Issues In The News

The New York Times, March 19, 2010: Arizona Drops Children's Health Program

"Arizona on Thursday became the first state to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed an austere budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage."

The New York Times, March 19, 2010: Filing Those Tax Returns, With Help From the City

"Mr. Horsken and other workers and volunteers help low-income individuals apply for benefits they are entitled to, such as the New York City Child Care Tax Credit, making work pay credit and the earned income tax credit, which last year returned an average of $2,700 per individual."

The Washington Times, March 19, 2010: Turning students into widgets

"Countless low-income districts already face chronic teacher shortages, and firing all the bad teachers would only compound the problem. As we seek to develop better teachers, we also must figure out how to get more teachers without sacrificing quality."

Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2010: Reform, objectively

"The government's role as a provider of health insurance would increase, however, as Medicaid would be extended to more low-income adults and new subsidies would be offered to help make private insurance affordable..."

Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2010: County leaders' spending probed

"'The grants which our office makes go primarily to community-based agencies that provide for the homeless, abused children, the hungry, the ill and the mentally ill,' Yaroslavsky said in a prepared statement."

The Kansas City Star, March 19, 2010: What’s in the health care reform bill

"Almost everyone is required to be insured or else pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people. Mandate takes effect in 2014."

The Boston Globe, March 19, 2010: The welfare cliff

"Except the extra hours bumped Fajardo's pay over the income limit for a child-care voucher, which subsidizes her son's care while she's at work. Child care is the single most expensive item in the budgets of low-income mothers."

The Boston Globe, March 19, 2010: More cuts loom as state faces $295m in red ink

"Patrick administration officials blamed the gap on rising demand for the joint state and federal health care program for low-income residents known as MassHealth, increasing demand for homeless shelters, and on below-projected revenue from state fees and federal aid."

The Associated Press, March 19, 2010: A look at the health care overhaul bill

"Insurance mandate: Almost everyone is required to be insured or else pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people. Mandate takes effect in 2014."

Newsday, March 19, 2010: $904B plan on verge of key vote

"Expands the federal-state insurance program for the poor to cover those with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level, or $29,327 a year for a family of four."

The News & Observer, March 19, 2010: Wake school board focuses on proximity, not poverty

"Even though a resolution ending busing for diversity hasn't officially passed, Wake County's new school board majority showed Thursday that it is not considering school poverty levels when it makes student assignment decisions."

The Bradenton Herald, March 19, 2010: Eviction, crime led to my mere survival

"I participated with about 70 social service agency leaders as the Manatee Community Action Agency showed us how 12.2 percent of county residents who struggle with poverty live."

The Bradenton Herald, March 19, 2010: What is it like to live on the edge?

"Poverty creates tough decisions and pride-sapping dependence, as about 70 Manatee County social service agency leaders found out Thursday during a simulation exercise."

The Washington Post, March 18, 2010: N.Va. foundation matches donors with nonprofits

"Ellsworth said funding was given to organizations that best fit the foundation's four goals: poverty relief, child and youth development, health and aging and education."

The Washington Post, March 18, 2010: Fairfax schools scale back planned reductions

"Federal stimulus funding, which has supplemented special education and programs that serve low-income students, will drop off after next year, and contributions to the retirement account must begin to increase again."

The New York Times, March 18, 2010: Do Jobless Benefits Discourage People From Finding Jobs?

"Unemployment benefits provide a small amount of help to a number of people who desperately need it. But some economists have gone too far by claiming that unemployment insurance is stimulating the economy."

The Boston Globe, March 18, 2010: Landlord fines proposed for `nuisance' tenants

"Capano said it has also received enthusiastic support from residents who have dealt with nuisance houses. But several organizations that serve low-income people have expressed concerns, in particular that the ordinance could result in the eviction of law-abiding tenants. "

The San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 2010: Sacramento lawyer, 2 other Republicans approved for board

"Legal Services Corp. subsidizes legal representation for 900,000 low-income Americans in civil cases each year. Under federal law, Obama is required to name five representatives of the minority party in Congress... to the 11-member governing board."

The San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 2010: Grant money is left unused

"Given a 52 percent budget cut in counseling and student services this year, the colleges can't always help them find their way to the financial aid... 'I think for low-income... students to access any services or classes in the system is really a challenge right now,' she said."

The Boston Globe, March 18, 2010: Don't let national ed reform push down standards in Mass.

"To be sure, Massachusetts school districts here have some important lessons to learn from other states, especially about bringing low-income and special needs students up to speed. But the problem is with the implementation ofstate standards, not the standards themselves."

The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 18, 2010: Family planning a big loser in N.J. budget

"Family-planning centers that largely serve low-income women would lose all of their state funding - $7.5 million - under the budget Gov. Christie proposed Tuesday. The cut, one of many in Christie's plan, falls in line with his clearly stated goal of slashing spending..."

The News & Observer, March 18, 2010: Scholars say, keep schools diverse

"They argued against ending the policy of keeping schools socioeconomically diverse, using busing in many cases, to avoid high concentrations of low-income students."

The State, March 18, 2010: Hundreds protest HIV funding cuts

"The current version of the state budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which starts July 1, eliminates all money for the Drug Assistance Program, which provides life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs to the state's low-income, uninsured and underinsured residents."

The State, March 18, 2010: House OKs 30-cent hike for cigarette tax

"However, House lawmakers rejected larger increases, including a 50-cent increase they approved last year. That money would have provided subsidies for private employers or low-income workers to purchase health insurance."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 18, 2010: Middle class struggling with health care costs, report finds

"While uninsured low-income Americans long have been the traditional focus of concern, the foundation says America's middle class now "is shouldering the brunt of health insurance crisis" made all the worse by two recessions in the first decade of the 21st century."

 

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