare reform didn't get far in the early nineties was the lack of public discussion of the issue, including the costs and the trade-offs that would be involved. Advocates for reform want to deepen the conversation-knowing that the solutions involve difficult choices among competing goods.
In partnership with the Leadership Conference of Religious Women (LCWR Region XIV) Jericho will be sponsoring six workshops on healthcare access around the state. The workshops will outline the current problems, explore the underlying values participants believe should guide a system, and engage participants in choosing among the possible options for reform.
In addition to the workshops, Jericho is convening smaller groups in both formal and informal settings in order to clarify the issues and develop input to the legislative process as well as mobilize political will for change.
The first gathering was held in December with participants from some of the Catholic Health Care Systems in the State. All present felt that a significant step forward was achieved in developing a common agenda that will aid the poor of our State.
Workshops will be held in
Sacramento: March 29
Los Angeles area: April 5
Orange County: April 26
Fresno: May 3
There will be a leadership workshop in the Bay Area on March 19 at the Mercy Center in Burlingame. Anyone interested in the Workshops, please call the Jericho Office. There will be additional workshop information as well as the date for Northern California event in the next issue of the Trumpet.
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Editorial
By Sister Simone Campbell
On December 8, 2002, I joined a peace delegation of eleven religious leaders on a pilgrimage to Iraq. This might seem an odd assignment for the executive director of a statewide advocacy group. However, these might be considered odd times.
With a state budget deficit spiraling out of control and health insurance coverage becoming more and more problematic, domestic issues are being seriously crippled by the Bush Administration's insistence on war. There is neither time nor money to address these and many other critical national issues in our nation.
Therefore, when the invitation came to join this delegation, it was important to go.
I joined the leaders of NETWORK, Pax Christi USA, School of the Americas Watch, Voices in the Wilderness and other lay and religious leaders on this pilgrimage of peace. I must confess that I was fearful about the trip and what might happen while we were there. We left on the day that the Iraqi government was to disclose its "weapons of mass destruction."
But once our group met at the airport in New York, the fears dissipated (mostly) and we shared a commitment to be a witness to the Iraqi people that not all people in the United States favor this war and to bring back the stories that we encountered.
While in the Middle East we met with United Nations, Iraqi government, Hospital, Religious and Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organization leadership as well as University students and ordinary people (both Christian and Muslim). Everywhere we went we were welcomed with warmth and famous Arab hospitality. So many people speak English that we were not hampered too much by having only four words of Arabic. The government gave us an open door to go anywhere and meet with anyone.
I come back with many things that I learned that I had not known. I will focus here on the differences between Iraq and California. But know that if you want a more expanded version, I will be happy to use any opportunity to speak to gatherings about the experience and its international context.
History
Iraq's written history dates from 4000 B.C. It is the first place of writing, written history, law (Hamurabi code), Jonah's Nineveh, Abraham's Ur, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the world's oldest university. Needless to say California's written history is approximately 250 years and can not approximate the wealth of ancient "firsts."
There are between 800,000 and 1.2 million Iraqi Christians. Christianity in Iraq dates from 42 A.D. when the apostle Thomas traveled east to Babylon.
Economics and Public Policy
Before the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's, the average per capita income was $1,200 per month. After that war it was $400 per month, but people were doing all right. There were no humanitarian relief organizations assisting in Iraq at that time. In fact Iraq, like California, was exporting relief to other nations. After 12 years of sanctions, the average monthly income is $4 per month and it is a humanitarian disaster that will take years to redress.
Unlike California, the Iraqi government gives a basic food ration to all of the people and has done so since before the Gulf War. This ration contains the basic number of calories that are required for survival-but not the nutritional balance because the foodstuffs do not exist in the country in sufficient quantity. Because of the threat of war, the government is giving two month supply to the people so that they will be able to eat if there is a disruption in the delivery system.
Unlike California, the Iraqi people are entitled to free education through graduate level based on ability. However, because of sanctions and the loss of hope, it is harder to motivate students to go through the struggle of learning when they will not be able to use their education. We met an electrical engineer that drove our Amman to Baghdad "taxi". A geologist who had headed up some of the oil exploration is now grateful for a menial government job. A dentist was the bell hop at our hotel. They cannot work in their professions because of sanctions and the economic collapse.
Unlike California, the Iraqi people are entitled to free medical treatment, but sanctions have limited medicines that can get into the country. Just as the cancer rates (especially in children) are dramatically increasing, Iraqi are unable to import all of the treatment medicines in the various protocols.
Sometimes this is just a coordination issue, but more often it is because the UN oversight committee thinks that there might be some chance the medicine could be used for military purpose. Therefore people are dying from the cancers without effective treatment.
I come back from Iraq renewed in my commitment to work for peace and learn from another culture and government. While I don't expect the Iraqi model of health care, education and food distribution to be taken as a model for California, I do expect that if Iraq can provide for its people under such adverse circumstances that California should do no less.
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Thanks to JERICHO's 2002 Donors
We are deeply grateful to the individual, group and institutional contributors who further our work. Through membership and through support of our annual Event the following have sustained Jericho's commitment to improving the lives of poor people in California.
Juan Acosta
Brian Acree & Melissa Adams
Sister Dorothy Ahern
Clifford & Sandy Allenby
Hon Dede Alpert
Norma Arbisser
Benedict Archer
Mary Beth Armstrong
Jeanette & Clifford Arnquist
Jean & George Artz
Mrs. Maria Bacigalupo
Charles Bader
Kevin Baker
Allen Baldwin
Sister Christine Banta, SSS
Cathy Barankin
Inez Barragan
Msgr. William Barry
Madonna Bartasavich
Joan Bartulovich
Rev. John Baumann, SJ
Doris Baxter
Corrine Bayley
Aaron Belansky
Ester Bentley
John & Barbara Berger
Teri Davis Bernstein
Sister Paulita Bernuy, SSS
Hon Robert Beverly
Judith Bietz
Martin Bigos
Deirdre Bigus
Bishop Stephen Blaire
Vivienne Blanquie
Paula Block-Levor
Joanne & Neil Bodine
Jane Bodine
Julie Bornstein
Bishop Frederick Borsch
George Bott
Senator Debra Bowen
Laura Rae Brand
Elinor Brennan
Marc Brown
Marie & Byron Brown
Fr. Eugene Buhr
Dennise Burgess
Teri Burns
Nancy Burt
Hon John Burton
Richard & Marguerite Byrne
Chris & Mary Caenepeel
Mary Caplis
Ann Carberry
Jim & Liz Carlin
Mark Carlson
Francis Carothers III
Leo Carrillo
Deacon Carlos Carrillo
Donald Carroll
Michael & Linda Carroll
Renee Chanon
Jonelle Chaves
William A. Chavez
Hon Judy Chu
Msgr. John Coffield
Genevieve Colborn
Charles & Kathy Cole
Sister Monica Collins, OSB
James Conn
Thomas Connolly
Pat Conray
Dave Cooke
Kenneth & Sydney Cooley
Roslyn Cooperman
Honoruth Corbett
Sister Janet Corcoran
Loren & Barbara Corotto
Terri Cowger
Msgr. Gregory Cox
Edmund & Jane Coyne
James Coyne
Fr. Patrick Coyne, CSSp
Rita & Bernard Crawley
Joe Criscione
Doris Crowley
Veronica Deasy
Sister Merita Dekat, SSS
Frances Diaz
Sue Dirksen
Bryce Docherty
Sister Diane Donoghue, SSS
Mary Patricia Donohue
Kathleen & C.T. Dooley
Mr. & Mrs.Charles Dow
Hellan Roth Dowden
Emery & Ruth Dowell
Robert & Susan Dresser
Franklin & Marianne Dryden
Brother Ed Dunn, OFM
Patricia Dunn
Hon John Dutra
Claudia Ellano
Neil Elliott
John Erlich
Geraldine Esposito
Maria Estrada
Rev Richard Estrada
Clarence and Susan Faria
Msgr Simon Falvey
Carl Farrington
Sister Una Feeney, SSS
Sister Libby Fernandez, RSM
Jan & Jerry Finney
Bart & Vera Fisher
Sister Constance Fitzgerald, CSJ
Kieran & Martha Fitzpatrick
Dan & Karen Flynn
Mr. & Mrs. John Foran
Rabbi Matthew & Mary Friedman
Ms. Bernadette Furnanz
Mary Anne Gaido
Mr. & Mrs. E.H. Gallarate
Gary Gallery
Anna Ganahl
Patricia Gannon
Bishop Richard Garcia
Robert & Mary Giese
Steve Gilliland
John & Denise Girardi
Vernell & Christina Goehring
George & Paulina Goffin
Leonard Goldberg
Hon Jackie Goldberg
Joe Gonsalves
Anthony Gonsalves
Frances Gracechild
Sister Claire Graham, SSS
Donald Green
Mary Griffin
Jackson Gualco
Elizabeth Guillen
Rabbi Jason Gwasdopf
Judy Habecker
Elaine Hammer
Lauren Hammond
Edward & Barbara Hansen
Kirsten Hansen
Robert Hargreaves
Shirley Ann Blue & Scott Harvey
Willie Hausey
Marilyn Hawes
David Hawkins
Sister Rosmary Hennessy
Eve Hershcopf
Maureen Higgins
Lyle & Elizabeth Hoag
Helen Hobart
Sister Margaret Hoffman, SND
Olga Hoja
William Honzik
Ruth Hubbard
Rev William Hughes
Catherine Hughes
Dennis Hunt
Sister Ellen Hunter, SSS
Marilyn Hurst
Elizabeth Imholz
Phillip & Marilyn Isenberg
Joyce Iseri
Hon Hanna-Beth Jackson
Ronald Javor
Bab Agnes Jenkins
Eugenia & William Jennett
Madeleine Johnson
Rev. Robert Jones, CM
Deacon Jack & Mrs Jordan
Paul Jorjorian
Martina Jussel
Jack & Ruth Kahoun
Deborah Kapsa
Hon Betty Karnette
Rev Patrick Keane, OSA
Hon Fred Keeley
Helen Kelley
R. Brian Kidney
Sheila Doyle Kiernan
Johan Klehs
Sister Pauline Knapp, DMJ
Peter Kopkowski
Barbara Kornylo
Fr. John Kouba, SDS
Sister Catherine Kreta, CSJ
Hon Sheila Kuehl
Ann-Louise Kuhns
Patricia La Croix
Jack & Linda Labrie
Mary Caye & Gerald Lagomarsino
Linda Laisure
Elizabeth Lamb
Sister Shaun Larkin
Sister Barbara Larne, OP
Judith Larson
David Levering
Allan Lind
Jim Lindburg
Donna Lister
Eleanor Locke
Ellen Logue
Ellen Logue
Victorina Lopez
Alberta & Hermann Lorenz
Jerome Cushman & Rita Lowenthal
Sister Corita Lucas, SSS
Sister Eva Marie Lumas, SSS
David & Nancy Lust
Edward & Maria Manning
Eve Marcus
Robert Martin
Mary Martin & James Aspaas
Lenore Martinez
Fr. Dick Martini
Deborah Marx
Dr. Phyllis Maslow
Nadine Mastin
Terry Maxwell
Patrick McCallum
Kathleen & Michael McCarthy
Fr. Patrick Pearse McCarthy
George & Sara McClenahan
Charles McDermott
Jean McEvoy
Geraldine McGrath
Donald & Miriam McMorrow
Sister Myra McPartland, SSL
Ann Nancy McWalters
Gerald Meral
Kristin Martin & Wilford Middleton Jr.
Dr. Paul Mikolaj
Elizabeth Miller & Donald Johnson
Sister Eileen Mitchell, CSJ
Beverly Montague
Jean Mont-Eton
Bishop Donald Montrose
Dr. Stanley & Rev. Nancy Moore
Hermez Moreno
F. Joseph Mortenson
Very Rev. James Mott OSA
Michael Moynagh
Sister Sara Murrieta
Hon George Nakano
Joanne Nay
Sandra Nelson
Mona Nickel
Michael Nimkoff
Jerome Nodiff
Quentin & Paula Ogren
Gerald & Linda O'Hara
Sister Ellen O'Leary
Charles & Monica Olsen
Rev. Ted Olson
Mary & Robert O'Reilly
Lucienne Ormsby
Diane Ossola Hornor
Dorothy Chan Ouchida
John Owen
Nancy Page
Rev. Betty Pagett
Elizabeth Palmer
Theresa Parker
Deborah & William Parnell
Janet Pasha
Barbara & Gerald Pauly
Sister Millicent Peaslee
Sister Nancy Ann Peck, SSS
Julie Pekarcik IHM
Don Perata
Elizabeth Perry
Cindy Piester
Jack Plimpton
Sister Teresita Poulin, BVM
Gloria & Bill Powers
John & Kay Pulskamp
Margaret Purcell
Anne Pyle
Patrick Quinlan
Bishop Francis Quinn
Rabbi Sanford Ragins
Aaron Read
Deacon Joseph & Linda Remley
Judge Cruz Reynoso
Rachel Richman
Joyce Ride
Ms. Eileen Riesinger
Alicia Ritter
Armida Robb
Mark & Margaret Roberts
Richard Robinson
William & Kathleen Ronchelli
Mike Roos
Martin Rosenberg
Jean Marion Ross
Sister Audrey Rushton
Ramon Salcido
Herbert Salinger
Bruce Samuel
Dorothy & Allan Sawyer
Brian Scanlon
Dorothy Schaefer
Irene Schafer
Marilyn Schafer
Michael Schimmel
Paul Schmidt
Rita Schneider
F. Kenneth Schonlau
Ruth Schwartz
Sister Shirley Sexton, SNJM
Timothy Shannon Jr.
Evely Laser Shlensky
Elizabeth Sholes
Hallam Shorrock
Elliott Sigman
Allen Lester Smith
Kathleen & Ed Smith
Michael & Patty Smith
Stanley & Mary Snyder
Harriet Hailparn Soares
Jayne Spencer
Luella Steil
Judith Steingieser
Patricia Sternad
Young & Eunice Stewart
Peggy Stretch
Jan & Phillip Stohr
L. Victor Strub
Carolyn Sugars
Leo Summer
Rev. Misi Tagaloa
Lois & George Tanner
Ardelle Tappel
Mr. Ronald Tauber
Rosemary Thomas
Hayward & Phyllis Thomas
Jo Linda Thompson
David Thompson
Steven Thompson
Hon Helen Thomson
Dorothy Thorman
Marian Tiedemann
Hon Tom Torlakson
Sister Eileen Tuohy, RSHM
Violet Underwood
Nilda & Steven Valmores Guanzon
Lucia Van Ruiten
Sister Paula Vandegaer
Hon John Vasconcellos
Sister Angelica Velez, OP
Sister Deanna Von Bargen Teresa Walker
Daniel & Janet Wall
Mary Wallers
Carol Wallisch
Joseph Walsh MD
Sister Michele Walsh, SSS
Linda Griffith & Rory Anne Walsh
Mrs. Marie Walsh
Michael Walsh
K.C. Walsh
Michael Walsh
Jonathan Walsh
Willie Washington
Gwen Watson
Robert & Lola Weaver
Mary Rita & John Webb
Jo Anne Weber
Fr.Gerard Weber
BishopWilliam Weigand
Joyce Weil
Cathlene Wells
Sheila Wells
Ronald Wenzler
Sister Frances Werland, CSC
Ann Wesley
Rev.Thomas Whelan, OSA
William White
Ellen Widess
Irene Williams
Gene Wong
Jan Lee Wong
Jacque Wright
Ellen Wright
Robert Wrisley
Sister Laurita Wydra, SSS
Shirley Yancey
Advocation, Inc
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
Bristol-Myers SquibbCA Correctional Supervisors Organization PAC
CA State Council of Service Employees
California Cable Telecommunications
California Catholic Conference
California Correctional Peace Officers Assn
California Fire Foundation
California Psychiatric Assn
California State Employees Association
Catholic Healthcare West
Consumer Attorneys-Public Interest Committee
Daughters of Mary and Joseph
Del Paso Union Baptist Church
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose
Dynegy, Inc.
Ecumenical Association for Housing
First United Methodist Church
Golden State Advocacy, Inc
GovernmentalAdvocates
Hammel, Green & Abrahamson, Inc
Immaculate Heart Community
JERICHO-CSC Education Project
Johnson & Johnson Services Kaiser Permanente
LCWR Region XIV
Little Company of Mary Sisters
Loaves & Fishes
National Association of Social Workers
NCG Porter Novelli
Nehemiah Corporation
New Camaldoli Hermitage
Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller, & Naylor
Office of the America's
Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter
Orange County Community Housing Corporation
Pfizer, Inc Sacramento
Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers
Pharmacia Corporation
Religious Witness with Homeless People
Resurrection Church
Womens' Guild
Rio Linda United
Methodist Church
San Gabriel Valley AMI
SBC/Pacific Bell
Sempra Energy
Shell Oil Company
Sisters of Mercy - Auburn
Sisters of Mercy - Burlingame
Sisters of Mercy - El Cerrito
Sisters of Mercy - Holy Cross Convent
Sisters of Mercy - US Province
Sisters of Providence
Sisters of Social Service
Sisters of St Joseph of Orange
Sisters of St Louis
Sisters of the Guardian Angel
Sisters of the Holy Cross
Sisters of the Holy Family - Fremont
Sisters of the Holy Names
Sisters of the Holy Names - Justice & Peace Committee
Soledad Enrichment Action I
St Agnes Catholic Church
St Augustine Catholic Church
St Charles Catholic Church
St Francis of Assisi Catholic
St Irenaeus Catholic Church
St John Fisher Catholic Church
St John the Baptist Catholic Church
St John's Catholic Church
St Lawrence Catholic Church
St Lucy's Priory
St Monica Catholic Church
St Thomas More Catholic Church
The Advocacy Group
Trinitas
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
Union of American Physicians & Dentists
Westminster Presbyterian Church
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