Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia Families Face Food Assistance Threats This Thanksgiving November 27, 2013 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Georgia Families Face Food Assistance Threats This Thanksgiving As you gather with friends and family for Thanksgiving dinner this week, be aware that one in five of your fellow Georgians will probably sit down to a very modest spread. That is because these Georgians depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP,” commonly called food stamps) to help put food on the table. […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia Families Lose Food Assistance, Bigger Threat Looms October 30, 2013 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Georgia Families Lose Food Assistance, Bigger Threat Looms More than 1.9 million Georgians, including more than one in three Georgia children, are more likely to go hungry this month. At the outset of November dramatic cuts took effect for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP,” commonly called food stamps). If you missed the media coverage asking how so many Georgia families will put […] Read more » Melissa Johnson SNAP
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia Passes up $92 Million in Federal Help for People With Disabilities October 10, 2013 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 2 Comments on Georgia Passes up $92 Million in Federal Help for People With Disabilities People with disabilities have known for years that Georgia misses out on federal money that could help them prepare for employment. A new Georgia Budget and Policy Institute report adds up the full extent of Georgia’s missed opportunity from 2009 to 2012 – $92 million. Drastic cuts to state investment in specialized job training, counseling […] Read more »
Author Cash and Safety Net Library Melissa Johnson Policy Areas Reports Georgians with Disabilities Miss Out on $92 Million in Federal Grants October 10, 2013 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson As the number of Georgians with disabilities grew over the last four years, funding that could have helped prepare them for employment decreased. Drastic cuts to state investment in specialized job training, counseling and other vocational rehabilitation led Georgia to leave $92 million in federal funding on the table, enough to serve roughly 28,000 more […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Faulty Premise Leads to “Work Requirements” in Bill that Cuts $39 Billion from Food Stamps September 27, 2013 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson The U.S. House passed a bill last week to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP,” commonly called food stamps) by $39 billion over ten years. Some House members characterized the bill as an introduction of “work requirements,” but the real effect of the bill would just make it extremely hard for about 168,000 unemployed […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson New U.S. Census Report: Georgia’s Child Poverty Ranking Worsens September 19, 2013 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on New U.S. Census Report: Georgia’s Child Poverty Ranking Worsens Georgia joined the ranks of the ten worst states with the highest percentage of children living in poverty in 2012, moving from eleventh to sixth, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. It’s the first time Georgia ranked among the ten worst since the ranking was first reported in 2005. The large number of […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia’s September Bill is Due, but Unemployed Georgians Stuck with Most of the Tab September 13, 2013 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson Georgia has to pay its monthly bills, just like the people who call the state home. This month, Georgia has an important bill to pay – the interest payment on the federal loan to the unemployment insurance trust fund. Georgia plans to stick its financially fragile unemployed workers with most of this bill, possibly hurting […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Hunger a Struggle for More than One in Six Georgia Households Last Year September 5, 2013 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson People in more than one in six Georgia households endured serious problems affording adequate nutritious food at some point last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week. Of 644,000 Georgia households experiencing this food insecurity, some 248,000 experienced very low food security – meaning that one or more household members had to eat […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson About 168,000 Struggling Georgians at Risk as U.S. House Pushes Food Stamp Cuts August 14, 2013 / January 16, 2020 by Melissa Johnson When the U.S. House returns from its recess in a few weeks, representatives are expected to consider a bill that slashes $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. A cut that size eliminates benefits for up to four million people in the U.S. In Georgia, about […] Read more » farm bill food stamps Melissa Johnson SNAP
Author Budget Primer Cash and Safety Net Featured Library Melissa Johnson Policy Areas Reports GBPI 2014 Primer: Human Services July 9, 2013 / April 14, 2020 by Melissa Johnson Georgia’s spending to help children, the poor and seniors is overseen by the state Department of Human Services, which has a 2014 budget of $486 million, or about 3 percent of the total. Budget cuts in recent years have strained the state’s safety net designed to safeguard its most vulnerable people from abuse. Download the […] Read more »
