Women
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Time for a Little Thanks
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Swine Flu Driving Paid Sick Leave Laws
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House Healthcare Bill Effectively Prohibits Abortion
House Bill Expands Medicaid to 15M more Americans
Published November 08, 2009 @ 11:34AM PT
Update, 11/10/09: I made an error in the # of Americans newly eligible for Medicaid via this bill. It is 15M Americans; through Medicaid expansion, subsidies, and insurance exchange options, 36M Americans overall will be newly covered through this legislation.
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Congrats to House Speaker Pelosi, President Obama, the American people, and other elected leaders for their efforts to pass this historic healthcare bill. I'm always up for celebrating any social policy that is the next big victory since LBJ's achievements forty years ago.
Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones has some terrific info on one key Medicaid expansion in the bill that permits states "to cover early HIV treatment...a departure from a current policy that only allows states to use Medicaid funds once a patient develops full-blown AIDS." Let's take a look at the other wins for low-income Americans in the bill:
Stimulus Bypasses Minority Businesses
Published November 03, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
Criticism abounds of the unequal distribution of stimulus funds: high per capita allocations to low population, low unemployment states like Wyoming versus low per capita amounts to struggling states like CA; and the limited allocations reaching women- and minority-owned businesses compared to their proportion of the population.
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at The Ohio State University finds that "While approximately 14 percent of businesses are minority owned, the study shows that minority owned businesses received only 9.6 percent of federal contracts." Almost 3 in 10 businesses are owned by women, yet these firms received only 3% of stimulus funds. This disturbing inequity raises questions about the goals of the stimulus and the (surprising?) lack of focus on reducing economic inequality.
Growing Poverty, Homelessness Like No Tomorrow
Published October 23, 2009 @ 05:06AM PT
Last week in Boston, HEAR US joined with the MA Campaign to End Child Homelessness to plead on behalf of homeless families about looming budget decisions that...
...can have a devastating and life-long impact on a child; further erosion of the safety net as a result of more budget cuts would cause even more harm to homeless children and their families in Massachusetts.
Devastating, life-long impact, more harm...those claims are beyond true. The MA recommendations are way more urgent than this document can convey.
Help Protect Housing Vouchers
Published October 16, 2009 @ 05:05AM PT
This country needs therapy. We've gotten to the point, collectively, when common sense fails us. The breaking point? I'd point to the current mindset that it's OK to cut funding for what little housing we have for limited-income families.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) reports that funding shortfalls for the 2009 Housing Choice Voucher Program could cause state and local housing agencies to terminate vouchers or raise rents to levels beyond the financial reach of many families.
This is why I'm in Massachusetts today, to join with activists calling for continued funding of the Housing Choice vouchers, one of the few resources to keep families housed instead of homeless. And we need your support!
Parents Will Pay for Kids, Not Feds
Published October 13, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
A pilot project in Wisconsin revealed that when parents owing child support know it is going to their children - and not government agencies, as has been the case recently - they are more likely to pay, and pay on time. Now, more states are putting child support payments directly in the hands of parents on public assistance, rather than diverting it to cover their own administrative costs.
Despite the fact that there's an obvious cyclical benefit here - if you give parents the money directly, they have less need to rely on the state for assistance - many governments are still reluctant to make the change, citing their own budget woes. Sigh. I've always thought it particularly punitive and hypocritical that we chastise mothers and fathers for seeking public assistance, then siphoned off a critical chunk of money owed to them that could help with their economic hardship. Good for the few states who are catching on.
And a hollow laugh at the reality that when you convince people that government is wasteful, they might take issue with sending their money right along.
Here's hoping more states come around to passing on these millions and millions of overdue dollars to parents and children in need.
(Photo "A Day at the Races" by bufferchuck)
Food Stamp Funding Up 19%
Published October 11, 2009 @ 05:43PM PT
President Obama is expected to sign into law shortly the FY2010 agriculture spending bill that includes an unprecedented $58.2B for food stamps. Combined with the funding for food stamps in the stimulus, this reflects an increase of 19% over existing funding levels. More than 1 in 10 Americans are benefiting from food stamps, even as millions more wait for their applications to move through overcrowded public systems. The average monthly support for a family of 4 is $226.
What I just learned is that the supplemental nutrition program WIC for women, infants and children supports almost half of all children born in the US. That is a lot of hungry, little bellies!
President Obama is waiting for 10 of 12 more spending bills to come across his desk. Let's hope they all bring more generous benefits like this.
(Photo "stuffing face" by juhansonin)
No Work for Welfare in CA
Published October 07, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Cue the hyperventilating about dependency and free riders: California, in an effort to save money, has suspended work requirements for some of its public assistance recipients for the next 17 months. Never mind that its welfare-to-work program will become even more stringent in 2011, and that it cannot even afford to subsidize the critical child care needed for recipients to work in the first place. Layabouts will be getting rich off your tax dollars, without earning a dime! Shiftless miscreants.
Oh, what's that now? What are we seeing in Fresno, one of the first places to implement the new, less expensive policy? "Belying stereotypes, only about 10 percent of those who could be exempted from the work requirements — and supporting aid like child care — chose to do so in the first month." Turns out, people like receiving job prep and trying to play an active role in society! Let's try to remember that when we crank up the wailing about welfare queens despite the fact that "opting out" will become "mandatory" in the future due to CA's insane budget realities.
