- State will switch to public workers for FoodShare program, By Jason Stein, August 12, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “In a deal that preserves millions of dollars in federal aid to Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration will drop hundreds of private contractor employees who work for the state’s food assistance program and hire scores of public workers as replacements. The agreement comes after federal officials had threatened in recent months to withhold some money for the state’s FoodShare program because of what they said were improper privatization efforts that were started by the administration of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and initially intensified by the administration of Walker, a Republican…”
- Local use of food stamps doubles, By Kathleen Foody, August 13, 2011, Wausau Daily Herald: “The number of residents receiving food stamps in Marathon and Lincoln counties nearly doubled during the last four years as the recession forced more people into poverty and stretched family paychecks. In the first six months of 2011, a monthly average of 14,784 Marathon County residents received food stamps, up from 7,936 in 2007. Almost 3,700 Lincoln County residents used the program in the same time frame, up from 1,587 in 2007. Tammy Beranek, a 44-year-old Wausau resident who has used the program for three years, said it allowed her to make ends meet when she was diagnosed with epilepsy and couldn’t continue working as a housekeeper…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty