COLUMBUS, Ohio - Community Action Agencies in Ohio and across the country are concerned about the effects the two separate budgetary proposals circulating in Washington will have on the lives of their clients.
Those two plans on Capitol Hill threaten a variety of programs from food assistance to job training that are helping Ohioans during tough times. The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) would be cut in half under President Obama's budget for 2012 and would be eliminated entirely under a House proposal.
IMPACT Community Action Agency serves the Columbus area, and executive director Bo Chilton says the cuts would be felt immediately.
"We would have to begin laying off as many as 31 employees right away, as well as shutting down our programs for work force development, re-entry, emergency rental and housing assistance."
Sandy Hinze of Marion County suffers from a variety of health problems, including lupus. She says she doesn't know what she would do without the assistance she gets from the United Prescription Program offered by the Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission.
"My medication through the year is $19,000. I can't afford that, not being on Social Security Disability, so this program is keeping me alive. Thanks to them; they're keeping me alive."
Julia Wise is the executive director of Highland County Community Action, home of Wilmington and the former DHL air park. Her county has a 14 percent unemployment rate and she says reduced funding will have a dramatic effect on her community.
"People say the recovery's happening: we believe that in our county it's going to be a lot longer. And across the country, community action agencies truly do make the difference for many people; the majority of these people are working people that are just trying to get by, and the economy has really hurt them."
Besides the reduction of CSBG funds in the President's budget, the remaining 50 percent would be put into a federally-controlled, competitive process, ending flexible, local control of how the funds are used by agencies that help people. The grant provides $25 million a year to Ohio's 50 Community Action Agencies, which serve 800,000 people annually.
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A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are prioritizing coordination so potential cases do not fall through the cracks.
Since Minnesota adopted a wage theft law in 2019, it has seen a handful of high profile examples of state and local officials going after companies accused of shortchanging workers.
John Choi, Ramsey County Attorney, feels Minnesota is starting to come around to the idea such matters should not just be resolved through civil penalties. He said there are some keys to taking the next step in seeing a wave of additional cases.
"It's really doing the investigations," Choi explained. "Then also making sure that we get referrals from other agencies that might be doing that civil enforcement."
Choi's office has hired a wage theft investigator, though stakeholders acknowledged not all county prosecutors and sheriff's departments around the state have such resources.
Choi co-chairs the Labor Advisory Council in the Twin Cities, which leads discussions with key partners and labor leaders about working more closely on the issue, including knowing when it is appropriate to pursue a criminal investigation.
Minnesota's Attorney General has been aggressive in combating wage theft but is only allowed to file civil lawsuits. The decision on criminal charges is up to county prosecutors. Choi emphasized the good news is the Attorney General can lend support to under-resourced offices. He suggested community members can spur more interest, too.
"I also think, just locally around the state, a lot of local sheriffs would be interested in undertaking some of these investigations once they start hearing from the public," Choi noted.
Under Minnesota's wage theft law, an employer can now be charged with a felony. Choi added there are other legal tools, such as charges sought by the revenue department, and said it is a matter of ensuring agencies are not working in silos.
The Labor Advisory Council said wage theft is rampant among nonunion construction activity. It estimates in the Twin Cities, employers steal more than $3 million in wages each year.
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Legislation proposed by Maine Gov. Janet Mills would ensure thousands of farmworkers are eligible to receive the state minimum wage.
Current law requires they be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, compared to the state minimum wage of $14.15.
Cynthia Phinney, president of Maine AFL-CIO, said the bill still lacks protection from excessive forced overtime or the allowance for an unpaid rest break after six hours of work.
"Those are things that other workers are entitled to already and farmworkers are not," Phinney pointed out. "Certainly farmworkers work hard enough."
Phinney noted the legislation would require employers to keep records of their workers' hours and provide them with pay stubs. Some farmers have opposed the increase in wages and overtime protections, saying it could force them to cut workers' hours.
Farmworkers were intentionally excluded from benefits and protections in the National Labor Relations Act, which protects the rights of workers to unionize and collectively bargain. They were also originally exempted from wage and overtime protections in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Phinney argued it is time to correct the historical injustice.
"It's not lost on us that they were classifications that included largely workers of color," Phinney observed. "They included domestic workers, farmworkers."
Gov. Mills vetoed previous bills to ensure wage and other protections for farmworkers, only to develop a committee of union organizers, farmers, state agencies and lawmakers to develop the new legislation. If passed by the Legislature, the minimum wage for farmworkers would take effect Sept. 1, peak harvest time for Maine's blueberries and apples.
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With tax season winding down, efforts continue to spread the word about Minnesota's new Child Tax Credit.
Outreach leaders say it's another way to help struggling households land on firmer financial ground.
Under the plan approved by lawmakers last year, families who qualify will receive up to $1,750 per child, with no limits on the number of children for filers claiming the credit.
The Children's Defense Fund's Economic Justice Outreach Manager Natletha Sumo Kollie said the extra refund will complement aid programs these households might be relying on.
"Public programs, right now as they exist, are really something that we call expense reducers," said Kollie. "If you have SNAP, it can only go towards food. But the idea of flexible cash, from tax-credit refunds, it's something that you can use for other things."
That might include a car repair or paying off some medical debt. State revenue officials say so far, about 145,000 filed returns have claimed the credit.
Among those eligible are households with little to no income that aren't required to file taxes.
Kollie said there are barriers to reaching those families and easing their fears about going through the process of receiving the tax benefit.
To help as many people as possible learn about the Child Tax Credit, the Children's Defense Fund has added it to its "Bridge to Benefits" platform.
Kollie said you can find out if you're eligible through this online screening tool.
"You just answer a few questions about the county that you live in, your family makeup - to see if you're a single or married household, the ages of the children, your income," said Kollie, "and then the tool tells you what public programs and tax credits you're potentially eligible for."
And there's information on free tax prep sites in your area.
Her organization also partnered with the Minnesota Budget Project and Prepare & Prosper in developing a website with specific details on the CTC called ClaimYourMoneyMN.com.
Kollie said the new benefit isn't a cure-all in addressing poverty, but it should help.
She said benefit cliffs remain a challenge.
That's when a household gains a little more income, then loses a public aid benefit - and what they earn doesn't make up for that loss, leaving them economically unstable.
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