Feds wasted millions in utilities program for poor, By Kelli Kennedy (AP), July 1, 2010, Miami Herald: “A federal program designed to help impoverished families heat and cool their homes wasted more than $100 million paying the electric bills of thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar mansions, according to a government investigation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spent $5 billion through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2009, doling out money to states with little oversight of the program. Some states don’t verify applicants’ identifies or income. For example, the program helped pay the electric bill of a woman who lives in a $2 million home in a wealthy Chicago suburb and drives a Mercedes, according to the yet-to-be released report obtained by The Associated Press. The Government Accountability Office studied the program after a 2007 investigation by Pennsylvania’s state auditor found 429 applicants received more than $162,000 using the Social Security numbers of dead people. The GAO investigated Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Virginia, which represented about one-third of the program’s funding in 2009. The agency found improper payments in about 9 percent of households receiving benefits in those states, totaling $116 million. The report comes after a dramatic increase in the size of the assistance checks as fuel oil costs soared in 2008 and 2009…”

Minimum wage goes to $8.25 today, By John R. Pulliam, July 1, 2010, Galesburg Register-Mail: “Workers who are paid minimum wage in Illinois received a 25 cents per hour raise, from $8 to $8.25, effective today. The increase is the fourth since then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation when the minimum wage was $6.50 an hour. On July 1, 2007, the wage went to $7.50, with 25 cents per hour increases in 2008, 2009 and today. Many politicians and business leaders contend that the relatively high minimum wage in Illinois causes businesses to shy away from the state. The only states with higher minimum wages than Illinois are Pennsylvania, $9.35; Washington, $8.55 and Oregon, $8.40. Connecticut and the District of Columbia both have $8.25 an hour minimum wages. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour…”

Governors ramp up lobbying for federal Medicaid dollars, By Jake Grovum, July 1, 2010, Stateline.org: “As Congress continues to squabble over whether to provide additional Medicaid dollars to cash-strapped states, a dozen governors used the July 1 state budget deadline to make their case for the money. Their argument: Without $25 billion in additional aid, states’ fiscal health and the nation’s fragile economic recovery could be in jeopardy. Six governors came to Washington yesterday to personally press their congressional delegations for the aid; three more attended a press event by video conference, and an additional three sent support. ‘The federal government cannot have it both ways,’ California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said by video link. ‘It can’t require states to preserve certain safety net programs and then cut the funding for those programs when it is needed most…’”

• Housing aid plan set, By Brittany Hutson, July 1, 2010, Wall Street Journal: “New York and federal housing authorities have come up with a plan to allow the city to make good on its promise to provide subsidized housing to thousands of low-income New Yorkers. ‘We’ve created a plan to ensure that everybody that has a voucher today will continue to have a voucher,’ said Rafael Cestero, the city’s Housing Preservation and Development commissioner. In December, 2,500 families that had been approved to receive assistance from the city’s Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8, were told that their vouchers wouldn’t be honored because the New York City Housing Authority exceeded its annual allotment of 99, 951 vouchers. Since then, hundreds of families that lost vouchers have been evicted or face eviction and dozens have entered city homeless shelters, according to Judith Goldiner, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society, which provides legal representation to Section 8 and public housing tenants…”
• Deal restores public housing subsidies, By Cara Buckley, June 30, 2010, New York Times: “A brewing housing crisis that could have resulted in thousands of struggling families losing their rental subsidies has been averted, officials said, thanks to an intricate $32 million plan devised by city and state agencies that received federal approval on Wednesday. Under the plan, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development will basically rescue the city’s public housing authority by taking responsibility for financing thousands of rental subsidy vouchers. The rental subsidies, meted out under a program called Section 8, enable recipients to put 30 percent of their income toward rent at private apartments while vouchers pay for the rest. The city’s public housing agency, the New York City Housing Authority, administers about 100,000 of the vouchers with money provided by the federal government…”

1.3 million unemployed won’t get benefits restored soon, By Stephen Ohlemacher (AP), July 1, 2010, Detroit News: “More than 1.3 million laid-off workers won’t get their unemployment benefits reinstated before Congress goes on a weeklong vacation for Independence Day. An additional 200,000 people who have been without a job for at least six months stand to lose their benefits each week, unless Congress acts. For the third time in as many weeks, Republicans in the Senate successfully filibustered a bill Wednesday night that would have continued unemployment checks to people who have been laid off for long stretches. The House is slated to vote on a similar measure Thursday, though the Senate’s action renders the vote a futile gesture as Congress prepares to depart Washington for its holiday recess. A little more than 1.3 million people have already lost benefits since the last extension ran out at the end of May…”

Poverty trumps education gains, By Jane Roberts, July 1, 2010, Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Tennessee has made the most gains of any state in high school graduation rates, jumping 13 percentage points between 2002 and 2007. The state also is making measurable gains against other key education benchmarks. State ACT scores have increased from 19.9 in 1999 to 20.6 in 2009. Standards for school principals make the state a regional leader, and new high school graduates in Tennessee are enrolling in college at a higher rate than their U.S. peers. But the increasing number of children growing up in poverty threatens improvements, according to a Challenge to Lead report released Wednesday by the Southern Regional Education Board. In 2009, 55 percent of Tennessee youngsters came from homes where family incomes made them eligible for free school lunches (up to $40,793 for a family of four), a 14 percent increase in 10 years…”