- Pawlenty proposes cuts to local governments, health and welfare, By Elizabeth Dunbar and Madeleine Baran, February 15, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a series of deep cuts to local governments and health and welfare programs on Monday to fill a $1.2 billion state budget deficit and pay for tax cuts he says will create jobs. Pawlenty proposed $347 million in cuts to state health and human services programs and wants to cut state payments to local governments by $250 million. Pawlenty’s plan to reduce spending while also slashing business taxes sets up a likely clash with the DFL-controlled Legislature, which just last year voted to raise taxes to help fill a budget hole. Democratic leaders were critical of Pawlenty’s proposal, saying it takes services away from Minnesotans and puts money into the pockets of corporations. They say his cuts to local government are out of line, and will hit public safety programs despite the governor’s promises to preserve them…”
- Cuts would fall on poor, old, disabled and sick, By Warren Wolfe, February 15, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to cut a net of $347 million from programs for sick, aged, disabled and jobless people is akin to the advice an ailing George Washington got from his doctors 210 years ago, one critic said Monday: Bleed him, in hope of a cure. Pawlenty would eliminate the General Assistance program in which about 20,000 disabled and very-low-income people receive an average of $175 a month. He also would remove about 21,500 childless adults earning between $8,100 and $27,000 from MinnesotaCare, the health insurance program for lower-income working people…”
- Poorest of the poor would lose their last benefits, By Madeleine Baran, February 17, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Advocates for the homeless warn that thousands of the state’s poorest residents could lose their only source of income under the new budget proposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The governor’s budget would eliminate General Assistance, the program that provides $203 a month in cash assistance to low-income single adults who are unable to work, and replace it with a less expensive crisis assistance program. General Assistance served about 19,000 people each month in the last fiscal year, and is the only source of income for many homeless adults…”
Day: February 17, 2010
Report: Health Rankings by County
Database gives snapshot of health in each county, By Lauran Neergaard (AP), February 17, 2010, Washington Post: “Where you live plays a role in your health, and a new report that ranks health factors in each of the nation’s 3,000-plus counties promises to point local policymakers to ways they can help. Looking at each state’s best and worst further illuminates a well-known trend: The least healthy counties tend to be poor and rural, and the healthiest ones tend to be urban or suburban and upper-income. The report – released Wednesday at http://www.countyhealthrankings.org – isn’t the first to examine county-level health. Cancer and access to health care, for example, have long been studied that way. But the new database ties standard measures – general health and the rate of premature death – with more factors that play a role in those outcomes, from smoking, obesity and binge drinking to the unemployment rate, childhood poverty, air pollution and access to grocery stores…”
Farmers Markets and SNAP – California
- Food stamps growing at farmers markets, By Michele Clock, February 17, 2010, San Diego Union-Tribune: “Every weekend Patricia Andrews sets up elaborate displays of locally produced honey at farmers markets around the county. A good chunk of her business comes from people on food stamps. ‘Not everybody has a lot of expendable income,’ Andrews said after squeezing a sample of the gooey, golden stuff into a spoon for a customer at the Mission Valley Farmers Market. But just four of 42 farmers markets in San Diego County, and less than 15 percent across the state, accept food stamps. That may soon change…”
- Lawmakers help food stamps get to farmers markets, By Cathy Bussewitz (AP), February 16, 2010, Woodland Daily Democrat: “Tina Tennyson loved to make raspberry jam using the fresh fruit she bought at the farmers market in San Jose. When she recently moved to Sacramento, she hit a stumbling block: The local market didn’t accept food stamps. Like most farmers markets across the state, the one held Sundays in the state capital only accepts cash. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would help the markets get equipment to accept electronic food stamp benefits cards — joining legislatures nationwide considering similar measures they hope will expand the menu of fresh food options for the poor as food stamp enrollment soars…”