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The Urban Coalition I Federal Bar Building West/ 1819 H Street, N. w. Washington, D. Stee,;ng CommHtee Co-cha;,men.- And,ew He;ske// / A. PMHp Randolph LEGISLATION 20006 l(;t'O} c;)) 0I:)\ ~J /[;]/ March 1 NATIONAL COORDINATOR'S WEEKLY REPORT V 1~ \l J~ (_]?' During the week Senators Javits (R-NY} and Yarborough (D-Tex) introduced a bill · (S3013} to provide $150 million for summer jobs and anti-poverty programs. They were joined by 19 c.osponsors from both parties. The bill was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which held hearings on Wednesday. Sponsors of the measure hope for early action. Attached is a fact sheet dealing with the need for a supplemental appropriation for the Office of Economic Opportunity and special summer jobs, education, and recreation programs. LOCAL COALITIONS Niagara Falls, New York, held an urban coalition organizational meeting this week. Associate National Coordinator Elbert Ransom, Jr., addressed the meeting to explain the national program and review programs and activities of other local coalitions. The participants, representative of all segments of the community, pledged support to the new organization. Task forces were established in six areas--housing, education, recreation, job training, job development and communications and public support-and an executive director was named. The executive, Lester Niesz, is a retired consultant to the Carborundum Company and is serving as an unpaid volunteer. Two other people offered their assistance as volunteer staff members, the Hotel Niagara agreed to donate office space, and a local furniture store is lending office equipment. COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC SUPPORT Public Relations Di r ectors of organi zations represented on the Steering Committee are urged to attend a meeting arranged especially for them in the Time-Life Building in New York City, Friday, March 8. Invitations giving the time and other details of the meeting have been sent to the individuals. John w. Gardner, new executive head of the Urban Coalition, is scheduled to meet with the group • National Coordinators: John Feild,/ Ron M. Linton Telephone 293-1530 �Page Two With regard to the second Administration decision , America's fifty largest cities have already received, in the aggregate, $1 . 5 million in planning grants for constructive summer programs . Comments by representatives of local government and community agencies at the recent national conference held by the President's Council on Youth Opportunity clearly indicated that cut-backs in available federal assistance are already aggrevating community frustrations and tensions. In summary, community leaders i n the coun try ' s lar gest cities are now faced with the dual problem of dollar cut-backs in existing working programs and the financial inability to meet summer unrest with soundly planned and thought out courses of action. It i s apparent that the federal funds now available are inadequate to meet even min imal program needs i n e mployme nt, education and r e c re ation , i f urban a r e as are to avoid serious d i scon tent a n d disturbances this summer. The supplemental appropriation proposed below would substantially meet known program needs if enacted soon enough to be put to work before the summer commences. The Proposal To meet the b asi c need s requ ires a supple me ntal a ppr opr i a t i on combining the amount o f last year's supplemental appropriation ($75 million) with a leve l of financial commitment based on the most r e cent nee ds ass essment f o r poverty programs . An a p pro priate meas u re would a c k nowledg e the reas o nableness o f t he Administration's fis c a l '68 b udget request f o r poverty pro grams, resto re NAB diverted f u nds t o a bout- to - be-cu t p r ograms, and make use of already e xpended plann ing dollar s t o improve the special programs o f l ast year. Such a propo sal would include: 1. $104 million to upgrade the current OEO appro priation to the requested authorization level for fiscal '68 (pro-rated for the remainder of the fiscal year ) ; 2. $1 00 million to replace funds diverted t o the NAB program; 3. The $75 mil l ion special summer supple mental f o r a total supplementary appropriation of $279 million. This amount would ostensibly give OEO sufficient dollars to meet ongoing program ne eds and meet the minimum commitment of last year's summer programs. �