- In Pa. budget fight, would cutting welfare lessen the impact of cuts to education?, By Angela Couloumbis, April 7, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Cutting welfare to save higher education: How much would it really save? The corridors of the Capitol were reverberating this week with chants of students and teachers (‘We are . . . Penn State!’) decrying the deep cuts Gov. Corbett wants to make in aid to state-funded universities. So it made sense for the brain trust of the House’s new Republican majority to give serious consideration to somehow softening those blows. And for one brief shining moment, that brain trust seemed to have it figured out: save millions by rooting out fraud and waste in the welfare department. Use the savings to put back some of the aid Corbett wants to take from the big ‘state-related’ universities (Pennsylvania State, Temple, Lincoln, Pittsburgh) and 14 smaller state-supported schools such as West Chester and Kutztown. Problem is, the House Republicans are still doing the math on just how much money their plan to root out welfare waste will actually save…”
- Welfare targeted to spare higher ed, By Brad Bumsted and Timothy Puko, April 7, 2011, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “The Department of Public Welfare’s proposed $11.2 billion budget, the largest area of spending in state government, remains a target of House Republicans as they attempt to restore some of Gov. Tom Corbett’s recommended cuts in higher education. But GOP leaders acknowledged at a news conference on Wednesday that the package of eight bills they were touting would not have a significant impact on the 2011-12 budget in which Corbett is trying to close a $4.2 billion deficit… “
- Pa. social services sweating over major budget blow, By Jeremy Roebuck, April 7, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “With the effects of a recession lingering, no one providing government or social services expected to escape this year’s budgeting process unscathed. But Gov. Corbett’s proposal to eliminate a fund directed toward helping families hardest hit by the economic downturn has some area nonprofits scratching their heads. The governor’s proposed budget – released last month – calls for zeroing out the $23 million Human Services Development Fund, an account that helps counties fill gaps in their social-services spending on those who fall outside typically protected groups such as children and the disabled. Yet the cuts couldn’t come at a worse time, nonprofit managers say, as the recession has put more families in need of such help and restricted the amount of private money available to support them…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty