CC 2018-08-28 Items Rec'd at Mtg. LIVE UNITED
United Way of San Luis Obispo County United
Good evening AG City Council Members, 8/28/18 Way "'
I'm Rick London, CEO of United Way of San Luis Obispo County
Briefly, here in SLO County our United Way is endeavoring to safeguard the future of our
community, by nurturing proficiencies in reading, financial and social emotional literacies
through our high quality programs. We are connecting people in need to our resource and
referral line 211 and 211SLO.org. We are also connecting volunteers to local nonprofit
agencies through our Volunteerslo.org website, while our youth board is developing
promising board members for those same organizations somewhere down the road.
More specifically, I wanted to share with you our Real Cost Measure 2018 report recently
released by United Ways of California. The Real Cost Measure uses standardized
measurements to calculate "basic needs" budgets, based on individual California County
Profiles, the number of household members and their individual ages.
Our federal government's official poverty measure vastly understates poverty. Established
over 45 years ago, the Federal Poverty Level has two primary flaws: (1 ) its formula is
primarily based on the cost of food, and in the decades since it was created, the costs of
housing, transportation, child care, health care, and other family necessities have risen far
more rapidly than food costs, and (2) it neglects regional variations in cost of living, and
most Californians live in high-cost areas.
The Real Cost Measure finds that one in three households in California, over 3.3 million
families—including those with income well above the Federal Poverty Level—struggle
every month to meet basic needs. Here in SLO County 29% of our households live below
the Real Cost Measure, with 95% of those households having at least one working adult.
As a result, the true extent of families contending with deprivation is hidden. Many of these
hidden poor find they earn too much to qualify for most income supports, yet still struggle
to meet their most basic needs, especially as the costs of housing, health care, and other
necessities continue to rise faster than wages.
The findings of the Real Cost Measure 2018 make plain that—even in the midst of
plenty—many Californians are struggling to stay afloat.
You may go to unitedwayslo.org to get to the full report, explore how our neighboring
counties are doing, as well as configure your own basic needs budget. For those of you
who would like a guided deeper dive into the report, the Real Cost Measure authors will be
at the Copeland Health Education Pavilion at French Hospital on Tuesday, October 16th
from 2-4pm.
Thank you!
United le-Y
Way esP`
The Real Cost Measure in California United Ways of California
San Luis Obispo
The Real Cost Measure(RCM)estimates the amount of income required to meet basic needs(the"Real Cost Budget")for a given
household type in a specific community.The Real Cost Measure builds a bare-bones budget that reflects constrained yet reasonable choices
for essential expenses:housing,food,transportation, health care,taxes and child care.
Total Households Percent of Households Percent of Households below Real Cost Measure
Below Real Cost Measure Below Real Cost Measure Which Have at Least One Working Adult
24,007 29% 95%
2016 Annual County Income Comparison Three Real Cost Budgets for the County
(Based on a household of 2 adults, 1 infant and 1 school-age child)
2 Adults, 1 Infant,
$130K 1 Adult 2 Adults 1 School-Age Child
$120K
wokHousing 10,368 12,108 15,720
$100K
$90K Food 3,360 6,720 13,476
$80K
$70K Health Care 2,160 4,332 8,652
$60K
$50K Transportation 4,944 9,888 9,888
$40K c
$30K N Childcare(net) 0 0 15,612
r-
$20K
$10K Miscellaneous 2,088 3,300 6,336
$0K
Taxes/Credits 877 1,144 2,717
■Median Household Income Federal Poverty Line
■2 Adult 2 Child RCM Budget ■2 Minimum Wage Jobs
•California Poverty Measure Final Budget $23,797 $37,491 $72,401
Education %Below RCM
The Real Cost Measure in San Luis Obispo Less than High School 61%
High School Diploma 38%
Households of color struggle disproportionately...
•Across the state,African Americans and Latinos have a disproportionate number of Some College/Vocational 34%
households with incomes below the Standard. In this area,of the 24,007 households College Degree or Higher 14%
below the Real Cost Measure,6,391 are Latino.
Household Type %Below RCM
Families with children face a larger barrier to economic security.
• 57%of households with children under six struggle,a rate nearly twice that of the rest Single Mother 70%
of the county. Seniors 27%
• Single mothers are most likely to struggle.70%percent in the county are below the Married Couple 22%
Real Cost Measure. Informal Family 34%
Families work, but don't earn enough...
• 95%of households below RCM have at least one working adult. Race/Ethnicity %Below RCM
Latino 48%
• 72%of heads of household who work are employed full time and year round.
African American 33%
•A family of four(2 adults,one infant,one school age child)would need to hold more
than 3 full time,minimum-wage jobs to achieve economic security. Asian American 30%
White 25%
High housing costs are a major challenge for struggling households...
• 39%of all households in the county spend more than 30%of their income on housing. Citizenship/Nativity %Below RCM
Foreign Born, Non-Citizen 52%
Foreign Born, Naturalized 36%
Data drawn from Struggling to Stay Afloat:The Real Cost Measure in California 2018 by United Ways of U.S.-Born Citizen 26%
California in partnership with B3 Consults For the full report go to http://unitedwaysca.org/realcost.
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Top Myths About Measure G
Myth:Measure G will shut down the oil industry in SLO County.
FACT: Measure G protects all current oil jobs and tax reve-
nue because it clearly allows existing operations to contin-
ue. (See Sec. 2 B& C of Measure G). Measure G prohibits
fracking, and the expansion and intensification of oil drilling
that threatens our agriculture and tourism.
Myth:Measure G will bankrupt the County with millions in
legal fees.
FACT: Courts have found that local governments have the
power to ban new drilling. If we choose to do that, Big Oil
should accept the will of the people, be a good neighbor,
and continue to safely operate its existing oil wells.The oil
industry wants to threaten to sue because it cares about
short-term profit more than our water and our health.
Myth:Measure G would result in a loss of revenues for local
schools, first responders and public programs.
FACT: Since there is no impact on current oil operations
there should be no loss of tax revenue.The entire oil industry
in the county contributes less than %2 of 1% of property and
unitary taxes.
Myth:Fracking will never happen in SLO County.
FACT: The federal government just proposed opening federal
lands in our county for fracking and oil drilling. Measure
G protects the county's unincorporated land and sends a
strong message about what we want.
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Vote YES on Measure G !
Endorse, Volunteer, or Donate at
www.YESonMeasureG.org
Paid for by the Coalition to Protect San Luis Obispo County FPPC#1402803
PROTECT OUR WATER
6 VOTE
YES
on
BAN FRACKING
Led by local citizens concerned about our water and economy,
over 20,000 voters signed to place Measure G on the Novem-
ber 2018 ballot to ban new oil wells and fracking in our county.
The opposition to Measure G is funded by Chevron, Sentinel
Peak Energy,and big oil companies seeking to spread
distortions and untruths.See other side for FACTS vs myths.
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r.
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Measure G Protects our Water: It bans fracking and new
extreme oil drilling projects on SLO County lands. Measure
G would stop the massive 481 well expansions in the Price
Canyon oil field that would generate increased toxic wastewa-
ter and air pollution.The drilling and wastewater could contam-
inate local aquifers that provide drinking water to our cities.
Measure G Protects our Economy: Drought is the"new
normal"and our groundwater resources are more precious
than ever.Agriculture and tourism contribute billions of dollars
and over 40,000 jobs to SLO County. Our vibrant economy
depends on reliable and safe groundwater.
Endorsed By:Women's March San Luis Obispo,SLO County
Democratic Party,Sierra Club—Santa Lucia Chapter, Branch
Mill Organic Farm,Toucan Wines,The Surfrider Foundation,
and more.
Vote YES on Measure G!
Endorse, Volunteer, or Donate at
www.YESonMeasureG.org