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Fair Budget Action Campaign, Seattle, Washington

The Fair Budget Action Campaign was formed in the early 1980s "in response to Reaganomics." The statewide organization has about 5,000 members, including low- income individuals and advocates and others involved in poverty and related issues. The organization requires that at least 51% of the Board are individuals with incomes at or below 150% of the poverty level. Fair Budget works to empower and educate low-income people to have a civic voice -- to speak out to the public and legislature on the underlying causes of poverty such as a lack of family wage jobs and inadequate welfare grants, child care, housing and health care. Two of the most popular educational tools used by Fair Budget are the Welfare Simulation and the Legislative Simulation. The Welfare Simulation, "This is Your Life On Welfare" was developed by low-income people and welfare recipients to educate the public (church groups, schools, businesses, etc.) and the legislature on the reality of applying for public assistance. Participants are given a scenario describing what life events forced them to turn to welfare and then they "apply"--using authentic forms, waiting and gathering all necessary paper work from community agencies. The final half hour is used for debriefing "how it felt" and discussing the myths and facts surrounding welfare. The Legislative Simulation (co-written by Nancy Amidei) lets people participate in the process of "How A Bill Becomes A Law" including a legislative hearing and floor debate by "legislators." The Legislative Simulation helps de-mystify the political process and encourages people (especially low-income) to participate in their own democracy. In addition, Fair Budget does voter registration trainings for employees and volunteers of food banks, social service agencies, and other places where low-income people gather. At the time this article was being written, discussion was underway to put an initiative on the November ballot to raise the minimum wage in Washington state. A large percentage of people on welfare are working full-time and still can't earn enough to support their families. If it's a go, Fair Budget will be a strong player in the signature gathering process.

This report was prepared by Gwen Orwiler of Fair Budget Action Campaign and Sue Scrivener. M.S.W., a volunteer policy analyst for the Center.

-- from the April 2nd 1996 issue of Welfare News