The weekly Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) News Digest highlights what's new on hunger, nutrition and poverty issues at FRAC, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, around the network of national, state and local anti-poverty and anti-hunger organizations, and in the media. The Digest will alert you to trends, reports, news items and resources and, when available, link you directly to them.

1. USDA Food and Nutrition Service Demonstrates Positive Economic Impact of Increased Food Stamp Participation
2. Red Tape and Stigma of Receiving Aid Prevent Eligible People from Enrolling in Food Stamps
3. Group Sues to Challenge FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation Bill
4. Future of Children Publication Looks at Causes of, Hazards from and Solutions to Childhood Obesity
5. President’s Budget Cuts Will Hurt Most Vulnerable Seniors
6. Sen. Santorum Defends Commodity Food Program
7. Farmers Market Promotion Program RFP
8. Moderate-Income Families Are Less Able to Become Homeowners than 25 Years Ago
9. Baby Boomers Have Widest Wealth Gap and Highest Poverty Levels, Study Finds
10. High Energy Prices Continue Raising Home Fuel Bills
11. American Infants and Toddlers Show Signs of Unhealthy Diets, Research Shows
12. USDA Agency Develops Computer Games to Teach Children Healthy Nutrition and Fight Childhood Obesity
13. Sixty Percent of Advertisements in California Schools Promote Junk Food, Study Finds
14. Wisconsin: Positive Results from Universal Breakfast Pilots in Milwaukee Schools
15. Wisconsin: Jefferson County Seeks Solutions to Hunger
16. Low-Income Californians Miss Out on Millions in Earned Income Tax Credit Checks
17. Food Bank of Iowa Reports Increase in Need
18. Drop-Off in Donations Threatens Montana Food Banks When Hunger Is Up
19. Wisconsin: Clients of Emergency Food Network in Milwaukee Remain Food Insecure
20. Minnesota: Grand Rapids Food Shelf Sees Record Number of Clients
21. Low-Income Baltimoreans in Despair As Their Electric Bills Go Up 72 Percent
22. Idaho Lawmakers Refuse to Raise $5.15 Minimum Wage for State Workers

1. USDA Food and Nutrition Service Demonstrates Positive Economic Impact of Increased Food Stamp Participation

(“The Business Case for Increasing Food Stamp Program Participation,” fns.usda.gov, March 2006)

Despite the obvious nutrition benefits of the Food Stamp Program, over 40 percent, or 16 million, of low income people who would qualify for food stamps do not participate, reports the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Not only are people missing available assistance, but communities are missing out on economic benefits. “By generating business at local grocery stores, new food stamp benefits trigger labor and production demand, ultimately increasing household income and triggering additional spending,” FNS writes. The agency developed a set of materials explaining why greater participation of eligible people in food stamps makes sense for states and communities from an economic development perspective and for low-income people from a nutrition perspective. Making the business case for food stamps, FNS uses an example of a hypothetical situation of a five percentage point increase in national participation. In FY 2003 such an increase would have resulted in 1.8 million more low-income people having an additional $1.2 billion in benefits per year for purchasing healthy food. The increase also would have brought $2.2 billion total in new economic activity nationwide. Even a small increase in program participation can have a substantial economic impact for states and communities, the agency demonstrates. The Food Stamp Program is “the only public benefit program which also serves as an economic stimulus, creating an economic boost that ripples throughout the economy when new food stamp benefits are redeemed.”

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/outreach/business-case.htm

Also see The Benefits of the Food Stamp Program

The Benefits of Increasing Food Stamp Program Participation

Calculation Methodology

Table: Potential Increases in People Served, Total Benefits, and Economic Activity If All States Served an Additional 5 Percent of Eligibles in Fiscal Year 2003

2. Red Tape and Stigma of Receiving Aid Prevent Eligible People from Enrolling in Food Stamps

(“Many Americans Reluctant to Accept Food Stamps,” npr.org, March 23, 2006)

Only about half of Americans living in big cities and eligible for food stamps actually enroll in the Food Stamp Program. National Public Radio discussed food stamp enrollment with Ertharin Cousin, COO of the America’s Second Harvest food bank network, and Mary Summers, senior fellow with the University of Pennsylvania’s Fox Leadership Program, who works with the Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger on food stamp outreach. Summers said it is too hard to apply for food stamps. “Once you get them, they can be a terrific benefit …. And with all the concern about the obesity epidemic … while the [food stamp] benefit is not enough, it can definitely make a big difference in terms of making healthy food accessible.” But applicants in Pennsylvania have to gather 11 documents, and some case workers even ask for documents they do not necessarily have to have. Applicants “often have to wait for several hours, to see a caseworker to apply. And then they may be told … you have to come back,” Summers explained. Food pantries serve an increasing number of food insecure Americans, but they are not the answer to eliminating hunger, Cousin pointed out. “The answer is … sign up for food stamps.”

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5297456

Also see http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5297453 to listen to “Escaping Hunger: One Man's Story”

3. Group Sues to Challenge FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation Bill

(“Spending Measure Not a Law, Suit Says,” washingtonpost.com, March 22, 2006)

The FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation Bill that President Bush signed earlier this year is the subject of a second lawsuit, this time by Public Citizen, a legislative watchdog group. The group contends that the President and Republican leaders of Congress flagrantly violated the Constitution when the President signed the bill into law knowing that the version that cleared the House was different from the Senate’s version. The Senate passed the bill containing a provision to restrict Medicare payments for durable medical equipment to 13 months, but a Senate clerk changed the13-month restriction to 36 months, a $2 billion alteration. The changed bill went to the House which passed it. Even though the mistake was revealed, “Republican leaders were loath to fight the battle again by having another vote, so White House officials simply deemed the Senate version to be the law.” Opponents of the budget law point to an elementary-school civics lesson which says the President signs a bill only after both the House and the Senate pass the same bill. The budget bill “may be something, but it is not law within the meaning of the Constitution,” said Jamin Raskin, an American University law professor. Republicans, however, refer to a Supreme Court ruling from the 1890s to suggest a bill does not have to pass both chambers of Congress to become law. Constitutional scholars say they could not think of any precedent for the journey the budget bill took to becoming a law and sympathize with the new suit. “I think it’s an open-and-shut case,” commented Michael J. Gerhardt of the Center on Law and Government at the University of North Carolina School of Law. “It would be a horrible precedent to set if this is how Congress is allowed to make laws.” The law in question would cut nearly $40 billion in Medicaid over five years, raise work requirements for welfare, and trim the student loan program, among other reductions.

http://tinyurl.com/o2utf

For information about the first lawsuit, see http://www.frac.org/html/news/newsdigest/02.21.06.html#2 (“Lawyer Sues to Challenge Reconciliation Bill,” FRAC news digest, Issue 8, February 21, 2006)

4. Future of Children Publication Looks at Causes of, Hazards from and Solutions to Childhood Obesity

(“Childhood Obesity Epidemic Can Be Addressed, Reports Brookings, Princeton Future of Children Journal,” brookings.edu, March 14, 2006)

The Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University released a publication, “Childhood Obesity,” consisting of 10 articles by leading scholars. The articles review the latest research on the causes and consequences of childhood obesity and on interventions that can help reduce obesity among children in the United States. The researchers look for an explanation for the dramatic growth of overweight and obesity among American children since about 1980. The expansion of fast food, unhealthy foods marketed and offered to children in schools, the lack of time for cooking nutritious meals or supervising children’s play, and a decline in physical activity are listed among the factors contributing to the problem. Moreover, the researchers discuss the costs of obesity, focusing not only on shorter and less healthy lives, but also on the rising economic costs of treatment and reduced productivity and earnings in adulthood and emphasizing the increased risks of obesity to minority and low-income children. Public and parental education, school-based programs, medical and regulatory policies and environmental changes work as strategies to reduce obesity. The publication appeared as the spring issue of The Future of Children journal.

http://www.brookings.edu/es/research/projects/foc/foc_16_1_pr.pdf

http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=349724 (contents and full version of the “Childhood Obesity” volume)

5. President’s Budget Cuts Will Hurt Most Vulnerable Seniors

(“The Budget and the Damage Done,” alternet.org, March 22, 2006)

Every month, 80-year-old Sally Shaver pays someone to drive her to the Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, S.C., to pick up a box of fresh produce, cereals, juice, canned goods and cheese provided by the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). “It really helps me out because after paying for my rent, phone bill and medication, I barely have enough for food,” says Shaver, a former nurse’s aid surviving on $451 a month in Social Security. “If I could work, I would, but I have an artificial knee and a pacemaker, and I can’t get around.” CSFP is designed to improve the health and nutrition of low-income senior citizens, pregnant women, postpartum mothers, infants and children. In 2005, CSFP provided monthly food boxes to 536,196 people, but President Bush’s budget plan for FY 2007 proposes to eliminate the program. Denise Holland of the Harvest Hope Food Bank is concerned about cutting off CSFP benefits. “When they experience hunger, their health is going to decline, which is going to cost us more to help them in other ways,” she noted about her clients. “We can’t just talk dollars when you talk about these cuts. These are impacting real people,” stated Deborah Weinstein of the Coalition for Human Needs. “Bush’s budget makes cuts in services that people need, while continuing tax breaks worth trillions of dollars that go overwhelmingly to the wealthiest among us.”

http://www.alternet.org/story/33808

6. Sen. Santorum Defends Commodity Food Program

(“Santorum Fights to Save Food Program,” kdka.com, March 23, 2006)

Although Sen. Rick Santorum, Chairman of the Republican Conference in the U.S. Senate, usually supports President Bush and his administration, last week he teamed up with local food banks to fight a food program cut proposed in the President’s FY 2007 budget. The senator met with food packing volunteers at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to express his opposition to the elimination of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program that feeds more than 400,000 senior citizens, women, and children, including more than 7,000 in the Pittsburgh area. “It's vitally important for Pennsylvania,” said Santorum. “We’re one of 32 states that participate in the program. We’re one of the ones that benefit the most, and we have a high population of seniors.” Hunger cuts across political lines, and “our programs really do draw the support from both sides of the aisle,” said Joyce Rothermel of the food bank.

http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_082152749.html

7. Farmers Market Promotion Program RFP

(Farmers Market Promotion Program Grants Announcement, March 2006)

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will award new competitive grants authorized by the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP). The grants, totaling $1 million for FY 2006, with no more than $75,000 per a single proposal, will help improve and expand domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, and other direct producer-to-customer market opportunities. Only organizations, e.g., nonprofits, agricultural cooperatives, local governments, public benefit corporations and regional farmers markets, are eligible to apply. Applications and proposals must be submitted by May 1, 2006.

http://tinyurl.com/hsrtv (USDA news release)

Also see http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/FMPP/FMPPInfo.htm (more information about the Farmers Market Promotion Program and grants)

8. Moderate-Income Families Are Less Able to Become Homeowners than 25 Years Ago

(“Fewer Working Families Own Homes,” jsonline.com, March 22, 2006)

Families whose full-time jobs pay between minimum wage and 120 percent of their area’s median income are less able to afford their own places today than 25 years ago, according to a report by the Center for Housing Policy (CHP) in Washington, D.C. Between 1978 and 2003, homeownership among modest-income working parents fell to 59.6 percent from 62.5 percent, while the national homeownership rate went up from 65 percent to nearly 70 percent. The report indicates that housing costs have risen 30 percent faster than incomes since 1978. “It’s time to take a second look” at the nation’s housing policies, said CHP chairwoman Ann Schnare. “Simply boosting the overall homeownership rate is an empty gesture, unless working families with children are fully participating.” The widest housing-pay gaps affect minority and single-parent families, big cities and western states. The solution to affordable housing is not bigger, interest-only and often exotic loans to home buyers, Jeffrey Lubell of CHP said. There should be more rental units and new home-buying options that include: limited-equity co-operatives, multi-unit housing and inclusionary zoning.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=410089

Also see http://www.nhc.org/pdf/pub_locked_out_03_06.pdf (the Center for Housing Policy's report, “Locked Out: Keys to Homeownership Elude Many Working Families with Children”)

9. Baby Boomers Have Widest Wealth Gap and Highest Poverty Levels, Study Finds

(“Boomer Study: Middle Class in a Squeeze,” azcentral.com, March 21, 2006)

Duke University sociologists analyzed the 2000 census data for baby boomers born from 1946 to 1964 and did not find the widely heralded homogeneity in this group of the best educated, wealthiest and healthiest of any generation. Rather, the group has the widest wealth gap. Boomers have the greatest wage inequality and also the highest levels of poverty of any generation since the one born before World War I. One in 10 boomers born from 1956 to 1964 is living in poverty. “The rich have gotten richer and for the middle class, income has mostly drifted downward,” says Angela O'Rand, the study’s co-author. “The institutions that tended to be there if people hit a bump in the road are not as much.” Erosion in employees' pension, health care benefits and Social Security, the privatization of public services and moving of welfare recipients to work contributed to this trend, hitting boomer men particularly hard.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0321middleclass0321.html

10. High Energy Prices Continue Raising Home Fuel Bills

(“Home Fuel Bills Show No Sign of Mild Winter,” nytimes.com, March 22, 2006)

Americans have spent more money heating their homes this winter than in a generation, despite mild weather that has kept down the consumption of heating fuel. President Bush signed a bill to provide $1 billion in federal energy assistance to poor households to supplement $2 billion already allocated for this purpose. According to government data, at $2.38 a gallon the price of heating oil this winter jumped to the highest level since 1981. Even adjusting for inflation, this is 60 percent higher than the average price per gallon from 1999 to 2004. Notwithstanding the mild winter, consumption fell 9 percent, while the price hike resulted in a 45 percent increase in household spending on fuel. Similar price increases affected consumers of natural gas and propane.

11. American Infants and Toddlers Show Signs of Unhealthy Diets, Research Shows

(“Problems Start Early in the Diets of Infants and Toddlers, According to Mathematica Study on Childhood Obesity,” releases.usnewswire.com, March 16, 2006)

New analyses of data from the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS), conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and sponsored by Gerber Products Company, provide information about what, when, and how much of different foods young children eat and the nutrients these foods provide. The FITS study, conducted in 2002, collected data on the eating habits and dietary intakes of more than 3,000 children 4 to 24 months of age from across America. The study found that infants and toddlers as young as four to six months were consuming too many calories and eating inappropriate foods, such as french fries, showing signs of the unhealthy diet adopted by most American adults, but they were meeting vitamin and mineral requirements. Many young children drink sweetened drinks, and one-fourth to one-third of children six months of age eat no fruits or vegetables on a given day. Analyses of the relationship between portion sizes, energy density and the number of food and drink intakes over the course of the day provided evidence of energy self-regulation behaviors, especially among infants. For example, infants and toddlers who ate more often during the day tended to consume smaller portions. However, energy self-regulation mechanisms appear to decline in the second year of life. Detailed findings were published in the January 2006 supplement to The Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA).

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=62460

Also see http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/nutrition/infantfeeding.asp (more information about FITS study)

12. USDA Agency Develops Computer Games to Teach Children Healthy Nutrition and Fight Childhood Obesity

(“Video Games to Be Next Way to Target Kids’ Nutrition?” foodnavigator-usa.com, March 20, 2006)

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is attempting to tackle the increasing problem of childhood obesity and poor nutrition through “edutainment” – a variety of interactive computer games aimed to teach children the importance of healthy food and exercise. The USDA-ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center has developed interactive “eHealth” programs that engage children in nutrition studies via video and web-based games, comic books and cartoons. One of the latest programs, called “Food, Fun and Fitness Internet Program for Girls,” targets 8-10 year-old black girls who have higher than normal obesity rates and a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and other diseases. The internet program is focused on culturally sensitive comic characters who encourage increased consumption of fruit, juices, vegetables and water, as well as physical activity.

http://foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=66521

Also see http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar06/weight0306.htm (“Girls’ Body Weight is Associated With Eating Patterns” in ARS’s Agricultural Research Magazine)

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar06/games0306.htm (“Using Computer Games and Other Media To Decrease Child Obesity,” Agricultural Research Magazine)

13. Sixty Percent of Advertisements in California Schools Promote Junk Food, Study Finds

(“Study: Advertisers Are Turning Kids Into Junk Food Junkies,” 10news.com, March 21, 2006)

According to a study by the Public Health Institute, at 20 California high schools included in the study, 60 percent of posters and signage at school events promote a junk food rich in sugar, sodium and fat. With childhood obesity rising, schools should do more to encourage healthy eating, the study says. On the official level, three bills that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed last year will result in California schools having the toughest nutrition standards in the nation this summer.

http://www.10news.com/news/8172482/detail.html

14. Wisconsin: Positive Results from Universal Breakfast Pilots in Milwaukee Schools

(“Evaluation of the 2005-2006 Provision 2 Pilot in Milwaukee Public Schools,” hungertaskforce.org, February 2006)

In 2004-2005, only 11 percent of Milwaukee, Wis., public school students ate school breakfast, even though 73 percent qualified for free and reduced-price lunch, according to this report by Karen Wong, a Congressional Hunger Center Bill Emerson Hunger Fellow, and the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee. Milwaukee public schools approved the implementation of a Provision 2 initiative, an option in the federal school lunch and school breakfast programs that provides free meals to all students regardless of income. The evaluation of the pilot programs at six schools showed that Provision 2 positively affects students and their families. At least 70 percent of school staff reported improvements in student behavior, learning, health, and socialization. Breakfast participation doubled at the two schools where breakfast was served in the classroom. More than 60 percent of parents indicated the program reduced time, stress, and financial burdens. According to school staff, hunger decreased 60 percent. In the previous year, 92 percent of staff heard students complain of hunger at least occasionally. Although quantitative measures of changes in attendance and behavior proved inconclusive for 2004-2005, changes in attendance and behavior, along with nurse visits and test scores, will be revisited during the 2006-2007 school year. The report’s findings will inform future decisions about expansion of universal free meals to other Milwaukee schools.

http://tinyurl.com/jzfd3

15. Wisconsin: Jefferson County Seeks Solutions to Hunger

(“Hunger in Jefferson County Discussed,” wdtimes.com, March 18, 2006)

There is more we can do about addressing hunger and helping families in need, said Kadi Row, Food Security Specialist at University of Wisconsin-Extension, to the participants of the annual Family Impact Seminar in Jefferson County, Wis. A two parent, dual-income local family with two children would need approximately $16.54 an hour in combined wages to make ends meet, but not all families enjoy such income. “It’s hard to say how many individuals and families may be struggling,” said Kathleen Eisenmann, UW-Extension Family Living Agent. “We don't always know when parents are skipping meals so their kids have enough to eat or paying the heat bill instead of buying groceries.” The speakers pointed out the negative consequences of hunger for children, who may suffer poor health, behavior problems and learning or academic difficulties. Successful anti-hunger programs discussed included providing grab-and-go school breakfasts along with school lunches and snacks at schools; and permitting clients to access pantry resources on an unlimited basis as many families have a chronic need for food assistance.

http://www.wdtimes.com/articles/2006/03/18/news/news1.txt

16. Low-Income Californians Miss Out on Millions in Earned Income Tax Credit Checks

(“State’s Poor Missing Out on Millions in Refunds,” chicoer.com, March 19, 2006)

Approximately 592,000 California residents left more than $390 million in earned-income credit checks unclaimed during the 2003 tax year, according to the Internal Revenue Service. To improve the situation, California social service officials and advocates for the poor are urging low-income Californians to file their tax forms and offering sites that provide free help with the filing. “The problem is that most people don’t know that these free sites exist,” said Kim Brettschneider of the California Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). The free tax help sites assist with tax returns and often provide additional assistance such as with opening a bank account and applying for food stamps. However, CDF says 75 percent of the more than 2.4 million Californians who received an earned-income tax credit used the services of commercial tax preparers, costing them an average of $120. Many families also take out refund anticipation loans from tax preparers with interest rates running from 70 to 700 percent and put themselves at risk of future debt and credit problems.

http://www.chicoer.com/news/bayarea/ci_3618600

17. Food Bank of Iowa Reports Increase in Need

(“Food Bank of Iowa Releases Outreach Report,” radioiowa.com, March 20, 2006)

The Food Bank of Iowa, which distributes emergency food through a network of 280 groups in 42 counties, released a report profiling the scale of the banks’ outreach and the demographics of its clients. Fifty-nine percent of pantries and 66 percent of soup kitchens report an increase in clients since 2001. The agency helps nearly 54,000 people a year, about a third of whom are under 18. Forty-one percent of the clients are receiving food stamps and 40 percent report having had to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities.

http://tinyurl.com/gbmvk

18. Drop-Off in Donations Threatens Montana Food Banks When Hunger Is Up

(“Report: Hunger Up As Funding Declines,” billingsgazette.net, March 18, 2006)

The number of Montana households on food stamps increased seven percent last year, according to a report by the Montana State Advisory Council on Food and Nutrition. Participation in school meals, the Women, Infants and Children program and food programs for seniors also went up, while the use of food banks reached an all-time high as more people rely on emergency food after spending their money on rent, heat and other basics. At the same time, food bank donations dropped in 2005 because of cuts in food available through The Emergency Food Assistance Program of the federal government. Manufacturers’ improvements in food packaging also led to decreased amounts of donated food. Anti-hunger groups are moving in the right direction, states the report. But “a great deal more needs to be done,” said Minkie Medora, co-chair of the food council. Increased funding and continued education are needed to reach more people eligible for food assistance, especially on the state’s American Indian reservations. Council members sent the report to Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, who said its recommendations cannot be ignored.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/03/18/news/state/50-hunger-up.txt

19. Wisconsin: Clients of Emergency Food Network in Milwaukee Remain Food Insecure

(“In Search of a Hunger-Free Community: An Assessment of the Emergency Food Network in Milwaukee,” hungertaskforce.org, February 2006)

A study by Aiyeshia Hudson, a Congressional Hunger Center Bill Emerson Hunger Fellow, and the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee assessed the emergency food network in Milwaukee, Wis., and gathered information about the clients and volunteers seeking and helping to distribute emergency food within the Task Force’s network. There is a severe need for emergency food in Milwaukee County, the study found. Despite the frequent use of emergency food use, clients remain food insecure. They skip and cut the size of meals on a monthly basis. Fifty-five percent of food pantry respondents and 66 percent of meal site respondents did not participate in the Food Stamp Program. The most frequent reasons given for not participating were claims of ineligibility and reports of having food stamp benefits cut off. More than one-half of emergency food assistance volunteers are retired, and over one-third of them are 70 years old or older.

http://tinyurl.com/kgff2

20. Minnesota: Grand Rapids Food Shelf Sees Record Number of Clients

(“FoodShare Helps Fight Hunger in Minnesota,” grandrapids-mn.com, March 22, 2006)

A Grand Rapids, Minn., disabled veteran said he would starve to death if not for the food he gets from a local food shelf. Long lines have become a regular feature at the food shelf as the number of people living in poverty continues to rise in Itasca County. On a recent day, the food site registered a record number of 239 visitors and more than 4,300 pounds of distributed food. The volunteers had to work without a break all day. Almost half of the food shelf clients surveyed in Minnesota reported spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing.

http://www.grandrapids-mn.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=216796

21. Low-Income Baltimoreans in Despair As Their Electric Bills Go Up 72 Percent

(“Rising Electric Bills Elicit Fury, Desperation,” baltimoresun.com, March 11, 2006)

Residents of Baltimore, Md., “expressed a mixture of fury, frustration and bewilderment” about a 72 percent increase in their electricity bills, which will amount to $743 a year for the average Baltimore Gas and Electric residential customer starting in July, as legislated rate caps expire. “There are a lot of people in our society who have to choose between having electricity or food or getting their prescriptions filled – what we consider the basics in life,” said Peggy Vick of the Salvation Army in Baltimore, and those people are “going to be in crisis.” Velma Moseley, 63, who lives in West Baltimore with her sister and four great-grandchildren on a fixed income, is among the desperate. “There’s no way we can make it on what we get. By the time we pay the rent, there’s not much left to pay for food,” she said. Moseley uses a wheelchair and relies on electricity to charge it. Higher electricity costs will affect even her ability to move around.

http://tinyurl.com/fejwk

22. Idaho Lawmakers Refuse to Raise $5.15 Minimum Wage for State Workers

(“Legislature Kicks Poor While They’re Down,” argonaut.uidaho.edu, March 24, 2006)

“Once again, the Idaho Legislature has shown that making life better for Idahoans is not a high priority,” writes The Argonaut Online of the University of Idaho. A House committee rejected a bill raising Idaho’s minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 and indexing the minimum wage for inflation. The Idaho Foodbank points out that 29 percent of the state’s young adults live in poverty, the worst ranking in the nation. Forty-two percent of Idaho’s children live in low-income working families. Idaho’s welfare laws ranked 51 st, compared to all other states and Washington, D.C., for their likelihood to help families become self-sufficient. The number of people filing for bankruptcy rose from 7,119 in 2000 to 9,660 in 2003. “In 2000, the Idaho Legislature ordered the governor to minimize and, if legally possible, eliminate efforts to connect eligible poor people with public benefits, including food stamps and the Child Health Insurance Program,” writes the newspaper. “The legislature seems determined to keep Idaho’s poor as they are: uneducated, under-employed and struggling to make ends meet. A minimum wage raise of $1 could at the very least give some of these people hope for a better life.”

http://www.argonaut.uidaho.edu/content/view/1443/49/