December 29, 2011
Happy New Year!! We have included a number of reports for your
year-end reading. Look for the next
update on January 12, 2012.
HEADLINES
Local
Municipal League hosts “Extreme Makeover:
Government Edition”
State
Agreement on Congressional redistricting reached
Legislature back in session January 9
Budget reductions: time of crisis
and opportunity
Kudos!
Report analyzes how
kids in Washington State are doing
Federal
FY 2012 Budget passed
Increase in numbers
of low income in US
Reports focus on hunger
and food spending
Homelessness in U.S.
is down according to national one night count
Washington State makes
progress on addressing child homelessness
Local
Municipal League hosts “Extreme Makeover:
Government Edition”
On December 1, the Municipal League invited
local government leaders to present talks on how to improve government. “Enlighten
us, but make it quick” is the motto of these Ignite talks. A 5-minute
speech set to 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds is intended to be engaging, thought provoking, and fun. Hear your local leaders on the Seattle Channel.
State
Agreement on Congressional redistricting reached
Washington State’s new 10th Congressional
District was unveiled yesterday but there is still discussion about the
proposed state legislative district boundaries. State and congressional legislative districts must be finalized by Commission
by the end of the year and final maps submitted to the Legislature. State
lawmakers have the option of accepting the maps or rejecting and redrawing the
districts themselves, a process that requires two-thirds approval from both
chambers. If the Legislature doesn't act on the final map from the commission,
it automatically becomes law.
Legislature back in session January 9
The state Legislature returns for a regular 60-day session on
January 9, 2012 after a 17-day special, end-of-year session that closed $480
million of the state’s $2 billion budget shortfall. For review of the special session, see the Olympian.
This leaves the tougher budget decisions and a potential face-off
between liberal Democrats who are likely to demand new tax revenues in exchange
for new spending cuts and others who will seek
reforms to save money. The Governor proposed a
number of reforms for the legislature to consider.
Budget reductions: time of crisis
and opportunity
Recent reports indicate that budget cuts will increase racial disparities and cause
problems for
non-profits. Read about how one non-profit is following a new path to insure quality services to clients.
Kudos!
On December 16, the
White House announced that Washington State was one of 9 states in the US that
won a Race to the Top-Early
Learning Challenge grant. The state will
receive $60 million over four years to insure that all kids in Washington have the
opportunities to be successful in school and life. Winning this competitive grant speaks to
years of strong advocacy by early learning allies as well as leadership by the
Governor and legislature. A summary of
how the grant will be used can be found here.
Report analyzes how
kids in Washington State are doing
The
Children’s Alliance and the Washington State Budget & Policy Center, just
released KIDS
COUNT in Washington: The State of
Washington’s Children 2012, a compilation of data that provides statistics from
economic security to safety and educational success of Washington State’s
children.
Federal
FY 2012 Budget passed
Congress
approved the FY 2012 budget before leaving on Christmas break. The
budget is for the fiscal year that began October 1, 2011. A summary of budget items important to United Ways
can be seen on our blog. In addition to passing the budget, Congress
took temporary action on several major issues that will mean 2.8
million people without jobs will recieve unemployment insurance in January
and February. The temporary law also prevents basic assistance for
low-income people from expiring, including Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF), child care assistance for low-income families, Medicaid for
families moving from welfare to work, and Medicaid subsidies so low-income
seniors can afford Medicare Part B medical insurance. In addition,
physicians' payments under Medicare won't drop 27 percent.
Increase in numbers
of low income in US
A
recent MSNBC.com article shows that nearly 1
in 2 families in the US is low income or lives in poverty according to new
definitions.
Reports focus on hunger
and food spending
Tightening the Belt is a new analysis of
federal data by Food Research and Action Center
(FRAC) which reveals that more households are spending less on food due
to economic hardship; while Bread for the World offers up its 2012 Hunger Report with recommendations
on how the federal government can better respond to the agriculture and
nutrition challenges.
Homelessness in U.S.
is down according to national one night count
The
Department of Housing and Urban Development released
its annual 2011 Point-in-Time Count
of people experiencing homelessness. According to the report, 636,017 people were
homeless in the United States on a single night in January, representing a 2.1
percent decline from the year before.
Washington State makes
progress on addressing child homelessness
The
National Center on Family Homelessness has released a new report, America's
Youngest Outcasts 2010, which ranks the 50
states on how they are addressing child homelessness from best (1) to worst
(50), and offers specific policy solutions. Our
state report card can be found here.
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