Many workers unaware of D.C. sick-leave law passed in 2008, By Ann E. Marimow, January 25, 2010, Washington Post: “More than a year after the District became the second city in the nation to require most employers to provide paid sick leave, proponents of the law say many workers are unaware of their rights and businesses are unclear about their responsibilities. Advocates for low-wage workers and business leaders say the Fenty administration has delayed finalizing new rules that would get the word out to the community. Until those regulations are spelled out, critics say, workers are not guaranteed protection…”
Day: January 25, 2010
Tax Refund Anticipation Loans
Tough economy could spark surge in tax refund loans, By Tony Pugh, January 24, 2010, Miami Herald: “After several years of declining use, tax refund anticipation loans could make a big comeback this tax season with poor, cash-strapped taxpayers. Known as ‘RALs,’ refund anticipation loans are bank loans secured by the amount of a person’s expected income tax refund. Once a tax return is filed electronically by a commercial tax preparer, a third-party bank can provide the loan to the taxpayer in the amount of the expected refund. Various costs, fees and finance charges are deducted from the check, which usually arrives in three to five days – or within a few hours for an extra fee of $25 to $39. In turn, the IRS sends the taxpayer’s actual refund check to the bank to pay off the loan. The combination of widespread money woes, a sour economy and fatter tax refund checks for poor families could entice more people into taking the quickie loans, which have been one of the most pilloried financial products ever marketed…”
Healthy Families Program – California
- State budget cuts threaten Healthy Kids effort, By Kurtis Alexander, January 24, 2010, Santa Cruz Sentinel: “The future of the county’s Healthy Kids program, which has successfully linked thousands of uninsured children with medical care, is hanging on policy decisions made far from Santa Cruz, and health care advocates are worried. The governor is calling for halting state funds vital to the local insurance effort, while federal lawmakers appear to be abandoning legislation that may have patched some of the gaps in California’s cash-strapped health care programs. ‘More than ever, we face the specter of this being the most damaging year for children’s health that we’ve ever seen,’ said Cliff Sarkin, a senior policy analyst with Children’s Defense Fund California, a group that advocates for low-income children. ‘We’re looking at many threats right now.’ Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County, which counts more than 13,000 kids from poor families as benefactors, works by enlisting uninsured children not only into a locally funded insurance plan but into state and federal programs as well…”
- Healthy Families health insurance program faces major cuts, By James Rufus Koren, January 22, 2010, San Bernadino County Sun: “About 16,000 children in San Bernardino County could lose their state-subsidized health insurance in May if legislators agree budget cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this month. In his Jan. 8 budget presentation, Schwarzenegger called for cutting more than $96 million from the state’s Healthy Families program, which provides low-cost health insurance for children. He also threatened to eliminate the program, which is partially funded by the federal government, if his request for $6.9 billion in additional federal funds falls through. The cuts would come mainly from increasing insurance premiums and making about 25 percent fewer children eligible for the program, said Bradley Gilbert, chief executive officer of Inland Empire Health Plan, an insurance provider that covers about 60,000 children through Healthy Families…”