Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Summer Nutrition Programs Need More Partners June 5, 2014 / January 16, 2020 by Melissa Johnson Georgia summer nutrition programs served less than one in seven needy children in 2013, according to a new report released this week by the Food Research and Action Center. For the second year in a row, Georgia was one of five states to miss out on the most federal money and, as a result, fail […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Income Taxes Aren’t Driving Georgians to Change States May 29, 2014 / January 16, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Georgia’s tax rates do not cause residents to pull up stakes and leave for nearby states with lower income taxes. That may come as a surprise if you listen to claims by anti-tax activists and lawmakers, who routinely say workers and businesses are quick to jump across state lines in search of a lower tax […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Up to 700 Georgia Schools Offered New Option to Combat Child Hunger May 8, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Up to 700 Georgia Schools Offered New Option to Combat Child Hunger About one-third of Georgia schools can now participate in the second year of a new federal program designed to help ensure children have food in their stomachs so they can concentrate on their studies. Known as community eligibility it promises to increase the number of children eating school meals and reduce paperwork starting next fall, […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice New Brief: Slow-Growth Stalls Georgia Economy May 8, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Georgia continues to face serious economic challenges more than four years since the start of the national recovery, despite some gradual movement in the right direction. Companies are adding new jobs and unemployment is declining these days, but relatively modest growth is leaving many workers and families behind. Georgia continues to wrestle with the fallout […] Read more »
Author Featured Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Georgia Still Climbing Out of Deep Economic Hole May 8, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe State of Working Georgia: Spring Update, 2014 Georgia continues to face serious economic challenges more than four years since the start of the national recovery, despite some gradual movement in the right direction. Companies are adding new jobs and unemployment is declining these days, but relatively modest growth is leaving many workers and families behind. […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Time Running Short to Sponsor Summer Food Program for Children May 2, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson Next week in College Park, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning will conduct its last training sessions for new Summer Food Service Program sponsors. These sponsors prepare and deliver meals to low-income children during the summer when schools are closed and students lose access to free- or reduced-price lunches. The state needs new […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Needy Georgians may go hungry April 18, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson As published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on April 18, 2014. The state’s chronic underfunding of its human service agency is provoking the threat of a federal crackdown, as its food stamp program isn’t keeping up with the increase in Georgians eligible for benefits following the Great Recession. Food stamps help put meals on the […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia Legislature Moves to Keep Poor People Poor March 26, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 2 Comments on Georgia Legislature Moves to Keep Poor People Poor Almost 2 million low-income Georgians will find it harder to get ahead in the future, thanks to counterproductive policies adopted by state lawmakers in the just-concluded legislative session. Lawmakers took potshots at the poor from a variety of directions, ranging from erecting new barriers to food to limiting access to health care coverage. I’ll focus […] Read more »
Blog Budget and Taxes Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Tax Resolution is Troubling and Unnecessary March 10, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe The tax committee in Georgia’s House of Representatives is set to consider a recommendation to change the state’s constitution to permanently cap Georgia’s top income tax rate. This is a bad idea. Whatever you think about income taxes, putting a tax cap in the state constitution could deliver several unintended consequences and would help push […] Read more » State Taxes
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia’s Rush to Privatize Child Foster Care Could Lock in Reduced Funding March 5, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 3 Comments on Georgia’s Rush to Privatize Child Foster Care Could Lock in Reduced Funding Georgia lawmakers are in an unnecessary rush to reform the state’s child welfare system to meet a deadline that is likely to be extended. The push to adopt SB 350, a bill that would privatize all child welfare services except investigations, risks unintended consequences in order to squeeze major changes into the expedited 2014 legislative […] Read more »
