The immigration debate has once again sparked discussion by some on the extreme right of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. The 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, restated a fundamental principal of American civil rights that had been temporarily erased by the Supreme Court's "Dred...
Wisconsin's unemployment rate, though still high, is slowly dropping. What could be bad about that? Today's post at the Wisconsin Budget Project blog manages to find the dark cloud around the silver lining, and explains why lower state unemployment rates can result in fewer weeks of unemployment benefits available for out-of-work...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that Wisconsin will be one of 7 states piloting a new initiative called Get Covered. Get in the Game. The pilot effort will bring together coaches, schools and communities to educate families with children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP about the immediate...
As soon as Congress finishes off work on a few last-minute items, your Representative and our Senators will be on recess – through September 13. If a member of Congress is holding a town hall/open meeting in your area, go and ask them about what they can do to make sure that the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act...
The U.S. Senate voted 61 to 39 Thursday to pass a deficit-neutral bill that provides funding to states for Medicaid relief and education. The House plans to take up the bill, H.R. 1586, next week, probably on Tuesday, August 10. Although House passage seems likely, it is by no means assured.A WCCF report issued Thursday examines the...
The National Juvenile Justice Network has just released The Real Costs and Benefits of Change: Finding Opportunities for Reform During Difficult Fiscal Times, a compilation of reform efforts and strategies that make sense both in terms of producing better outcomes for youth and communities and saving money. Reform efforts such as Youth...
Perhaps nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, but the new (2010) poverty levels are just what they used to be – in 2009. You can find the new, old poverty guidelines in the August 3 Federal Register. I won’t "tip my hat to the new constitution," but will tip it instead to a post yesterday on the Say Ahhh! blog by the Center for Children...
A new report estimates that the Recovery Act has created or saved 63,000 jobs in Wisconsin so far, and between 2.5 and 3.6 million jobs nationally. Check out the Wisconsin Budget Project Blog for the full scoop, including an estimate of what the Wisconsin unemployment rate would have been without the stimulus.
Only three other states have a lower percentage of uninsured adults than Wisconsin, according to a Gallup Survey released last Friday. The survey provides further evidence that BadgerCare Plus has been successful in offsetting the loss of employer-sponsored insurance during the recession. Wisconsin tied with Minnesota for the 4th lowest...
The U.S. Senate had scheduled a vote for late Monday afternoon (Aug. 2) on a bill that would provide Wisconsin an estimated $365 million, according to the State Budget Office. However, the vote has been delayed for a couple of days, because the Congressional Budget Office said today that the costs exceed the offsets by $5 billion....
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