Bradley offers plan to raise 3 million out of poverty

October 21, 1999
Web posted at: 1:22 p.m. EDT (1722 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley Wednesday offered a sweeping $9.8 billion plan he says will "eliminate child poverty as we know it."

In a twenty-five minute speech in a Brooklyn church Thursday, Bradley unveiled what his staffers call the second biggest element of his domestic agenda behind providing universal health care: reducing poverty.

"Today, at a time of unparalleled prosperity, I look out over a nation and I see that nearly one-fifth of our children are ill-fed, ill-house, and ill-educated," Bradley said.

An estimated 13.5 million American children live in poverty, defined by the government as a yearly income of $16,400 or less for a family of four. That population has shrunk from 15.3 million since President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore took office in 1993. Gore is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"At a time of peace ... I see nearly 14 million of our children who are being denied their chance to live the American dream. This is not acceptable," Bradley said.

One out of five children live in poverty, or as Bradley put it, enough kids to form a city with a greater population than New York City. He called it a "slow-motion, national disaster."

"Eliminating child poverty is a big goal," Bradley said. "The first step is the commitment I am making here today."

As with the massive health insurance plan he proposed earlier, Bradley's poverty plan, priced at $9.8 billion annually, would be paid for out of the federal budget surplus.

Bradley, a former three-term senator from New Jersey, is the sole challenger to Gore. The vice president recently changed his strategy to focus more on Bradley's campaign, which has surged in recent polls. Previously, Gore ignored Bradley and focused on the Republican front-runner, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Bradley is proposing to increase the income of poor families by expanding several existing federal programs. Among his ideas are to:

Increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour over the next two years, and then automatically tie future increases to any overall increases in the median wage in the United States. For example, if the median wage rose 3 percent in a given year, so would the minimum wage.

Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit by adding a tier to allow parents with three or more children to receive full tax credits where the benefit is currently capped after two children.

Improve child support payments by requiring the full amount of parental support to go to a dependent parent, rather than a portion being retained by states in exchange for welfare assistance. This change would benefit more than 1 million families, according to the campaign.

Make the Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable. Currently, the government allows anyone caring for a child under 14 (or a disabled dependent) to claim up to $2,400 in expenses and deduct 30 percent of that from their income tax. Bradley's plan would make that amount fully deductible, allowing poor parent who owe little or no income tax to get the full amount of the credit as a cash refund.

Increase funding for the Development Block Grant program by $1 billion a year, from $3.3 billion to $4.3 billion. The additional funding would help another 420,000 children received child care, according to the campaign.

Increase funding for Head Start, the popular preschool program that serves only half the children that are eligible. Bradley wants to fully fund Head Start by essentially doubling its funding over four years.

Bradley also proposed some new anti-poverty initiatives, among them:

Create what he dubbed "Teach To Reach" partnerships to train as many as 60,000 new teachers a year. To attract new teachers especially to poor urban and rural areas, Bradley would offer student loan forgiveness -- up to $5,000 a year for four years -- in exchange for a four-year commitment to teach in an elementary or secondary school. Bradley would also establish 10,000 scholarships a year for high school graduates who show academic promise and are willing to commit to teaching for five years.

Create a national Beacon Centers Program to underwrite community centers for after school and other local activities. Bradley would offer $1 billion in annual grants to support the centers, modeled after existing ones in New York.

Second Chance Homes for pregnant teens that offer young mothers a supportive environment through pregnancy and the child's first year.

"What I am proposing today will not by itself change the culture that has produced what is perhaps the most intractable American problem this century. The programs outlined are only a start," Bradley said.

Vice President Al Gore offered his own child poverty program on Wednesday, focusing on enforcing child support and get more fathers involved in parenting. Bradley cast his anti-poverty plan as more comprehensive, which fits into what he calls his campaign focus on "big ideas"

Gore's office responded by saying Bradley's proposal was just a retread of previous Clinton Administration proposals.

"Senator Bradley is choosing to be an echo to Al Gore's voice in proposing policy that Al Gore has already been fighting -- the minimum wage increase, more teachers and tax credits for working poor," spokesman Chris Lehane said.

The vice president has been an advocate for all three of those issues, though the administration's minimum wage proposal is not as sweeping as Bradley's.

CNN's Phil Hirschkorn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Thursday, October 21, 1999