Religious Leaders Present 2009 Legislative Agenda

Religious leaders are calling on lawmakers to focus on the most vulnerable members of society. MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports.

United Methodist Bishop, Hope Morgan Ward joined the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi , asking lawmakers to show compassion towards the needs of children, immigrants and poor people.

“We want to seriously tackle these issues but we do believe that a gracious environment where people are given the help that they need is in line with the intent and the vision of God who created all of us.”

It is estimated that 3 out of every 4 children in Mississippi without health insurance actually qualify for existing programs. Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Latino believes more children would be on the rolls if lawmakers would eliminate the face to face certification.

“Make it accessible for people who are not going to get any medical insurance because of their financial situation. To make it possible for those children to be included in the medical attention that the state and the government says they have the right to.”

Working through a group called Congregations for Children, Bishop Duncan Gray, of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi called for more dollars for education.

“We’ve got some pretty good initiatives in the pre-k area over the last two or three years that have been authorized but the funding has been rather limited. And we’ve never really been able to see ah, the potential for those programs.”

The group says 31% of Mississippi children are currently living in poverty. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.