State Budget Fiasco: Some Noble Truths
Posted September 3, 2009 // 3 Comments // add yours
Introduction by Grant Oliphant, CEO and President The Pittsburgh Foundation:
The Pittsburgh Foundation Senior Vice President of Programs Jeanne Pearlman, whose recent blog entry appears below, initially didn’t want to be published here – or anywhere else, for that matter. “I just wrote it to vent,” she said expressing concern that the opinions it voiced could prove offensive to some, especially the policy makers she so adroitly takes to task.
That is a risk I’m willing to take. The Pittsburgh Foundation enjoys good relationships with political leaders at all levels of government and both sides of the aisle, and I want to keep it that way. But that does not mean we should muzzle ourselves when their actions prove harmful to the people, organizations and values we exist to serve.
I recently attended a roundtablediscussion among nonprofit leaders to hear from some Harrisburg analyst about the prospect for a resolution to the state budget impasse that is wreaking so much havoc on nonprofits in our community. “Hold rallies, not protests,” they cautioned “you don’t want to be negative. They don’t like it when people go negative.”
Excuse me? Since when did fear of reprisal become a guiding principle of representative democracy? Since when did shutting up become a cardinal good?
We know our political leaders often have a tough job to do, never more so than now, with resources so constrained. But when their actions exact a damaging toll on communities like ours, a little righteous indignation is an appropriate response.
Which is why I am proud to share Jeanne’s message. Besides, it really applies to all of us. Using human suffering as the coin of change is unacceptable, no matter what our ideology.
State Budget Fiasco: Some Noble Truths
Jeanne Pearlman
Senior Vice President of Programs
The Pittsburgh Foundations
I’ve been thinking about the appalling strangeness of the world today…
Working in a foundation is a dream job. I was reminded of this fact when I spoke to a class of students not long ago at a middle school career day. The speakers were instructed to describe our jobs in one short phrase or sentence. After much consideration, I settled on the simple truth, “I give away money for a living.” The kids loved it, and I basked in their youthful enthusiasm as I drove back to the office. My pleasurable basking was short lived, because when I arrived at my desk, I found multiple e-mails and telephone messages from representatives of nonprofit organizations inquiring on the progress of their grant proposals. I knew that our Board could fund only a fraction of those requests, not because the projects didn’t have merit but because of limited resources.
Noble Truth #1: It’s only fun to give away money when you have unlimited money.
Noble Truth #2: As gratifying as it is to say yes, it does not outweigh the pain of saying no, particularly to those agencies that serve the most vulnerable in society.
Lately, the reality of limited resources is like a dark cloud hovering over the nonprofit sector and the people it serves. Not only is the economic crisis continuing to plague the region, but now we must also deal with spectacle of the annual budget follies currently being performed Pennsylvania legislators. In recent meetings on the subject of the inability of the state legislature and the governor to agree upon a budget, I have been heartened to hear my colleagues from philanthropy, from business, and from the public sector react with outrage at the shenanigans in Harrisburg and voice their concerns about how individual families will be impacted by budget delays and funding cuts. Sadly, a few voices are saying that the only way to solve the budget crisis is to increase the human suffering quotient as a way to shame legislators into action.
Noble Truth #3: Only those who have suffered at the hands of an unjust economic system can issue a pronouncement that increasing the suffering of others is a prudent strategy to effect change.
With apologies to the esteemed Ms. Mead, even a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can’t seem to find a way to change the worldview of self-interested politicians or to change a system that allows them to use their power to the detriment of those they have been elected to serve.
Noble Truth #4: Elected officials should have to come home at the end of the day and have dinner with the families that are most impacted by the actions they have taken or failed to take that day. For example, let’s imagine one of Pennsylvania’s legislators sitting down to a lovely meal with his or her constituents. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Magillicutty, how was your day? Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that times are tough. Well, I’m sure then that you’d be interested to know that today I voted for a bill that would eliminate the after-school program that cares for little Angus while both of you are at work. We’ve also cut programs to Seniors who need in-home care to age in place with dignity, like Grandma over there looking so comfortable in her chair next to the fire. Oh, I notice that baby Moira has a bad cough—sounds like asthma. Well, we did it again, I’m afraid. We’ve cut funding to the Environmental Protection Agency so we can be sure that the air quality is going to get a lot worse next year. Well, enough of that depressing news! May I say that this dinner looks delicious, can you pass the haggis, please?”
Not likely to happen. The potent potion of insulated, desensitized politicians and constituents who are relegated to the roles of the silent and invisible is too powerful a brew to allow my daydream to manifest in real time.
The best we can do is to insist that those who are privileged to work in the philanthropic sector openly challenge ineffective government that appears to be at best immune to, or at worse culpable for, the misery of those who are most vulnerable. We should also remember that the very essence of the idea of philanthropic purpose carries with it the responsibility to speak, and when necessary, to act in accordance with the needs of our friends and neighbors who have been designated by some as dispensable.
Which leads me to…
Noble Truth #5: Let only those who are perfect cast the first stones upon those who are not, but let those who live with the gift of a vigilant conscience, pass the mirror to those who are not yet so favored.
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Bravo Jeannie, and Bravo to Grant for publishing this post. Until we really fix the broken system that now plagues Harrisburg, all the good work we are trying to do will have minimal impact.
Comment by John Denny // September 4, 2009
Amen and Amen. Thank you both for giving eloquent voice to the shared frustrations of your thousands of nonprofit and philanthropy compatriots.
Comment by Tony Macklin // September 8, 2009
Thank you for speaking out for the most vulnerable of our dear neighbors who have no voice in this current fiasco. Until unfettered greed for power is harnessed we will not have real representation in government.
Comment by Marilyn Sullivan // September 19, 2009