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US postal workers help out with the Nation's largest one-day food drive. A union coalition in California is advocating for worker rights amidst climate challenges. Livestock waste is polluting Michigan's waters, contradicting its 'Pure Michigan' image. And Virginia farm workers receive updated heat protection guidelines.

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Republicans seek to prevent nearly non-existent illegal noncitizens voting, Speaker Johnson survives a motion to remove him, and a Georgia appeals court is to reconsider if Fulton County DA Willis is to be bumped from a Trump case.

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Some small towns in North Dakota worry they'll go to pot if marijuana is legalized, school vouchers are becoming a litmus test for Republicans, and Bennington, Vermont implements an innovative substance abuse recovery program.

Report: Federal Stimulus Kept 800,000 Virginia Families Afloat

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Friday, December 18, 2009   

RICHMOND, Virg. - More than 800,000 Virginians living on the edge of poverty are being kept afloat by the Federal Recovery Act, according to a new study by the Washington, DC-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The report reviewed just a handful of stimulus programs, including unemployment insurance assistance, a boost to the food stamp program, tax credits for working families and a one-time payment to retirees, people with disabilities and veterans.

Michael Cassidy, executive director of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis in Richmond, applauds the Center's work on showing where the money went.

"It provides us credible estimates on how the Recovery Act is working to help families struggling in this deep recession."

Cassidy notes the report focused on just a few of the programs supported by federal stimulus dollars, but it demonstrated a significant effect for Virginians.

"A hundred and twenty thousand of them have had their incomes lifted above the poverty line and another
six hundred and ninety-three thousand have seen the severity of poverty reduced."

Cassidy notes that the Center reviewed federal stimulus dollars in 35 states and the District of Columbia.

"What the report finds is that these provisions alone are keeping more than 6 million Americans out of poverty, and are reducing the severity of poverty for 33 million more."

The seven provisions of the Recovery Act analyzed by the Center account for $205 billion spent nationally over five years. The report, titled, Recovery Act Protecting Millions from Poverty, is available at www.cbpp.org/files/12-17-09pov.pdf.




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