This month Congress will address extending the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program through September 30, 2012. As of today, Congress has eliminated the TANF Supplemental Grant which leaves Georgia short $37.3 million for many health and human service programs. If Congress doesn’t restore the TANF Supplemental Grant, Georgia… [Read more]

The governor’s FY 2013 budget recommends $2.8 million less in state General Funds compared to FY 2012. Secondly, there are shifts in state funds for program transfers in and out of the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) budget to cover administrative expenses ($11 million) and replace federal TANF funds… [Read more]

Categories: Author, Clare S. Richie, Reports, State Budget | Comments (7)

On Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, Voices for Georgia’s Children hosted its eighth annual pre-legislative session breakfast for the Georgia Children’s Advocacy Network (GA-CAN!). GA-CAN! members presented their 2012 legislative priorities and coalition legislative opportunities. GBPI Senior Policy Analyst Clare Richie presented What Federal TANF Cuts Could Mean to the… [Read more]

Categories: Presentations | Comments (1)

On December 31st, everyone will gather together to welcome in the New Year.  Yet thousands of jobless Georgians worry today if Congress will pull the rug out from under them and their families in 2012.
In January 2012, nearly 70,000 Georgia workers, who lost their jobs due to no fault… [Read more]

Years of employer tax cuts left Georgia unprepared for a recession and high unemployment; now the state is borrowing $721 million from the federal government to meet its obligation. This policy brief provides an update on Georgia’s insolvent unemployment trust fund, as well as recommendations for how the state can… [Read more]

Categories: Federal Budget & Taxes, Home Tab 3, Library, Policy Areas, Reports | Comments (4)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GBPI Senior Policy Analyst Clare S. Richie is available for comments and interviews. Media coverage is invited.
Georgia was unprepared for a recession and long-term unemployment. Years of employer tax cuts left Georgia’s unemployment trust fund insolvent, and left the state borrowing $721 million from the federal… [Read more]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GBPI Senior Policy Analyst Clare S. Richie is available for comments and interviews. Media coverage is invited.
ATLANTA – Georgia has the 10th highest poverty rate in the nation of 17.9 percent (tied with Texas), according to recently released data from the U. S. Census Bureau’s American… [Read more]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Please consider publishing the editorial below from Clare S. Richie and Elizabeth Appley. Media interviews are welcomed.
Americans agree that job creation is our number one priority. Almost half a million Georgians are pounding the pavement looking for work. These people – our neighbors and friends –… [Read more]

In an editorial published in the Macon Teleagraph, GBPI Senior Policy Analyst Clare S. Richie writes, “Weekly unemployment payments in Georgia average $270 per week, only replacing about one-third of an average worker’s weekly wage. What family would volunteer to live on one-third of their income?” [Read more]

Georgia has less available federal and state Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) due to a decreasing federal unobligated balance; cuts to the federal TANF Supplemental Grant; and, an increased reliance on private funds for TANF MOE. Download the… [Read more]

Categories: Economic Security, Library, Policy Areas, Reports, State Budget | Comments (4)