skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

"Better Jobs for Moms" Veto Sparks Storm

play audio
Play

Monday, August 6, 2007   

Gov. Spitzer is facing the wrath of welfare reformers and state legislators. The dispute was sparked by his last-minute veto of a bill that would have provided job training and referrals for moms receiving public assistance, targeted toward better-paying jobs that are traditionally male dominated. Spitzer says the bill was "laudable" but "unrealistic." But Linda Lisi-Juergens with the National Association of Mothers' Centers disagrees.

"For those who are capable and interested, what is the harm in allowing them the opportunity to know about a better-paying job?"

The governor sided with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and the State Association of Counties in vetoing the bill, which recommended that mothers on public assistance receive training for jobs paying at least 85 percent over the poverty level. Spitzer said that job entry, even at a lower wage, provides better employment opportunities for mothers on relief, while welfare reform advocates say unskilled minimum-wage jobs are often dead-ends for professional advancement.

Lisi-Juergens believes there's even more at stake than wage equity for women because better pay means better academic and social development for the children of working mothers.

"Children need a very strong empathic relationship with their primary caregiver. How are people going to do that if they have to work two or three minimum-wage jobs to subsist, let alone thrive?"

Albany legislators in both houses are considering an override attempt or reintroduction of the bipartisan bill, which was unanimously passed earlier this year.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021