Matheson gets an “A” in fighting poverty

A national anti-poverty advocacy group has flunked or given barely passing scores to Utah’s Republican Congressional delegation while awarding Democratic Congressman Jim Matheson an “A.”

While a recent news story indicates that as many as 28 percent of Salt Lake City children live in poverty, a report published by the Sargeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law underscores the stark difference Democrats and Republicans take on the issue.

The study looked at 14 significant poverty-related measures introduced in the 2007 session of Congress.

“The causes and effects of poverty are many and varied,” said John Bouman, president of the Shriver Center. “Reflecting this reality, we have included bills in a wide range of fields, including affordable housing, budget and tax, civil rights, prisoner reentry, early and higher education, health care, immigrants, labor, and rural poverty.

“While about 2/3 of the members got good grades on the Scorecard, their votes were not enough to pass most of the measures. Moreover, the votes recorded in the Scorecard would suggest that a significant number of legislators do not believe in taking aggressive action to address poverty. Given the high rates of poverty in many of their states, we are not convinced that they are paying attention to poverty, or that they have an effective, alternative strategy.”

Download the Score Card