Economic Opportunity Report articles from February 2005

Economic Opportunity Report archives from February 2005

Budget wars.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... BUDGET WARS--Supporters of the War on Poverty are gearing up for a war on the budget, as President Bush last week sent Congress a budget request that would make severe cuts in many programs serving the poor. For starters, the Bush landscape...

Anti-poverty power.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... ANTI-POVERTY POWER--In what may have been an early start for the 2008 presidential campaign, John Edwards this month told New Hampshire Democrats that poverty is "one of the great moral issues of our time" and pledged to fight the problem. ...

Focus on urban youth.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... FOCUS ON URBAN YOUTH--President Bush, in his State of the Union address, announced a new national initiative to target young men who might drift toward gangs and crime. "Taking on gang life will be one part of a broader outreach to at-risk...

President seeks to eliminate CSBG, slash anti-poverty programs in '06.(Community Services Block Grant)
February 14, 2005... The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) would cease to exist, and many of the 1,000 community action agencies that serve the poor could be forced to close, under the budget plan President Bush sent to Congress last week. The president's...

Even start gets the axe again; Perkins proposed for dismantling.
February 14, 2005... For the second year running, the Bush administration is trying to put an end to the popular Even Start family literacy program. The program, which serves low-income parents and children, eked out funding of $225 million for fiscal year (FY)...

Bush proposes plan to increase Pell Grants by moving money.(George W. Bush)
February 14, 2005... President Bush wants to put more aid money in college students' pockets, giving low-income students an extra $100 each year for the next five years. The plan would ultimately raise the maximum scholarship under the hugely popular Pell Grants...

Child nutrition, WIC, food stamps funded at necessary levels.(Food Assistance)(Women, Infants and Children)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... While the major food assistance programs, as entitlement programs, escaped the budget knife, changes have been proposed in discretionary programs and elsewhere that have advocates worried. At USDA, the major food assistance programs--Food...

Section 8 vouchers escape for now; CDBG, HOPE VI, other programs hit.(Housing)(United States. Community Development Block Grant Program)
February 14, 2005... As expected, low-income housing programs took a major hit in President Bush's budget request, but the Section 8 voucher program escaped the budget knife--for now. Housing advocates were most upset about the proposed end to the Community...

Bush proposes 'WIA Plus' block grant, more for community college program.(Job Training)(WIA Plus Consolidated Grant Program)(George W. Bush)
February 14, 2005... Workforce training and assistance programs would be consolidated into a $3.912 billion block grant program that would represent a 4 percent cut from the programs included, under the president's budget plan for next year. Programs to be...

Bush budget spells cuts, changes across anti-poverty programs.
February 14, 2005... Under President Bush's proposed federal budget for 2006, many programs assisting the low-income are either slashed dramatically or eliminated altogether. Spending for domestic programs, aside from entitlements such as Medicare and Social...

UNC launches center on poverty; Edwards to head up the effort.(University of North Carolina)(Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity )(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... At a time when fighting poverty seems to be on the back burner in many places, former vice presidential candidate John Edwards and the University of North Carolina (UNC) are seeking to put it on the front burner. UNC's flagship Chapel Hill...

Job training bill passes panel; faith-based provision remains.(personal reemployment accounts)
February 14, 2005... After defeating an amendment to keep faith-based groups out of the federally subsidized job training business, a House panel last week approved legislation to renew and consolidate job training programs. The far-reaching legislation, one of...

Leavitt calls for Medicaid changes that would cut drug payments.
February 14, 2005... New Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has called for sweeping changes in Medicaid that would cut payments for prescription drugs and give states new power to reduce or reconfigure benefits for millions of low-income people....

Calendar.(Housing Conference )(Calendar)
February 14, 2005... * Feb. 18: The National Housing Conference holds a FY2006 Budget Forum in Washington, D.C. Contact: (202) 466-2121, ext. 225, www.nhc.org.

Some cities employ homeless to conduct homeless counts.
February 14, 2005... Sandy Evans and Marie Williams prowled the streets of Hollywood recently, picking their way down alleys and through vacant lots and--after more than an hour on the beat--growing increasingly frustrated. Despite telltale clues such as grocery...

Charter schools.( )
February 14, 2005... * Charter Schools: Applications are due March 14 for some $92 million available to expand the number of high-quality charter schools in the nation. The grants are for planning, program design, initial implementation of charter schools and...

Food stamps.(Federal Register)
February 14, 2005... * Food Stamps: Final regulations have been published setting standards for awarding bonuses to states that demonstrate high or improved performance in administering food stamps. To take effect April 8, the rules revise a Dec. 17, 2003, proposal...

Rural housing.(Federal Register)
February 14, 2005... * Rural Housing: Funding awards have been announced for fiscal year 2004 for the Rural Housing and Economic Development Program. The list of awardees and the amounts of their grants appear in the Feb. 9 Federal Register, p. 6900. Contact:...

House HUD Appropriations subcommittee to be eliminated under chairman's plan.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Jurisdiction for housing programs would shift to a new House Appropriations subcommittee, under a sweeping plan from the new committee chairman to streamline the number of subcommittees from 13 to 10. The plan would eliminate the...

Welfare rolls.(domestic economic assistance)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... * Welfare Rolls: Another drop has been announced in welfare caseloads, with 1 percent fewer families participating in June than in March 2004. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) caseloads dropped for families from 1,992,143 in March...

Obesity and poverty.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... * Obesity and Poverty: New research is needed to discern whether food assistance programs contribute to obesity among the poor, according to a new report from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. Current research has produced inconsistence...

Advisory panel.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... * Advisory Panel: The Bush administration has named a 10-member independent panel to provide guidance on the national assessment given to four-year-old Head Start students. The panel will assess progress in the development and early...

Keep the status quo?(Slants & Trends)(Community Services Block Grant)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... KEEP THE STATUS QUO?--Anti-poverty advocates continue to gear up for the fight of this new century, as they work to keep the Community Services Block Grant alive and other programs from being dramatically cut. One suggestion floating around...

Budget resolution.(Slants & Trends)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... BUDGET RESOLUTION--Work on the budget resolution--expected to get underway in Congress in March--will take on new importance this year. That is because President Bush is looking for caps on most domestic programs not just for next year, but for...

WIA reauthorization bill clears panel with block grant for job training.(Workforce Investment Act)
February 28, 2005... Job training programs would be consolidated into a block grant program under legislation that cleared a House committee this month to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). While bill sponsors say the block grant would increase...

Key house republicans offer bill to renew CSBG through 2012.(Community Services Block Grant)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... While President Bush has proposed an end to the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Republican legislation to extend the program until 2012 has been introduced in the House. Faith-based groups would continue to be able to run CSBG...

Funding for anti-poverty programs.
February 28, 2005... Funding for Anti-Poverty Programs (amounts in thousands) Fiscal 2004 Fiscal 2005 Program Funding Funding Health & Human Services Dept....

Analysis shows real pain from budget cuts to come in outyears.(Budget Fallout)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... President Bush's new budget would hurt the poor not only in 2006, but would have dramatic repercussions over the next five years, an analysis of the administration plan shows. Cuts recommended for 2006 through 2010, according to a study...

Budget impact: state by state.
February 28, 2005... How would low-income people fare in each state under President Bush's fiscal year 2006 budget plan? A state-by-state breakdown shows the effect the proposed budget would have on the needy, the young and other target groups. The report is...

Proposed head start cut leaves grantees worried about future.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... The meager increase proposed for Head Start next year has many grantees worried about keeping up services at a time when they would not even be able to cover inflation. "For too many young children, this budget proposal shuts the door on...

Suit alleges faith-based job training mixes religion with government.
February 28, 2005... The hiring of a contractor that allegedly mixes religion with the job training it provides to inmates at a northern Pennsylvania jail violates the state and federal constitutions, two national civil liberties groups have charged in a lawsuit...

Former White House aide lashes out at efforts on faith-based initiative.
February 28, 2005... A former White House official has accused the Bush administration of overstating its commitment to faith-based charities and failing to live up to the president's promise of "compassionate conservatism." David Kuo joined the White House in...

New housing funding subcommittee named in house reorganization.
February 28, 2005... Plans have moved ahead to eliminate the House VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee and fold the housing responsibilities into a new Transportation, Treasury and Housing panel. The change is part of a reorganization plan to trim House...

Negotiations begin in Congress, states to chart future of Medicaid.
February 28, 2005... Congress, governors and the secretary of health and human services have begun negotiations on the future of Medicaid, with a view toward making fundamental changes in the program to control costs. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of...

Mississippi: a case in point for Medicaid's effect on state budgets.
February 28, 2005... To see how Medicaid is devouring state budgets across the country, take a look at Mississippi. Over the past five years, state and federal spending has doubled to $3.5 billion. Fully one-quarter of state residents are in the program....

Head start group: administration should distribute 'positive' data.
February 28, 2005... While early data show poor children benefit from Head Start, the administration is not doing enough to publicize that fact, critics claim. Data from the first year of the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS), as well as a separate...

Training and employment.(Federal Register)(Public Notice)
February 28, 2005... * Training and Employment: Interim operating instructions have been clarified and amended in Trade Adjustment Assistance interpretations issued in Training and Employment Guidance Letters to state workforce agencies. See the Feb. 23 Federal...

Rural housing.(Federal Register)(Public Notice)
February 28, 2005... * Rural Housing: Interim final rules have been published delaying the effective date of provisions regarding citizenship eligibility for Sections 514, 515, 516 and 521 Multi-Family Housing Programs. Comments received on these sections suggest...

CDBG.(Federal Register)(Public Notice)
February 28, 2005... * CDBG: Effective March 24, final rules will implement a statutory change moving Community Development Block Grant assistance for insular areas from Section 107 Special Purpose Grants to Section 106 Allocation and Distribution of Funds. No...

CDFI fund.(Federal Register)(Public Notice)
February 28, 2005... * CDFI Fund: A new application deadline has been set--March 7--for technical assistance grants for FY05 funding under the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The original deadline was Jan. 25, and application details were...

LIHEAP income estimate.(Federal Register)(Public Notice)
February 28, 2005... * LIHEAP Income Estimate: State median income estimates have been published for use in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. These estimates are for four-person families and are listed for each state and the District of Columbia for...

Rural housing.(Federal Register)
February 28, 2005... * Rural Housing: Final rules revising the internal Housing Application Packaging Grants regulation have been issued to correct incorrect references to debarment and suspension rules. The new regulation took effect Feb. 15. Contact: Thomas...

Tech-prep demonstration.(Federal Register)(student achievement)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... * Tech-Prep Demonstration: Requirement and selection criteria have been proposed for funding competition under the Tech-Prep Demonstration Program. The proposed criteria, which are to be used for fiscal year (FY) 2005 and beyond, are to clarify...

Calendar.(Calendar)
February 28, 2005... * April 6-7: Preserving Rural Rental Housing: Actions and Strategies is being held in Washington, D.C. by the Housing Assistance Council and the National Housing Law Project. Contact: Susan Peck, HAC, (415) 381-1706, susan@ruralhome.org. *...

House Republican plan would expand Pell Grants, student aid for needy.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Legislation to expand Pell Grants and bring college in reach of needy and nontraditional students has been introduced by House Republicans. The bill, H.R. 609, calls for expanding Pell Grants for high-achieving, low-income college freshmen...

Affordable housing.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... * Affordable Housing: "Why Not in Our Community?" asks a new report from HUD that examines regulatory barriers on affordable housing. The problem, the report said, is that teachers, police officers, nurses, firefighters and returning veterans...

Job surveys.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... * Job Surveys: Legislation introduced this month in the House would call on the federal government to update how it does employment surveys to reflect more accurately "the changing nature of job creation" in the 21st Century. Today's technology...

'Walk a mile.'.
February 28, 2005... * 'Walk a Mile': The National Walk a Mile program is gearing up for its 2005 program, which will bring together policymakers and public assistance recipients to walk a mile in each others' shoes. The decade-old program aims to open the "eyes...