Volunteering lifts job prospects of the jobless, By Michael A. Fletcher, June 17, 2013, Washington Post: “Unemployed Americans stand a much better chance of finding a paying job if they first work for free. That is the key finding from a new federal study that is billed as the first empirical examination of the benefits of volunteering for out-of-work Americans. The report, to be released Tuesday by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that encourages and facilitates volunteerism, found that jobless Americans increase their odds of finding work by 27 percent if they volunteer…”
SNAP Eligibility and Enrollment – Los Angeles, CA
Nearly half of those eligible for food stamps refuse benefits, By Christina Villacorte, June 16, 2013, Los Angeles Daily News: “The food bank at Meet Each Need with Dignity in Pacoima was bustling on a recent day with people reaching for donated fruits, vegetables, juice and other goods. And yet, when a volunteer grabbed a microphone to ask the hungry crowd, ‘Who wants to apply for food stamps?’ no one raised a hand. The scene captured the dilemma of the county Department of Public Social Services, which has struggled to boost enrollment in the federal food stamp program, known locally as CalFresh. In Los Angeles County, 1.1 million low-income Americans and legal residents receive up to $200 per individual, or $668 per family of four, every month for groceries…”
Welfare Reform – Massachusetts
Massachusetts Senate leaders take wraps off bill to overhaul welfare, By Dan Ring, June 17, 2013, The Republican: “Senate President Therese Murray and other Senate leaders Monday unveiled a bill to overhaul welfare in Massachusetts, including requiring photo identifications on electronic benefit transfer cards and creation of a program to connect able-bodied applicants with jobs before they receive benefits. Murray said the welfare system is stagnant and the Senate wants to shake it up, while helping recipients…”
States and Medicaid Expansion
- Arizona Gov. Brewer secures Medicaid expansion after months-long fight with Legislature, Associated Press, June 13, 2013, Washington Post: “Ending a six-month legislative session, Arizona lawmakers endorsed a key element of President Barack Obama’s health care law in a huge political victory for Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, after a lengthy fight over Medicaid expansion that divided the state’s Republican leadership. The expansion that will extend health care to 300,000 more low-income Arizonans came after months of stalled negotiations, tense debates and political maneuvering as Brewer pushed the Medicaid proposal through a hostile Legislature…”
- House approves bill to expand Medicaid to 470,000 low-income Michiganders, By Kathleen Gray, June 14, 2013, Detroit Free Press: “Expanding Medicaid coverage to 470,000 low-income Michiganders was not an easy vote for many on the floor of the state House of Representatives on Thursday. But in the end, the bill that would take advantage of an element of the Affordable Care Act passed the House by a 76-31 vote. But it didn’t come without hours of private deliberations and public passions on both sides of the political aisle. The bill was described as both a historic tool to get health care to Michigan’s most vulnerable residents and an unprecedented expansion of the federal government…”
Medicaid Reform – Florida
Fla. gets final OK for Medicaid privatization, By Gary Finehout and Kelli Kennedy (AP), June 14, 2013, Miami Herald: “Federal health officials have given final approval to a plan to overhaul Florida’s safety net health insurance program. Gov. Rick Scott announced the decision on Friday, saying it would allow the state’s Medicaid program to ‘to provide Medicaid users with quality, value-based and patient-centered care…’”
Public Criminal Defense System – Michigan
Indigent defense: Michigan looks to overhaul system for low-income criminal defense, By Jonathan Oosting, June 14, 2013, MLive.com: “Michigan lawmakers on Thursday took a major step towards overhauling the state’s public criminal defense system, which critics say has been broken for years and failed to protect some residents who cannot afford their own attorney. The Senate and House on Thursday approved identical bills, setting the stage for them to be finalized and sent to the governor as early as next week, to create the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. The 16-member body would be tasked with researching, developing and enforcing minimum standards for constitutionally-guaranteed legal representation in jurisdictions around the state…”
Child Poverty in the UK
- One in six children lives in poverty, UK statistics show, By Angela Harrison, June 13, 2013, BBC News: “At least one out of every six children in the UK lives in relative poverty, according to data released by the Department for Work and Pensions. In 2011-12, 2.3 million UK children (17%) lived in homes with substantially lower than average income. This rises to 27% (3.5 million) if measured after housing costs are paid. Children’s campaigners say the true figure is higher and that 300,000 more children live in poor homes than in the previous year. This is because there are two accepted ways of measuring poverty – relative and absolute…”
- Poverty rose by 900,000 in coalition’s first year, By Patrick Butler, June 13, 2013, The Guardian: “An additional 900,000 people were plunged into poverty during the first year of the coalition government, including 300,000 more children, according to official figures. Charities pointed out that the entire increase in children counted as in poverty in 2011-12 came from working households. Children living below the poverty line were now twice as likely to come from working families than those without employment. The situation is likely to get worse, say charities, because the statistics covered the period before a range of austerity measures and welfare cuts – including the bedroom tax and the abolition of council tax benefit – were introduced…”
Advanced Placement Classes – Michigan
Thousands of low-income, minority students are a step behind by missing out on college-prep classes, By Ron French, June 11, 2013, Mlive.com: “Only 3 percent of low-income and African-American high school students in Michigan are enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes that help them get a toehold in college. That’s one of the lowest rates in the nation, according to a study conducted by Education Trust…”
State Minimum Wage – Iowa, Massachusetts
- Minimum wage must increase, Iowa panelists say, By Victor Epstein, June 5, 2013, Des Moines Register: “Romain Turner has been out of prison for five months and has run up a $1,800 tab for rent at the halfway house on the former grounds of Fort Des Moines while looking for work. The 33-year-old Des Moines native said he wants to live a law-abiding life after a criminal history that includes a burglary conviction two years ago. He is trying to figure out how he’s going to pay that new debt off, along with $300 in court fees, $2,000 in victim restitution, child support and rent once he lands a minimum-wage job…”
- Mass. will consider minimum wage hike, By Meghan E. Irons, June 11, 2013, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts legislators are considering a substantial increase in the state minimum wage for the first time in four years, setting up a showdown between advocates backing low-wage earners and business activists, both still struggling from the slow economy…”
Kids Count Report – Tennessee
- Kids Count report: Nearly half of TN pregnant women don’t receive ‘adequate’ prenatal care, By Tony Gonzalez, June 7, 2013, The Tennessean: “Tennessee children who suffer from toxic stress, abuse, and other everyday challenges such as hunger — and who aren’t tended to early — face serious consequences throughout their lives. State health and child well-being experts delivered that message Friday morning while releasing the latest ‘KIDS COUNT: The State of the Child in Tennessee’ report. This year, the annual study examines challenges to raising kids in Tennessee, and whether state programs are doing enough to help them…”
- Report: TN children at risk for hunger, poverty, later problems, By Kristi L. Nelson, June 7, 2013, Knoxville News Sentinel: “Abuse and neglect during childhood can actually disrupt brain development, leading to lifelong problems, says a report released Friday by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. That’s not new information, but the state agency, which advocates for improvement in the quality of life for Tennessee children, uses numbers and facts to back up a call for the Department of Children’s Services to continue its efforts — and work with other agencies — to form ‘a supportive infrastructure to help vulnerable children develop successfully…’”
The Farm Bill and SNAP
- Senate passes farm bill; House vote is less sure, By Ron Nixon, June 10, 2013, New York Times: “The Senate approved a sweeping new farm bill on Monday that will cost nearly $955 billion over the next 10 years, the first step in a renewed attempt at passing legislation that will set the country’s food and agriculture programs and policy. The bill, which finances programs as diverse as crop insurance for farmers, food assistance for low-income families and foreign food aid, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 66 to 27. The Senate passed a similar bill last year, but the House failed to bring its bill to a vote. The last farm bill that was passed by both chambers, in 2008, was extended until Sept. 30…”
- Senate OKs farm bill; food stamps cut slightly, By Mary Clare Jalonick (AP), June 11, 2013, Columbus Dispatch: “The Senate yesterday passed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that expands government subsidies for crop insurance, rice and peanuts while making small cuts to food stamps. The bill passed on a bipartisan 66-27 vote. The legislation, which costs almost $100 billion annually, also would eliminate subsidies that are paid to farmers whether they farm or not. All told, it would save about $2.4 billion a year on the farm and nutrition programs, including across-the-board cuts that took effect this year…”
- More rely on food stamps despite economic gains, By William E. Gibson, June 9, 2013, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Despite an improving economy, one in five Florida residents relies on food stamps. And while the number of recipients in South and Central Florida has leveled off in recent months, totals remain at near-record highs. Now, many in Congress want to scale back food-stamp spending, saying the $78-billion-a-year costs are unsustainable. That would cut off benefits — which max out at $526 a month for a family of three — for thousands of low-wage workers whose housing and child-care expenses eat up as much as half their earnings…”
States and Medicaid Expansion
- Politics complicates TennCare discussion, By Chas Sisk, June 10, 2013, The Tennessean: “Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration is nearing a decision on whether to push for an expansion of TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, but questions remain about how the plan would be structured and whether it could win approval from state and federal officials. After more than two months of discussions with federal officials over a proposal to buy private insurance for the poor, Haslam expects to know by the end of the summer whether to recommend that Tennessee join the 29 states that already have committed to expanding their Medicaid programs…”
- Medicaid expansion gets hearing in House, By Mary K. Reinhart, June 10, 2013, Arizona Republic: “Facing a looming budget deadline and a bitterly divided Republican caucus, the state House today takes up Gov. Jan Brewer’s plan to expand Medicaid along with a controversial abortion bill some say is designed to kill the governor’s top legislative priority. The House Appropriations Committee will hold what is expected to be a contentious hearing on the two bills, likely ending with the defeat of Senate Bill 1492, which outlines Brewer’s plan to broaden Medicaid eligibility under the federal health-care overhaul…”
- Push for Medicaid expansion continues beyond session, By Elizabeth Crisp, June 10, 2013, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Missouri’s Republican-controlled Legislature eschewed Medicaid expansion this session, but supporters are holding out hope for next year. ‘We all know that we need to expand Medicaid. Everyone knows that,’ said Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a St. Louis Democrat. ‘This will save many lives, and I am optimistic that the right thing will be done.’ Republican legislative leaders have taken recent actions that appear to hint toward movement on the issue in the coming months. They also have expressed optimism over the potential to reform the health care program for the poor, using the expansion as a launch pad…”
- Medicaid expansion unlikely to be in budget, but it’s far from dead, By Robert Higgs, June 9, 2013, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “More and more, the chances that an expansion of Ohio’s Medicaid program will appear in the state budget appear to be less and less. But the debate is far from over. While they hedge that there are no guarantees, legislators, lobbyists and the administration, continue to talk with optimism that something will be done to provide health coverage for the working poor…”
College Education and Earnings
Study: Even for students who borrow then drop out, college pays off on average, By Justin Pope (AP), June 10, 2013, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “It sounds like the worst of all worlds — borrowing money for college, then dropping out and facing the debt without a degree. But a new study argues that the investment in even a partial college education is still worth it, amounting to average earnings of $100,000 more over a lifetime than for those who merely finish high school. That’s a better investment return on average than stocks and bonds — though of course much lower than the return on college for those who finish…”
May 2013 US Unemployment
- Middling jobs gain signals a long path to healthy payrolls, By Catherine Rampell, June 7, 2013, New York Times: “American employers added 175,000 jobs in May, almost exactly the average monthly job growth over the last year, the Labor Department reported Friday, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent in April. Economists were relieved that the numbers weren’t worse, given a string of other disappointing data in recent weeks, but noted that recent job trends are nowhere close to bringing the country back to full employment. At the current pace of job and population growth, it would take nearly five years to get the economy back to the low unemployment rate it enjoyed when the recession officially began in December 2007…”
- U.S. adds 175,000 jobs; jobless rate moves up, By Paul Davidson, June 7, 2013, USA Today: “Employers added a better-than-expected 175,000 jobs in May, providing further evidence of a resilient labor market despite huge federal spending cuts and global economic turmoil. The unemployment rate rose to 7.6% from 7.5%, the Labor Department said Friday, as 420,000 Americans, including previously discouraged workers who had given up job-hunting, joined the labor force. The labor force includes people working and looking for work…”
Long-Term Unemployment
Why the unemployed are seeing smaller checks, By Tami Luhby, June 7, 2013, CNNMoney: “Federal budget cuts are taking a big bite out of the unemployment checks for the long-term jobless. Precisely how those cuts are being carried out varies by state. Most are enacting an across-the-board reduction for all federal unemployment insurance recipients, but some are ending the program early or slashing benefits only for new enrollees. And in some states, recipients should brace for an upcoming shock. The places that took the longest to implement the cuts will need to compensate by slicing off a bigger chunk of recipients’ remaining checks…”
State Pre-Kindergarten Programs
Some states shoring up spending on pre-K, By Adrienne Lu, June 4, 2013, Stateline: “President Obama is calling for a $75 billion investment over 10 years in high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. While Congress studies his proposal, governors and state lawmakers are forging ahead with their own ideas…”
US High School Graduation Rates
- Michigan’s high school graduation rate trails national average – Education Week report, By Brian Smith, June 6, 2013, MLive.com: “Michigan’s high school graduation rate is almost 4 percent below the national average and is trending downward, according to the latest annual report on graduation rates from Education Week, a specialty newspaper for educators. The data comes from the eighth-annual ‘Diplomas Count 2013′ special report, produced by the publication with data from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. This year’s report uses data from the class of 2010, the most recent class for which data was available…”
- Graduation rates dropping among Native American students, By Kelsey Sheehy, June 6, 2013, U.S. News & World Report: “Major gains among black and Latino students pushed the nation’s high school graduation rates to near record levels. Native American students, however, are not enjoying the same boom. Instead, graduation rates for Native American students are sliding backwards, according to ‘Diplomas Count 2013,’ an annual report released today by Education Week…”
- Fl’s graduation rate for Hispanic students tops in the nation, as state makes strong gains overall, report shows, By Leslie Postal, June 6, 2013, Orlando Sentinel: “Florida has made strong gains in high school graduation rates in the last decade and led the nation when it comes to having Hispanic students earn diplomas, a new report released today shows. The 2013 Diplomas Count report put Florida’s graduation rate for Hispanic students — a group that has historically struggled to earn diplomas — tops in the country for the second year in a row, the Florida Department of Education said…”
States and Medicaid Expansion
- GOP governors’ endorsements of Medicaid expansion deepen rifts within party, By Sandhya Somashekhar, June 2, 2013, Washington Post: “Republican fissures over the expansion of Medicaid, a critical piece of the 2010 health-care law designed to provide coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, continue to deepen, with battles in Arizona and elsewhere showing just how bitter the divisions have become. Despite expressing distaste for the new law, some GOP governors have endorsed an expansion of Medicaid, and three — Jan Brewer of Arizona, John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Snyder of Michigan — are trying to persuade their Republican-controlled legislatures to go along…”
- States may lose $8.4 billion in U.S. funds by rejecting Medicaid, By Alex Wayne, June 4, 2013, Businessweek: “Texas, Louisiana and 12 other U.S. states that are declining to expand Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul will lose at least $8.4 billion in federal funding in 2016 alone, a study found. About 3.6 million people who would have been eligible for Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act will be left without health insurance, costing the 14 states an additional $1 billion in uncompensated care, according to research from the Rand Corp. published in the journal Health Affairs. States ‘would do best to expand Medicaid,’ the researchers said…”
- Rand adds to argument to expand Medicaid in Pennsylvania, By David Wenner, June 3, 2013, Patriot-News: “An independent organization on Monday attempted to strengthen the argument that Pennsylvania will suffer financially if it doesn’t expand Medicaid as called for in the Affordable Care Act. The new Rand Corp. study is the latest salvo in the war of data over whether expanding Medicaid would be good for Pennsylvania. It focuses on Pennsylvania and 13 other states that have either refused or expressed major reluctance regarding expanding Medicaid…”
- NC decision against Medicaid expansion could be costly, By Jennifer Thomas, June 3, 2013, Charlotte Business Journal: “North Carolina should expect increased costs after deciding not to expand Medicaid as part of federal health-care reform, according to a new study by the RAND Corp. That nonprofit research organization looked at 14 states — including North Carolina — that decided against expanding Medicaid in their states. It found that opting out of expansion will leave millions without health insurance…”
- LePage: I won’t approve Medicaid expansion until current waiting list is addressed, By Matthew Stone, June 3, 2013, Bangor Daily News: “Gov. Paul LePage drew a new line in the sand on expanding the state’s Medicaid program Monday, hours after Democrats in the Maine House moved ahead with their second attempt to expand the low-income health insurance program. The House voted 89-51 Monday morning to support an expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. The vote, however, fell short of the two-thirds threshold necessary to override a near certain LePage veto…”
Jobless Benefits – Delaware
Jobless benefits bill: 1-week waiting period, higher taxes, By Jonathan Starkey, June 2, 2013, News Journal: “Delaware racked up more than $70 million in debt sending out unemployment checks during the recession. Now the bill is coming due, and proposed legislation would pay down the debt by raising taxes on businesses and forcing jobless Delawareans to wait a week before collecting state benefits. Gov. Jack Markell is backing the proposed changes, which administration officials say would stave off even higher federal taxes in coming years. The proposal is working its way in the Legislature. Delaware, which is not the only state needing to tackle the problem, began borrowing from the federal government in March 2010 to pay for unemployment benefits, with the bill reaching as high as $78.5 million. The state-administered unemployment trust fund currently owes about $71.5 million…”
Preschool Initiative – Michigan
Michigan to offer preschool to more poor children, By David Eggert (AP), June 1, 2013, Detroit Free Press: “As many as 16,000 more 4-year-olds will go to preschool in Michigan next school year, a significant enrollment boost that Gov. Rick Snyder hopes to increase even more the following year. An influx of up to $65 million — a nearly 60% bump over current funding — will help pay the full cost of preschool for disadvantaged kids whose families make up to 250% of the poverty line. The income cutoff is roughly $39,000 for a parent with one child, $59,000 for a family of four. The Republican governor, who is expected to sign the 2013-14 school spending plan soon, kicked off a conference of business and political leaders on Mackinac Island last week by saying he was ‘really proud’ of the agreement to emphasize early learning in the budget…”