Anti-poverty activist Henry Shelton was infuriated when state welfare officials first proposed slicing $40 of the $100 allowance that poor families get for their annual heating bills. Now, Governor Lincoln Almond has gone a step further, proposing that the entire $100 allowance be scrapped.

The state Department of Human Services (DHS) estimates the bigger cut will save the state $1.6 million, compared to the estimated $581,000 that would have been gained by the $40 cut. More than 15,000 welfare households could be affected. A family of three gets about $6700 annually, meaning the $100 allowance is one-point-five percent of their income.

"How dare they take away a tiny amount of money for families?" fumes Linda Katz, policy director of the Poverty Institute at Rhode Island College School of Social Work. "It's unbelievable."

DHS director Jane A. Hayward didn't fault Almond for exceeding her department's proposed cut, saying that he's trying to make hard decisions during a troubled time. "The governor decided to take this particular benefit piece because he really is committed to keep core services to families intact," Hayward says. "He did not see the $100 payment as being a core benefit."

Core benefits, according to Hayward, include the state's trend-setting RIte Care health insurance program and support of child care for the working poor.

Last month, Henry Shelton, who heads the George Wiley Center anti-poverty organization in Pawtucket, condemned the originally suggested $40 cut ("see "RI gears up to nickel-and-dime the poor," This just in, December 21, 2001).

Now, Shelton is so angry with the governor for targeting the entire $100 that he scrawled a letter to Almond, challenging him to debate the issue during a February 2 conference of the Rhode Island Campaign to Eliminate Childhood Poverty. "Attend the utility workshop and debate the merits of your weatherization cut," challenged Shelton. "We request this debate be conducted by you personally."

As of a few days ago, Shelton was still waiting to hear back. And that was before, as the Providence Journal reported, Almond's moved forward a plan to seek four-point-five percent raises for department directors, judges, legislative employees and other "unclassified" state workers.

Issue Date: February 1 - 7, 2002