Welfare-to-work debate takes center stage in California budget stalemate, By Steven Harmon, June 13, 2012, Santa Cruz Sentinel: “SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown finally made it clear this week how important welfare reform was to his budget when he invoked an old nemesis, President Bill Clinton. The governor chastised his fellow Democrats for rejecting his proposed $1.3 billion in cuts to social services programs, including a plan to cut parents off welfare-to-work grants after two years if they haven’t found a job or sought job training. He implored Democrats to support a reform “built on President Clinton’s framework and focused on getting people back to work. We’re not there yet.” The showdown over welfare reforms has become an unlikely hurdle as state legislators close in on a Friday deadline to solve the state’s $15.7 billion budget deficit. Democrats argued Wednesday that Clinton’s 1990s welfare reform worked better in a strong economy and that eliminating services for people on the edge . . .”
Author: irpstaff
Public Defender System – Michigan
Michigan Finally Eyeing Changes To Lawyers For Poor, By Carrie Johnson, June 14, 2012, NPR: “Lawyers on all sides agree the system enshrined nearly 50 years ago that gives all defendants the right to a lawyer is not working. The Justice Department calls it a crisis — such a big problem that it’s been doling out grants to improve how its adversaries perform in criminal cases. Consider Michigan: Five times since the 1980s, independent groups have called on Michigan to change the way it pays lawyers for the poor. Each time, state officials have done nothing. And a 2008 study by a legal nonprofit association said the state’s indigent defense system had reached a “constitutional crisis.” But a lawsuit and a growing number of exonerations may be starting to change that. . .”
Homeless Feeding Bans
Homeless feeding bans: Well-meaning policy or war on the poor? By Matt Pearce, June 11, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “You can’t just feed the homeless outdoors in Philadelphia anymore; you now need a permit. In Dallas, you can give away food only with official permission first. Laws tightening regulations on aid to the homeless are popping up across the country, according to a recent USA Today report: “Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City and more than 50 other cities have previously adopted some kind of anti-camping or anti-food-sharing laws, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.” So the question being asked by many critics is: Are American officials trying to help the poor — or legislate them out of sight? “Starting in about 2006, several cities began arresting, fining, and otherwise oppressing private individuals and nonprofits that feed the homeless and less fortunate. . .”