federal

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

This Federal Program Could Help Low-Income Women Pay Their Bills This Summer, As Energy Costs Soar

President Joe Biden announced new guidelines Wednesday for distributing an influx of funding for one of the oldest federal energy assistance programs in the country. The program, known as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, or LIHEAP, is a lifeline for families — many led by women — struggling to pay their utility bills. Originally created to help low-income households pay their heating bills, the program has been increasingly used for cooling assistance. As climate change has led to more frequent heat waves and hotter summer months, this funding has become more crucial to pay for rising energy costs. The new guidelines rolled out in an executive order — among several climate-related orders announced this week — expand on the shifting needs of the cooling side of the program, ...

A Pandemic Solution Left Out Of A New Federal Spending Package – Schools Will Stop Serving Free Lunch To All Students

14Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

A Pandemic Solution Left Out Of A New Federal Spending Package – Schools Will Stop Serving Free Lunch To All Students

Public schools have been serving all students free meals since the COVID-19 pandemic first disrupted K-12 education. In March 2022, Congress rejected calls to keep up the federal funding required to sustain that practice and left that money out of a US$1.5 trillion spending package that President Joe Biden signed into law on March 11, 2022. We asked food policy expert Marlene Schwartz to explain why free meals make a difference and what will happen next. How did the COVID-19 pandemic initially affect the school lunch program? In March 2020, nearly all U.S. K-12 school buildings closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the federal government’s National School Lunch Program, quickly granted waivers to increase program flexibility and accommo...

An Economist Answers 3 Questions – Who Benefits From A Break On Federal Student Loan Payments?

12Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, Journalism

An Economist Answers 3 Questions – Who Benefits From A Break On Federal Student Loan Payments?

Although President Joe Biden has extended the pause on federal student loan payments from February 1 to May 1 – a move that includes a suspension of interest on the loans – some advocates want the president to cancel student loan debt altogether. Here, economist William Chittenden illuminates who benefits and who pays when borrowers get a break on paying back their federal student loans. 1. How helpful is this pause to individual borrowers? It depends. 18.1 million borrowers – out of 43.4 million borrowers – were making federal student loan payments prior to the current loan pause. Now, these borrowers will continue to get a break on making payments until May 1, 2022. With an average monthly payment of US$393, the collective direct benefits to these 18.1 million borrowers have been over $...

An Economist Explains What Is The Fed Taper And How The Federal Reserve Withdraws Stimulus From The Economy

16Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS

An Economist Explains What Is The Fed Taper And How The Federal Reserve Withdraws Stimulus From The Economy

What is the Fed taper? An economist explains how the Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus from the economy. Tapering refers to the Federal Reserve policy of unwinding the massive purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities it’s been making to shore up the economy during the pandemic. The unconventional monetary policy of buying assets is commonly known as quantitative easing. The Fed first adopted this policy during the 2008 financial crisis. Normally, when a central bank wants to reduce the cost of borrowing for companies and consumers, it lowers its target short-term interest rate. But with its target rate at zero during the 2008 crisis – at the same time that there was no inflation and the economy was still hurting – the Fed was no longer able to cut rates further. And so...

Many Groups Are Still Struggling But Federal Support Has Shored Up Nonprofits During The Coronavirus Pandemic

15Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CULTURE

Many Groups Are Still Struggling But Federal Support Has Shored Up Nonprofits During The Coronavirus Pandemic

More than 60% of nonprofit social services, arts and culture organizations obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These very low-interest loans for small businesses and nonprofits turn into grants that don’t need to be paid back as long as borrowers meet certain conditions, such as using at least 60% of the money to pay their employees. Even so, almost 50% of nonprofits providing social services, such as food banks and shelters for people experiencing homelessness, still had to scale back their work and cut staff because of inadequate funding. Almost 80% of arts and culture groups, including everything from big museums to small schools that teach children to speak Mongolian, faced the same problems. Also, about 15% of the nonprofi...

College Federal Financial Aid Will Be Easier To Apply For – And A Bit More Generous

13Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

College Federal Financial Aid Will Be Easier To Apply For – And A Bit More Generous

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid – better known as FAFSA – is being simplified through the omnibus spending bill that became law in December. The FAFSA is what students must fill out to receive Pell Grants, student loans and many other types of financial aid from states and colleges. Here, Robert Kelchen, an expert on higher education policy, explains what the simplification and other changes mean for students and families. How is applying for federal student financial aid about to change? The good news is the FAFSA will go from having 108 questions to 36 questions, and most students will only have to answer a smaller set of questions about family income and household size. The not-so-good news is that this simplified form will not be available to students until October 2022 to...

In Early 20th Century Segregation Policies In Federal Government Harmed Blacks For Decades To Come

13Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

In Early 20th Century Segregation Policies In Federal Government Harmed Blacks For Decades To Come

Economic disparities in earnings, health and wealth between Black and white Americans are staggeringly large. Historical government practices and institutions – such as segregated schools, redlined neighborhoods and discrimination in medical care – have contributed to these wide disparities. While these causes may not always be overt, they can have lasting negative effects on the prosperity of minority communities. Abhay Aneja and I are researchers at University of California, Berkeley, who specialize in examining the causes of social inequality. Our new research examines the U.S. federal government’s role in creating conditions of racial inequality more than a century ago. Specifically, we researched the harmful impact of government discrimination against Black civil service employees. W...

Federal executions to resume, posing a new test for lethal injection

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IMPACT

Federal executions to resume, posing a new test for lethal injection

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear four inmates’ challenge to the specifics of the lethal injection process, federal executions are expected to resume next week. In July 2019, Attorney General William Barr declared an end to a federal moratorium on executions that had been in effect since 2003. The inmates alleged that the Justice Department’s execution instructions, which call for the use of a single dose of pentobarbital, a barbiturate that is normally used as a sedative, violates the Federal Death Penalty Act. They claimed that the law requires federal executions to be carried out “in the manner prescribed by the state” in which the prisoner was convicted. Pentobarbital is not used in Arkansas, Iowa or Missouri, the pertinent states in their cases. They were hoping th...

Federal spending covers only 8% of public school budgets

15Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

Federal spending covers only 8% of public school budgets

State and local tax dollars cover the bulk of U.S. public school funding. The federal government spends just under US$55 billion per year on K-12 education, in addition to outlays for early childhood education and post-secondary programs like loans and grants for college tuition. CC BY-SA That’s just 8% of the total $720 billion it costs to run the nation’s public schools during the 2017-18 school year, the most recent national data available. This amounts to around $1,100 per K-12 student. Federal funding has never surpassed 10% of total public school funding, except from 2010 to 2012 when the federal government sought to reduce the school spending cuts local and state governments made during the Great Recession. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 sent $54 bill...

Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Giving private schools federal emergency funds slated for low-income students will shortchange at-risk kids

Public schools have faced three distinct challenges since the coronavirus pandemic began – scrambling to make sure that low-income children don’t go hungry, teaching students remotely who lack internet access and bracing for dramatically smaller budgets. Congress tried to help in the US$2 trillion economic relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, by designating $13.5 billion for public schools. The money was supposed to be distributed to school districts based on the number of low-income students they enroll. A new directive from the U.S. Department of Education, however, tells districts to share far more of the money than expected with private and religious school students, even though fewer than 5% of those children are poor. I’m a schola...