Fighting poverty

THE ISSUE

A committee formed by the Legislature to study poverty in Alabama has an opportunity to shed light on the roots of poverty and devise ways to help people help themselves.

About 16 percent of Alabama residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and many are losing hope that they will ever find a better way of life.

A committee formed earlier this year by the House of Representatives went to work last week to study the causes of poverty in Alabama and look for ways to help the poor rise to a higher standard of living. The Alabama House Task Force on Poverty is pouring over statistics, studies and tapping advocacy groups and state agencies that serve the poor to fashion steps to reduce poverty.

Among the goals the task force has set for itself are convincing low-income residents that there is always hope to improve their lot in life and to dispell misconceptions about poverty, including the one that people are poor because they are lazy. "People do get lost and think they can't do better," said state Rep. A.J. McCampbell, a member of the committee whose west Alabama district includes some of the poorest counties in the state.

State Rep. Patricia Todd, chairwoman of the task force, said one of the first projects will be to revisit bills that failed in past legislative sessions and see if those ideas can be used to write new legislation for the next session, which begins Feb. 5.

"I hope we can walk away with something we can use to help people," said Todd, a Birmingham Democrat.

Indeed. Alabama doesn't have much money to spare for projects like this, but the task force should be able to assemble a wealth of information to help guide future anti-poverty efforts. We urge the task force to reach out to educators, as well, who are on the front line of the battle against proverty every day. Over and over, studies have shown that the most important tool in overcoming proverty is education, and in this new age of global commerce and communication, education is more important than ever before.

The task force wants to hold public hearings around the state to gather ideas from low-income residents. That's good, but the task force will have to be incredibly proactive soliciting those comments because low-income residents are often the least inclined to attend meetings and become politically active. Reaching deep into poor communities and holding meetings there will be important. After all, it is they who will be most affected by what the task force does - or doesn't do.

The first step in solving a problem is understanding how it begins. The poverty task force could provide understanding that leads to genuine solutions for Alabama's poorest residents.