- Possible food stamp cuts causing anxiety, By Laura Figueroa, August 19, 2012, Long Island Newsday: “Food stamp enrollment on Long Island has doubled since the start of the recession, and recipients and advocates fear the impact of budget cuts under consideration in Congress. With nearly 178,000 Nassau and Suffolk residents receiving food stamps, local advocates say any cuts should be delayed until the economy rebounds. However, both the House and Senate appear poised to approve some level of cuts to the $80-billion-a-year federal program. Last year, New York accounted for $5.3 billion of the total. The Senate has passed a bill that would cut spending by $4.5 billion over five years — a reduction of $90 per month for the average New York beneficiary, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. House Republicans are fighting over a version that includes $16 billion in cuts to the program over a decade; the most conservative members of the GOP caucus are pressing for even more cuts to the food stamp program…”
- For some college grads, getting by means relying on food stamps, By Julie Siple, August 20, 2012, Minnesota Public Radio: “More than 520,000 Minnesotans now receive food stamps. The numbers have soared across the country since the economic downturn. Some of the new names on the food stamp rolls are people you might not expect: recent college graduates. Brooke Holmgren, 22, has something many young graduates do not — a job. But it’s not the job she imagined she would find after earning a degree in English from St. Catherine University in St. Paul in 2011. She delivers sandwiches for minimum wage…”
Day: August 22, 2012
Pre-Kindergarten Program – North Carolina
Court lifts cap on poor children in Pre-K program, By Anne Blythe and Lynn Bonner, August 21, 2012, Charlotte Observer: “A Wake County judge was within legal bounds when he ruled that 2011 legislative changes to the state’s pre-kindergarten program violate the constitutional right to a sound, basic education for all North Carolina schoolchildren, according to the state Court of Appeals. The unanimous ruling was issued Tuesday morning, adding another twist to a protracted legal battle about the future of the state’s pre-kindergarten education for poor children. Superior Court Judge Howard Manning acted within his authority to lift legislative limits on the pre-kindergarten program the ruling said…”