Author Claire Suggs K-12 Education Library Policy Areas Reports Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet 2014 October 16, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs Schools across Georgia continue to scramble to meet students’ needs as they cope with years of deep cuts in state funding. A new Georgia Budget and Policy Institute survey of school systems finds districts raised class sizes and cut instructional programs in response to state cuts. A modest increase of $314 million in state funding […] Read more » K-12
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Rising Inequality Makes Tax Shift Strategy Even Riskier September 18, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe The widening gap between rich and poor makes it harder for state lawmakers to fully fund education, health care and other vital services, more so in states like Florida and Tennessee that rely mostly on sales taxes. That’s one of the main findings of a new study from Standard & Poor’s, a widely-respected, independent agency. […] Read more »
Author Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Georgia Set to Squander $7.8 Million on Food Stamps ID September 11, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Melissa Johnson | 1 Comment on Georgia Set to Squander $7.8 Million on Food Stamps ID Georgia’s Department of Human Services is asking the state to include $7.8 million in its 2016 budget to put photos on electronic cards used by food stamp recipients. This is an expensive solution to a virtually non-existent problem. Spending millions to create photo ID cards will not prevent large-scale fraud through food stamps, formally known […] Read more »
Author Fact Sheets Health Justice Library Policy Areas Timothy Sweeney Medicaid Expansion a Shot in the Arm for Coastal Georgia September 8, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney About 50,000 uninsured Georgians in the 10-county Coastal Georgia region could get guaranteed health coverage if Georgia accepts new federal money to expand Medicaid eligibility. That is about half the area residents between 18 and 64 without health coverage in 2012, the last year of available data. It’s the third largest number of residents of […] Read more »
Author Blog Claire Suggs Featured K-12 Education How Squeezed is Your District? September 8, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014 compiles the latest numbers to show how cuts at the state level and lost local property values combine to create financial stress for school districts. This year’s update to the original 2013 report features a searchable database so you can easily access information about your district, or any of Georgia’s 179 […] Read more » K-12
Author Claire Suggs K-12 Education Library Policy Areas Reports The Schoolhouse Squeeze 2014 September 4, 2014 / January 17, 2020 by Claire Suggs State Cuts, Lost Property Values Still Pinch School Districts Georgia’s 180 school districts continue to face enormous financial pressures. The Georgia Legislature cut more than $8.4 billion in funding for public schools in recent years. At the same time, local funding for schools slipped precipitously following the plunge in property values triggered by the Great […] Read more » K-12
Alan Essig Author Blog Worker Justice Marriage Equality is Good for Business in Georgia August 29, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Alan Essig Creating marriage equality in Georgia is not just a matter of basic justice and fairness, but according to a just-released study by the Williams Institute in the UCLA School of Law, the state’s economy would also benefit. Revenue from same-sex wedding planning and spending by out-of-state guests on goods and services will add $78.8 million […] Read more »
Author Library Policy Areas Reports Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice State of Working Georgia 2014 August 27, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe Workers Squeezed by Tough Labor Market, Shrinking Paychecks Georgia’s economy has improved markedly since the darkest days of the Great Recession, but workers and their families remain pinched from the lingering fallout. Unemployment remains high, wages are depressed and many workers are stuck in low-quality jobs. African-Americans and Georgians with fewer years of education are […] Read more »
Author Blog Wesley Tharpe Worker Justice Georgia Workers Deserve an Economy That Works for Them August 27, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Wesley Tharpe | 2 Comments on Georgia Workers Deserve an Economy That Works for Them Like many Georgians I grew up in a family hanging on tightly to the middle rungs of the economic ladder. My father drove old cars until they literally fell apart on the road, and my mother clipped coupons religiously from the Sunday paper. My older sister and I slept under a mountain of blankets in […] Read more »
Author Blog Health Justice Timothy Sweeney New Report: Georgia’s Medicaid Opposition to Cost $34 Billion August 14, 2014 / January 15, 2020 by Timothy Sweeney Georgia’s refusal to expand Medicaid to cover more than 500,000 uninsured people will cost the state’s health care system about $34 billion in federal money over the next decade, according to a new report by two well-respected research organizations. Georgia’s hospitals alone will lose out on almost $13 billion. That money could go a long […] Read more »
