Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Georgia’s Tax Credit School Scholarship Program Lacks Accountability August 31, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Claire Suggs Proposals to create school voucher programs, including tax credit scholarship programs, continue to pop up in a growing number of states and at the federal level. This has spurred some voucher proponents to call for greater accountability for schools participating in these programs. This would be a welcome change in Georgia. The state’s tax credit […] Read more » Claire Suggs Education Georgia Department of Education K-12 school vouchers tax credit scholarship program
Blog Budget and Taxes Taifa Smith Butler Georgia’s Revenue Increase Trails Needs of Growing Population August 10, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Taifa Smith Butler For most Georgians July 1, 2017 was just another steamy summer day in the south. For state lawmakers and agency leaders, it marked the beginning of a new year, the annual restart of operating plans to track budget expenses against carefully prepared plans. Meanwhile, department heads close the books on the state’s 2017 fiscal year […] Read more » Budget Budget & Taxes State Budget State Taxes tax breaks
Blog Health Justice Laura Harker How to Protect and Expand Health Care Access in Georgia August 3, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker The defeat of health care legislation in the U.S. Senate last week marked a milestone in the effort to protect health care coverage in Georgia. People across the state raised their voice to protest proposed drastic cuts to Medicaid and the loss of health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of Georgians. Medicaid serves 2 […] Read more » Affordable Care Act health health-care medicaid Medicaid Expansion
Blog Cash and Safety Net Melissa Johnson Planned Federal Budget Cuts Likely to Increase Hunger Risk for Georgians July 27, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Melissa Johnson The U.S. House Budget Committee passed a resolution last week calling for deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly called food stamps). If these cuts took effect, nearly 1.6 million Georgians who rely on the program will face a greater chance of hunger. That includes children, seniors, people with disabilities, workers and […] Read more » Food Assistance food stamps Safety Net SNAP
Blog Budget and Taxes Cash and Safety Net Jennifer Owens Worker Justice Momentum on State Earned Income Tax Credits Evident Across the Country, Will Georgia Be Next? July 26, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Jennifer Owens This spring significant momentum built across the country for state earned income tax credits (EITCs). In recent months, three more states adopted new state-level EITCs to support low-wage workers struggling to make ends meet. Now 29 states and the District of Columbia provide the tax credit. Six of those states offer non-refundable credits, meaning the […] Read more » EITC Georgia Work Credit
Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Proposed Medicaid Cuts Threaten Georgia’s Most Vulnerable Students July 13, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Claire Suggs More than 118,000 students in Georgia cope with disabilities. Some are students with visual or hearing impairments while others have autism or developmental delays. Many have learning disabilities, speech impairments or other intellectual or physical disabilities. These children need extra support to attend classes with their peers and fulfill their potential. This extra support requires […] Read more » Education health K-12 medicaid
Blog Health Justice Senate Health Bill Shrinks Health Care Access, Makes Deep Long-Term Cuts to Medicaid July 6, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Laura Harker The U.S. Senate is set to take up a fundamental upending of federal health care law as soon as next week, a move that threatens to turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of Georgians upside down. Senators released their version of a health care bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, late last […] Read more » Affordable Care Act Laura Harker medicaid
Blog Cash and Safety Net Jennifer Owens Food Stamps Help More than 500,000 Working Georgians June 29, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Jennifer Owens Food assistance plays a critical role in helping Georgians working low-wage jobs put meals on the table. An average of 546,900 working Georgians lived in households that participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly called food stamps) in the last year, according to analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In […] Read more » Food Assistance food stamps Minimum Wage Safety Net SNAP
Blog Health Justice John McCosh How Medicaid Benefits Help Joshua Proffitt Achieve His Dream June 28, 2017 / January 16, 2020 by John McCosh The email dated May 11, 2017 from the East Georgia State College academic office felt ominous to Joshua Proffitt. He asked his mother to read it to him. It was not bad news. “You made the Dean’s Merit List!” Mitzi Proffitt said. “You have a 3.5 GPA!” It’s another milestone on a remarkable journey for […] Read more » health health-care medicaid
Blog Claire Suggs K-12 Education Medicaid Cuts Threaten Student Learning, School District Finances June 19, 2017 / January 14, 2020 by Claire Suggs Medicaid protects Georgia’s children. Nearly half of our children, or 1.3 million, are able to go to a doctor and access other health care services through Medicaid benefits. This helps them stay healthy and in the classroom so they can keep up with schoolwork. The proposed cuts to Medicaid contained in the American Health Care […] Read more » Claire Suggs Education health K-12 medicaid
