The Political Bridge

Report of the Kentucky Poverty Task Force; Issued December, 2009 from Rep. Reginald Meeks, Member

 

One of the most persistent issues facing the Commonwealth is that of poverty.  Many questions have been raised from the work of the Kentucky Poverty Task Force:  how do we acknowledge and recognize poverty as it manifests itself in different communities across the state; what safeguards are in place to help Kentucky families break the cycle of poverty; and how do we realize the policy decisions needed to adequately respond to the many ways poverty impacts each of us.

Speaker Greg Stumbo and House Leadership understood the need for an in-depth study of poverty in the Commonwealth.  I was honored to be asked to serve on this important task force, which included 25 members of the House. We studied, reviewed data and information, and heard testimony throughout the summer and fall on five (5) key areas of impact.  Our purpose was to examine national and regional efforts -- current and emerging -- which might be effective in fighting poverty in Kentucky. The task force was also to report on recommendations for legislative actions.  We met four (4) times in the 2009 Interim to gather information and formulate recommendations.

The key areas of impact we examined included (1) an overview of poverty in the state; defining it and putting it in a national context. We also made several policy recommendations; (2) a look at children in poverty in the state, and programs that are available to these children; we heard from a number of offices and agencies providing services to this vulnerable population; (3) financial literacy and bank financing along with available programs and policy recommendations in these areas; (4) transportation issues in both rural and urban communities and issues related to access to transportation in these areas; and finally (5) addressing the issue of homelessness in the Commonwealth and the related mental health issues accompanying this population; and having a special emphasis on the homeless veteran population in the state.

Please see a copy of our work at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/lrcpubs/rm504.pdf

As always, your feedback is encouraged.

[email protected]

502.564.8100

 

What is and What is Not Including in the New Jobs Bill

The measure includes funds for:

· Medicaid programs(approximately $23 billion to the States)

· Amtrak construction

· school renovation

· job training

· part-time college jobs

· summer employment for low-income teenagers

· workers in national parks and forests

· very poor people with as little as no income to claim a $1,000-per-child tax credit 

· federal surface transportation programs

 This measure does include (as promised by President Obama) funds to give:

· Social Security recipients $250 payments,

·  tax credits for small businesses that create jobs

· tax credits to people who make their homes more energy efficient

 

Information from the AP

"The Affordable Health Care for America Act:” After the Tumult and Shouting Subside, Will the House Divide and Fall? By DrTed

When Speaker Pelosi announced passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), Democrats in the House of Representatives erupted in cheers and high fives.

 

Across the aisle, the Republicans watched glumly.

 

Afterwards, the Democratic and Republican House Leaders made predictable claims about H.R. 3962.

 

John Dingell (D- Michigan), the Act’s sponsor, trumpeted its passage by declaring that the “House Makes History on Health Reform:  For the first time in U.S. history, the House votes to provide quality, affordable health insurance for all Americans.”

 

John Boehner(R-Ohio), the House Minority Leader, warned that “Speaker Pelosi’s Government Takeover of Health Care Will “Dim the Light of Freedom.”

 

In all this tumult and shouting, little has been said about the impact of the proposed health care reforms upon the 50 states. This might be one of the most contentious and divisive issues in reforming America’s health care system.

 

Implementing any enacted health care reform (H.R. 3962, S. 1796 or a conciliatory measure) will be costly to the states. Nearly everybody agrees.

 

The Congressional Budget Office(CBO) has a $39 billion increase in state spending over the next ten years as a consequence of implementing H.R. 3692. This projection is based upon mandated changes in state laws governing Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment requirements. An unforeseen  number of working poor might also be added to these rolls, because they will be unable to either purchase the required health insurance or pay the fine for not having insurance(Reuters). 

 

The Reuters’ analysis of H.R. 3692 indicates still further costs to the states. Several states anticipate allocating millions of dollars for the technology needed to administer the proposed health-care exchange system.

 

With Medicaid expenditures and state budgets currently headed toward a fiscal precipice ( Download 8001), what are the states to do about the forecasted H.R. 3962-related costs?

 

Raise taxes?  Not a good option for state officials who want to remain in office.

 

Cut core services?  Many states have already done that, and cutting more services would only compound their troubles.

 

Devising tougher Medicaid and CHIP eligibility requirements?  This, I believe, is not permissible under H.R. 3962, which prescribes a more standardized and less stringent eligibility requirements that the current Medicaid and CHIP regulations demand.   

 

Opting out of the federally mandated Medicaid and CHIP Programs? Going down this road could lead to a constitutional crisis on the question of states’ rights versus the federal government.

 

Several notable Republicans have talked about invoking state sovereignty (the Tenth Amendment  to the U.S. Constitution). Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-Minnesota), for instance, has suggested that Minnesota might cite this Amendment as a reason for not implementing portions of the (eventually) enacted federal health care program.

 

While Governor Pawlenty has been backtracking from this threat, there is a burgeoning state sovereignty (self-determination) movement in America. Nine states from conservative Georgia to liberal Washington have introduced bills or resolutions declaring self-determination under the Tenth Amendment.  A dozen (mostly red) states have been contemplating similar legislation.  

 

This recent self-determination movement has been most clearly manifested in health-related matters.  As of July, 2009, 17 (mostly blue) states have either enacted and or have been moving towards comprehensive health care reform. The medical use of marijuana has become legal in 13 states.

 

An enactment of H.R. 3692 of S.1796, or a compromise measure will then most likely give a huge boost to the state-sovereignty movement.  

 

I fear this development because Americans fought a bloody civil war to become the United States of America rather than these United States.

 

I believe that President Lincoln was right in waging that war—a house divided cannot stand.

Reuters: Healthcare Reforms will Cost U.S. States Millions

(Health-care reform)Bills in both the Senate and the House of Representatives would make more people eligible for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor that states administer with reimbursements from the federal government.

At the same time, any bill that makes it to President Barack Obamato sign into law will likely mandate that people have health insurance. That would push more people to enrollin Medicaid and drive those numbers up even further.

To Read More: Click Cost to States

Kentucky, Indiana and 13 Other States Are Taxing the Working Poor Families Deeper in Poverty

Findings of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Sixteen states taxed working-poor families deeper into poverty last year, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Income tax bills on poor families in those 16 states ranged from a few dollars to several hundred dollars, which is a significant amount for a family struggling to make ends meet, the report said.

Among the report’s findings:

Sixteen states, out of the 42 with an income tax, taxed working-poor, married couples with two children in 2008: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and West Virginia

The number of states taxing extremely poor families of four – those with incomes below three-quarters of the poverty line ($16,513) – decreased from nine in 2007 to six in 2008. Three states that previously taxed such families began exempting them: Hawaii, Michigan, and West Virginia. States still taxing extremely poor families are: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, and Ohio.