Dismay as Corbett ends funding for tax-credit program for low-income families, By Alfred Lubrano, August 15, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer: “The Corbett administration has stopped funding a program that helped low-income working people get federal tax credits that kept them out of poverty. The program, administered by the Department of Public Welfare for just over $500,000, also helped pay for low-income workers to have their taxes prepared free, which saves people at or below the poverty line hundreds of dollars, advocates say. The cut echoes growing concerns among Republicans in Congress about the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other similar measures, seen as too much government in a time of financial crisis. That would be a reversal of decades of bipartisan support for the tax credit, once called ‘the best antipoverty program in America’ by President Ronald Reagan…”
Day: August 16, 2012
Chronic Homelessness – Los Angeles, CA
L.A. County to focus funds on chronically homeless, By Alexandra Zavis, August 15, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Los Angeles County’s most entrenched street dwellers make up just a quarter of its roughly 51,000 homeless people. But studies have found they account for a disproportionate share of public spending, including on hospital emergency rooms and jails. On Thursday, public officials and private donors will announce that they are spending $105 million to move more than a thousand of the most chronic cases into permanent housing, part of a sweeping change in the way the county deals with homelessness…”
Check-Cashing Stores
Criticism grows as check-cashing stores expand in poorer areas, By Winnie Hu, August 5, 2012, New York Times: “Behind bulletproof glass, a smiling teller at a RiteCheck store in the South Bronx waited patiently for customers to hand over their checks. For every $100 cashed, she collected a $1.91 service fee. Bills to pay? She handled that, too, for $1 per bill. ‘Anything else, honey?’ she asked one of her regulars. ‘O.K., have a nice day.’ Many of New York City’s poorest residents do not have bank accounts, so these window transactions, repeated hundreds of times every day, are their primary contact with the financial system. Check cashers are as familiar to them as corner bodegas, and as reliable. But an industry built on mutual convenience has come under increased scrutiny over the past decade as its stores have continued to become full financial centers, improving services like electronic bill payment, wire transfers and prepaid debit cards…”