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…”
Day: July 1, 2010
State Minimum Wage – Illinois
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…”
State Budgets and Medicaid
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…'”