***For Immediate Release***
April 29, 2015
Contact, Jeff Sheldon
Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed
Office: (402) 438-8853
Mobile: (402) 840-7289
jsheldon@neappleseed.org
Appleseed Statement on Governor’s Veto of LB 89
Governor’s uses first veto to harm state’s poorest Children and Families
LINCOLN — Tonight, Nebraska Appleseed Executive Director Rebecca Gould issued the following statement regarding the Governor’s veto of LB 89.
“We are stunned Governor Ricketts chose to use his first veto to hurt Nebraska children and hard-working families,” Gould said. “LB 89 would help more than 11,000 of the poorest Nebraska children and their parents to meet their basic needs, like food and shelter. The supports provided under LB 89 through the Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) program would also help prevent children from entering the child welfare system, and are available only for those with very low incomes. The amount of Nebraska’s ADC support has not been raised in nearly 30 years, and the changes made to ADC through LB 89 are long overdue.
“The Governor’s veto is particularly shocking when considering child poverty and its consequences,” Gould said. “In Nebraska, nearly one in five children live in poverty, and two-thirds of children in our child welfare system enter because their basic needs are not being met. The veto makes plain that the Governor’s priorities do not include helping the poorest children and families in our state to stay together and move ahead.
“We urge the Legislature to stand up for Nebraska’s poorest children and families and vote to override the Governor’s veto.”
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Psychological researchers have found it’s not so unusual for the rich to exhibit an attitude of contempt toward less well-off people, Ricketts fits the pattern. He can label our children as an “expense” that the royal “we” cannot afford. Nebraska’s children aren’t “moochers.” Their parents aren’t either. The moochers are the arrogant and entitled who objectify people and blow them off. It’s terrible that we have someone with no compassion and no concern for the most vulnerable in our community serving as Governor. I certainly hope our Legislators step up as champions of these children.