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50 Years After Launch of “War On Poverty,” Study Finds Safety Net Programs Have Had A Greater Impact Than Previously Thought

50 Years After Launch of “War On Poverty,” Study Finds Safety Net Programs Have Had A Greater Impact Than Previously Thought

A new study released last week suggests that President Johnson’s War on Poverty may have been more successful than what history currently acknowledges.  Researchers at Columbia University have found that government programs such as food stamps and unemployment insurance have played a major role in reducing the percentage of Americans in poverty, contradicting the official poverty rate, which suggests there has been no real decline in poverty since the mid-1960s.  According to the study, these “safety nets” have helped reduce the percentage of Americans living in poverty from 26% in 1967 to 16% in 2012. 

While government programs have had a heavy hand in keeping poverty rates in control, especially during economic downturns, the economy by itself has failed to improve the lives of the very poor over the past 50 years. Without taking into account the role of government policy, the study estimates that 29% more Americans would be in poverty today, compared with 27% in 1967. 

The study comes at an important time in Washington, as both parties are in deep discussion over whether or not to trim spending on safety net policies like food stamps and long-term unemployment benefits.  The study suggests that these government programs are essential to keeping lower poverty rates; however, it shows that little progress has been made on raising incomes over the past few decades.  Congress must preserve the safety net while taking steps to make sure that lower-income Americans earn high enough wages to escape poverty.  At the White House, the Administration has paid particular attention to the study, hoping that research like this can help them develop sound policies that can further lower the poverty rate in America.  For more, check out this Washington Post article.

Wednesday News Roundup

 

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog post a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

  

Boosting Innovation by Rethinking Government Procurement

The government procurement process-with its long timelines, complex rules and tight guidelines around liability-often scares off some of the best contractors for the job.  Recent efforts in Philadelphia and North Carolina are exploring new methods to procure technology and award contracts, exemplifying the innovative ways state and local governments are trying to make the RFP process more effective and efficient.  Read More…

 

Crop of High-Tech Farmers Sows Results with Apps

Across the country, farmers are relying on new cyber tools to manage manure and fertilizer applications, monitor irrigation systems, coordinate harvests and check the weather and real-time agricultural markets.  These tools digitize information that used to be kept in notebooks and stores it in the cloud, helping farmers keep more accurate records, save money, and share their information with fellow farmers, among numerous other benefits. Read More…

 

Setting a Low Bar for Budget Talks

In the budget conference committee, most members are talking about agreeing to “a number” that both sides can agree on that will solve some part of the sequester in order to allow for economic growth.  Agreeing on a number, however, will be no small task. If you are hoping for the negotiating committee to come up with a grand bargain deal, don’t hold your breath.  Read More…

 

Food-Stamp Benefits Will Drop 5% as 2009 Boost Expires

Come November 1^st, a boost in SNAP benefits included in the 2009 stimulus law will expire, causing an immediate drop in benefits to program recipients. Some households will see a maximum cut of $36 a month, or $300 dollars a year.  To a low-income family, the loss of $36 dollars has a big impact on their budget, and the abrupt end to these higher benefits will make it more difficult for families and individuals to adjust their budgets accordingly.  Read More…

 

Democrats Introduce Bill to End Debt Limit Brinkmanship

On Tuesday, a group of three Democratic Senators introduced legislation to permanently install a procedure on the debt limit that would eliminate the threat of default. However, without Republican support, the Pay Our Bills Act is likely going nowhere fast.  Read More…

 

Testing a Greener Kind of P3

To fund a world-class off-road bike park in the city of Portland, the state of Oregon is testing a new kind of public-private partnership to move the project forward.  The state partnered with crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise $100,000 for the bike park, putting the idea of crowsourcing by governments to the test.  This new crowdsourcing approach could prove to be an indispensible tool for states and localities looking to fund new parks, energy-efficient retrofits or renewable energies projects where state and federal funding opportunities are limited.  Read More…

 

Governments Improve Service Delivery with Unified Computing

By using a unified computing platform, governments can not only dramatically improve their management, productivity, and support services, but can save a lot of money in reduced hardware and facility costs. Washington State’s King County, for example, saved $700,000 by switching to a unified computing platform, and expects to cut its annual electric bill of $172,000 in half.  Read More…

 

Housing Finance Reform Gets a Jolt of Momentum

For years, lawmakers have been seeking to reduce the role of government in the mortgage market, and now proposals to overhaul the housing finance system are gaining traction in Congress.  Members of the Senate Banking Committee expect to put together a measure based on a bill crafted by Senators Mark Warner and Bob Corker.  Meanwhile, the House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling is moving forward with a plan of his own.  Read More… 

President Takes Charge of Website Debacle

This morning, President Obama tackled the debacle over the malfunctioning website that was supposed to allow people to sign up on the
health care exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.  Enrollment began on October 1st,
but healthcare.gov has reportedly been unable to actually enroll anyone in the federally-run health care exchanges.  Several states that are running their own exchanges have been able to
find ways to actually enroll people, but the one maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not.   From the White House Rose Garden, the
President said that he had enlisted the nation’s top government IT solutions experts to fix the “glitches” and get the system fully operational.  "There's no sugar-coating it. The website has been
too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process," he said.   He also shared that Secretary Sebelius would be testifying before Congress to explain what went wrong and how
it is being fixed, just not this week as the House Energy and Commerce Committee had demanded.   Pressure to fix the system is mounting.  While criticism from the laws opponents has
been expected, even House Minority Leader Nancy Pelois (D-CA) called the problems “unacceptable.”

Nominee Ready for DHS Post

President Obama is expected to nominate Jeh Johnson to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security. Concern has growing all summer among stakeholders because the White House has not moved quickly to select a replacement for former Secretary Janet Napolitano.  Napolitano, the former Governor of Arizona, announced her intent to depart the Administration to head the University of California System back in the late spring.  Johnson has been a leader in the White House’s national security team, having served as the General Counsel for the Department of Defense.  Critics have already emerged, citing Johnson’s lack of experience managing an agency with a large constituency of state and local government officials, scientists, and First Responders.  Johnson is most noted for the Obama Administration’s legal review of the counterterrorism policies of the previous Bush Administration.  If confirmed by the Senate, Johnson would face an agency whose senior leadership ranks are woefully below minimum performance levels.  The New York Times noted that over 40 of top-level manager positions across DHS lack permanent appointees. 

 

 

Wednesday News Roundup

LADP Tests Situational Awareness Tool
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has been piloting a new mapping technology that improves situational awareness and response during large-scale events and disasters.  TouchShare, this new mobile touchscreen visual geospatial mapping technology, has already been effective in improving LAPD situational awareness throughout Los Angeles during large events.  The LAPD sees a bright future for TouchShare, hoping this technology can be applied to disaster relief and response efforts, as well as connect other agencies throughout the city and state to better coordinate in the event of a disaster.  Read More…

Supreme Court Considers Cases Impacting States & Localities
This month, SCOTUS began hearings and oral arguments on several cases whose decisions could have impacts on state and local governments.  The top six cases Governing magazine discusses address hot button issues ranging from affirmative action to abortion and the first amendment.  Read More…

EPA Greenhouse-Gas Rules Draw U.S. Supreme Court Scrutiny
Although the Supreme Court will not make a final ruling on whether the EPA has authority to set new permit requirements for stationary sources of pollution like power plants and factories until next year, the Court is taking its time to hear appeals from all stakeholders. However, the Court sent a strong message Tuesday when it said it would limit its review to “whether EPA permissibly determined that its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles triggered permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act for stationary sources that emit
greenhouse gases.”  Read More…

Obama to Push Immigration Reform ‘Day After’ Budget Deal
On Tuesday, the President said that once Congress reaches an agreement on raising the debt ceiling and reopening the government, he will push for an immigration reform vote in the House. Both chambers have bills floating around, however, trying to resolve the different approaches to reform offered by both parties will be difficult to conference.  Read More…

House Farm Bill Conference Committee Announced
Over the weekend, House Speaker John Boehner named the House members who will be on the conference committee handling the farm bill reauthorization negotiations.  Despite this strong step forward, the turbulent atmosphere in Washington makes it unclear when conference negotiations can begin.  Read More…

Private Risk, Public Benefit:  Are Social Impact Bonds the Way of the Future?
Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are relatively new financial products that offer private capital in exchange for measurable, permanent progress addressing societal problem.  If an SIB project outcome is not met by a certain date, the government pays nothing back to investors, but if the project succeeds, the government pays investors back with a financial return.  Although these bonds seem like risky business, the payoff can be in big in more ways than one.  Read More…

 

Government Shutdown End In Sight?

In the Senate, lawmakers are working out details of an agreement that would end a partial government shutdown and avert a default on the nation’s debt ceiling in a few days. The proposed deal would suspend the debt limit through February 7, 2014, fund the government through January 15, 2014, and require a House-Senate budget conference by December 13, 2013.

Any proposal, however, could face procedural delays in the Senate and an uncertain path in the Republican-controlled House.  If Congress does nothing, the federal government would run out of borrowing authority on October 17, 2013 and start missing payments sometime between October 22 and October 31 according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments.  Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Social Media Transforms the Way Chicago Fights Gang Violence
In a new, innovative strategy to combat gang-related violence, the Chicago Police
Department (CPD) is using social media to figure out what persons are most
likely to be involved in a homicide and where they are located.  Similar
to the idea of tracking hotspots to understand where and when crime happens,
the “network analysis” of social media activity is helping the CPD rank the
most active gang members in Chicago to see which members are the most likely to
kill or be killed.  Read More…

If Shutdown Persists, Would States Be Reimbursed for Filling Federal Holes?
For state governments, the shutdown forces them to consider whether they can afford
to fill potential gaps in their federally funded programs, and if they can,
whether or not the feds will pay them back.  Despite clear intentions from
the Obama Administration that they believe states should be reimbursed, the
Administration is reminding states and state budget officers that reimbursement
will be determined by appropriations.  Read More…

U.S.Farm Law Expires Again with Lawmakers Split on New Bill
A shutdown of the federal government wasn’t the only Congressional failure
experienced on October 1.  The U.S. farm subsidy law expired for the
second time, and with (surprise) no compromise in sight over the fate of food
assistance programs, the future is unclear for the new farm bill.  Read More…

Analytics Will Help Cities Manage Water Supplies, Repair Aging Infrastructure
The Smarter Cities software by IBM now has new features that will allow
municipalities to apply the predictive analytics capabilities of the software
to event management, city permitting, infrastructure planning, water efficiency
and more.  In particular, the water efficiency analytics capabilities will
help municipalities predict pipe failures, let them know when maintenance is
needed, and will even calculate optimum pressures needed in distribution
networks to help conserve water.  Read More…   

Florida Sues Georgia Over Water Use
On Tuesday, Florida filed a long-awaited lawsuit against Georgia alleging Georgia
is consuming too much water from a shared river basin that supplies water to
parts of Georgia, Mississippi and Florida.  Florida is looking to ensure a
steadier supply of water to the state, which has experienced detrimental
impacts to its bread-winning oyster industry.  Read More…

Infrastructure Funding: Keep Their Feet to the Fire

The current transportation authorization expires in September 2014, at which point the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for road and transit programs, will face a shortfall.

Senator Barbara Boxer , who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee remains hopeful that that widespread acknowledgement of the infrastructure investment crisis will lead to consensus on a long-term funding measure for transportation projects. "I just believe that we can do this. We can set aside some of our deep differences and we can do this because business, labor, the public wants this. They see what's happening," said Boxer this week.

There are no easy answers when it comes to finding the resources to fund infrastructure in our Country, but Congress may be forced to action if communities and industry hold their elected officials’ feet to the fire, so keep up the pressure!

Health Exchanges Roll Out Amid Controversy

The Obama Administration released partial data on insurance rates for those state-based health insurance exchanges that will be run by the federal government.  The rates have been much-anticipated because they will cover the major of states (35) that did not choose to run the exchanges on their own.  The announcement gave sample rates but not precise figures and should help the White House ease the public’s fear of “rate shock.”  Plan rates are based on tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) that change according to the level of monthly premiums, reimbursement rates, and coverage.  Tennessee would have the least expensive bronze plan costing $119 per month, while Wyoming would have the most expensive at $286 per month.  Subsidies for individuals and families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level would further lower those rates.   The announcement emphasized how affordable coverage would be for young adults (27 or older) after subsidies, citing rates of $48 per month in Arkansas and an average among covered states of $100 per month.  Final rates for all federally-run state exchanges are not expected until October 1, when full scale enrollment is set to begin.

With the White House celebrating the rate announcements, opponents in the Congress continue their efforts to delay implementation and defund the Affordable Care Act’s core programs.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ended a sometimes dramatic floor speech that nearly lasted a full day.  He and other opponents are seeking to pass a Continuing Resolution that defunds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as part of the effort to keep the government funded under a Continuing Resolution.  The House Republican Study Committee recently released a “repeal and replace” proposal that completely replace the ACA with a series of market reforms.  With a looming show down on the need to raise the nation’s debt borrowing capability, opponents are also seeking to repeal or delay ACA implementation as part of those negotiations. 

Stakeholders Anxious As Health Exchange Rates Emerge

Stakeholders from broad spectrum anxiously await news on how rates for insurance coverage will be affected by the Affordable Care Act.  State-based Health Care Exchanges start enrollment on October 1^st, with coverage becoming effective on January 1, 2014.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will run exchanges for states that opted out of management of their own. HHS, along with states that are running their own exchanges, have been negotiating all year with insurance companies to provide plans that meet federal minimums.  States have the option of requiring additional basic coverage.  Some states have already announced premiums and they tend to show decreases in average insurance costs.  Federally run state exchanges, such as Florida and Texas, have insurance commissions that have predicted (even double digit) increases.  August has been busy with a gear up for information sharing with the public.  Minnesota is rolling out webinars on how to sign up for exchanges even though they have not published insurance rates. Maryland and California have aggressive enrollment plans, both having published rates for coverage on the exchanges. 

The news on rates, both real and the predictions, have yet to take into account the scope of subsidies that will available for those who qualify.  The Affordable Care Act established subsidies to lower the cost of purchasing insurance on the exchanges.  In large part, the subsidies are means tested, based on family size and income.  The Kaiser Family Foundation just published a study showing that almost 48% of people who currently purchase their insurance as individuals (as opposed to having employer-provided care or Medicaid or Medicare) will eligible for some form of insurance exchange subsidy. The study found that the average family subsidy will be $5,548, which they estimate will save them 66% of the cost of coverage.  These figures were for the middle tier of coverage, with larger subsidies available for the smaller plans and less available for more generous plans.