HOUSING
:
Primary
: Affecting federal policy will require learning more
about the specifics needed to accomplish our goals; learning about
federal advocacy groups we should watch/align with; indentifying
key advocates and sponsors of the actions needed; educating PPL
staff and board about the more technical aspects of the issues
may take steeper learning and a longer horizon to accomplish goals,
they would have a profound effect on our housing capacity. Measurement
of progress may need to be in terms of learning about policy influence
at the federal level rather than getting specific legislation
enacted.
IMMIGRATION
:
Primary
: Citizenship Credit: Provides a refundable income
tax credit for expenses related to becoming a U.S. citizen. The
maximum credit is $300 per year and no credit is allowed for individuals
or married couples with household income greater than 200 percent
of the federal poverty guidelines ($41,300 for a family of four
in 2007). Defines "qualified citizenship expenses" as
fees paid after the individual starts the citizenship process
by filing the federal Application to Register Permanent Residence
to the time the individual becomes a citizen of the United States
for: fees paid to the federal government for submission of the
federal N-400 naturalization application and required fingerprinting
enrollment of the taxpayer, spouse, or any dependent of the taxpayer
over age 18 in an English language class offered by a school district
or a licensed school and costs for citizenship classes. Effective
for tax years beginning after December 31, 2006.
MFIP/JOBS/CHILDCARE
:
Primary
: Maintain flexibility in activity classification
for MFIP : The federal government passed the Deficit Reduction
Act which has once again imposed tighter restrictions on MFIP
families. Participants are limited to core activities (such
as 6 weeks job search, post-secondary if all hours verified) that
don't always align with their personalized goals. Additionally,
these additional regulations add more work to the staff that has
to balance participant time with gathering supporting documentation.
Flexibility in activity classification will better serve the participants
(who will remain engaged if more options available, less complicated),
the staff (not overworked with gathering paperwork, less complicated),
and the program (more compliant participants meeting federal rate).
