2009...Phew! It's over!

Thank heavens 2009 is over. Although it was a year for many successes for Community Action, it was also a year of a lot of frustrations.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing for me was the fact that, for reasons beyond my control, I had less contact with members of Congress than in any other year in the past decade. Post-stimulus appropriations was pretty much on autopilot, authorization issues weren’t going anywhere, and Congress was absolutely consumed with foreign policy, health care and, to a lesser extent, the economy. Therefore, members had less time to talk than in previous years.

I have a lot of optimism for 2010. I think once Congress gets health care out of the way, there will be an opportunity to have a more traditional working relationship with Congress. I hope it is a year of really getting back to basics and spending more time on the Hill with staff and members on issues confronting the poor. For example, a jobs bill and reauthorization for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Workforce and the Community Services Block Grant are just a few of the opportunities that may or may not arise in 2010.

There are a lot of new members in Congress that we want to meet, work with and strengthen their understanding of Community Action programs. I believe 2010 is the perfect year to do that.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington