- Effort to save state’s unemployment insurance program is underway, By Marc Lifsher, April 19, 2013, Los Angeles Times: “A rescue effort is underway for the state’s financially troubled unemployment insurance program, an economic lifeline that currently provides weekly monetary support for 525,000 jobless Californians. More than $10 billion in the red, the unemployment insurance fund has been spiraling toward bankruptcy in recent years, even as it continues to provide weekly jobless benefits of as much as $450 for job seekers…”
- Senate backs unemployment insurance exemption for Arizona religious groups, By Howard Fischer, April 11, 2013, Arizona Daily Sun: “Hundreds of teachers at religious schools around the state could soon be at risk of being laid off with no prospect of collecting jobless benefits. On a voice vote Wednesday, the Senate agreed to specifically exempt religious organizations from having to provide unemployment insurance to those who work for them in educational and child care services. The only requirement is that those services include some religious instruction, though HB2645 does not say how much — or how little — would qualify. The move came despite opposition from several Democratic lawmakers who questioned the whole idea of what amounts to giving religious schools a tax break. That’s because companies do not pay jobless benefits themselves but instead are required to obtain insurance through the state. The premiums are based on how frequently an employer lays off workers…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty