Good news for WV working families

From the office of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin:

  CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today announced the changes proposed earlier this year for the eligibility levels of child subsidy will be tabled for further review. The funding formula changes were made in an effort to compensate for shortfalls in federal funding. The Governor plans to submit a supplemental appropriation next year to help close the gap through the spring and has plans to work with all parties to find a solution for making this program successful long term. 

    “After much discussion with parents and folks in the childcare industry, I decided it’s not in the best interest of West Virginia families to move forward with the scheduled changes to our state’s childcare subsidy,” said Gov. Tomblin. “We still have work to do; these programs are not sustainable with our current level of funding, but at this point, I believe it’s best to keep hard-working families in the program and to look for other ways to address the budget shortfalls.” 

    West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources officials announced in June 2012 that the ceiling for eligibility would be reduced from 185% of federal poverty level to 150%. This change was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2013. Today’s announcement means that no change will be made at this time and the entry and exit levels will remain the same, thus retaining families who are at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. The changes to the copayment structures announced earlier this year will go into effect on January 1, 2013. 

Here's a heartfelt "thank you" to Governor Tomblin and his staff and a hearty "Congratulations!" to everyone who worked on this issue over the last year or so!

That's a nice Christmas present.

Unresolved

This summer, advocates for children and working families won a small victory when their combined bad noise prompted WV Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to delay major cuts in child care assistance, increases in co-pays and reduced eligibility. Alas, unless something is done, all those cuts go into effect on Jan. 1, which would be quite a lump of coal in the stocking. Here's a good op-ed on the subject.

UHHHHHH maybe if we weren't giving away the store with business tax incentives we might be able to pay for child care for working people.

ROBBER BARONS AND ROBOTS discussed here.

WORKING IT. Here are some cool pictures and videos of birds of paradise doing the courtship thing

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

A textbook case

A few years back, I did a series here on Stanford psychologist Philip Zimbardo's study of evil, The Lucifer Effect (search in corner of blog for more). People--especially people in power--tend to blame evil actions on the disposition of the perpetrator. Zimbardo's research and that of many other scientists has shown that situations and the systems that sustain them are the real vectors of evil.

 I couldn't help but be reminded of his work when I read this article about the football uber alles culture of Penn State and the backlash against a woman who tried to stand up to it. It's a good example of how evil spreads and grows. Note: it usually starts pretty small and doesn't see itself as evil.

OK, I'M STILL DOWN WITH ZOMBIE FEVER, but here's an encouraging link about how people in the eastern panhandle of WV are protesting Governor Tomblin's child care cuts. Let there be more.

An ugly little spud. Loud too.

If anyone was worrying that we had a shortage of critters at Goat Rope Farm, allow me to assure you that you can cross that one off your worry list. A case in point is little Cedro, a baby chimney swift that fell or was exiled from his home nest and was rescued by the Spousal Unit. Little Cedro apparently didn't get the memo that little creatures should be cute in order to ensure survival. He seems to rely on loudness instead when he calls out for food at very short intervals.  

And what, you may ask, do you feed such a creature? In his case, freeze dried mealworms seem to be a hit.

(But I wonder who on earth came up with the idea of freeze drying mealworms?)

JOB GROWTH is slow, thanks largely due to austerity imposed by the majority in Congress. But if there was a political will, there are plenty of ways to improve the employment situation.

TWO WV ISSUES that are in the news these days include bad cuts to child care for working people by the Tomblin administration and prison overcrowding.

SPEAKING OF CHILD CARE CUTS, click here to do something about it.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED