Government needs to announce concrete plans to aid the working poor and first-time homeowners in the looming recession, economist Craig Simmons said yesterday.

The Bermuda College lecturer said tomorrow's Throne Speech should formally acknowledge the plight of low-income workers and outline firm policy options to help them cope with increasing food and energy prices.

He said a contingency plan should also be lined up so homeowners don't lose their property if they are unable to keep up with soaring mortgage payments.

Deficit spending is required to weather the economic storm, said Mr. Simmons, while a bond issue should be set up to raise funds for capital projects.

Asked what he would like to see in the Throne Speech, he told The Royal Gazette: "I would expect a broad policy response to the recession.

"That policy response should reassure our people that the Government understands that these are extraordinary times and that the Government is prepared to use extraordinary measures to avoid a deeper than necessary downturn in economic activity.

"It is generally accepted that deficit spending will be needed to weather the recessionary storm heading our way. This may require a break with a long standing fiscal tradition that current spending be less than tax revenues.

"Additional spending should be targeted at the working poor, who have had to endure rising food, energy and other commodity prices and now a recession.

"The speech should formally acknowledge the plight of the working poor and outline concrete policy options actively being explored. Also, recent first time homeowners, who find their mortgages in excess of the value of their homes, should be assured that a contingency is being pursued in conjunction with the banks to avert foreclosures.

"The other feature of a deficit spending policy response is that it should be temporary. Capital spending, by its very nature, is temporary. For the most part, capital spending should be continued as planned. And to further break with tradition, funding for capital projects should be, at least in part, sought locally through a bond issue."

He added: "Government is in excellent fiscal health, with debt at around six percent of gross domestic product, which pales in comparison with the US (60 percent) and the UK (40 percent). The Government is thus well equipped to see us through these difficult times because fundamentally, the Bermuda economy is strong and resilient."

A Cabinet spokesman said tomorrow's speech will focus on family and youth while addressing Government's "keen attention to pressing global issues" and their effect on Bermuda.

Salvation Army head Major Doug Lewis said help was needed for the poor who are already feeling the pinch of the economic crisis.

Major Lewis said more affordable housing, shelter and day care initiatives had made inroads but Government now needs to go to the next level and also target families who don't fall below the poverty level.

"The need is going to increase," he said. "We are finding that we are having larger families come to us. They now have grandparents living with them — four adults, living with two, three or four children.

"We have noticed an increase with family services. People can't afford to pay the rent or groceries."

Association of Bermuda International Companies president David Ezekiel said: "All of us are expecting and hoping for a continuing of the message the Finance Minister has already sent out — that there's a strong acknowledgement of the times we are in; a strong acknowledgement that businesses are facing perhaps the toughest period they have ever faced; and Government is going to do everything to help businesses work through this period and get back on their feet.

"Government needs to take a look at what they can curtail and put on hold for a while."

Sheelagh Cooper of the Coalition for the Protection of Children said families would benefit from initiatives such as free public transport for Bermudian children and free Bermuda College tuition, while progress has been good for the child care allowance scheme.

Mrs. Cooper repeated her call for staff in the Department of Financial Assistance to be sent for training to be more compassionate to those in need.

But her Throne Speech wish list focused on legislation governing the protection of children, including a request to quicken the court process so that victims of sex offences don't have to wait up to two years before giving evidence.

She said sex offence victims should also be allowed to appear in court via video tape instead of on the stand; suspect sex offenders should not have their identity protected; and better psychological help should be given to sex offenders.

Meanwhile Bermuda Union of Teachers general secretary Mike Charles said he would like to see money put toward the Literacy Collaborative which he said has not been rolled across all schools due to funding problems.