Stating the obvious

It's becoming clear that the COVID outbreak is threatening the economy as well as the health and lives of people all over, with people staying away from work and businesses (although not the local Kroger store!) and cancelling travel plans.

The Trump administration has come up with a "stable genius" plan to boost the economy: cut the payroll taxes that fund things like Social Security and Medicare.

This rivals the brilliance of building a border wall in Colorado or digging a moat and filling it with snakes and gators...

There are some obvious problems with the plan, as Chye-Ching Huang with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out in this blog post. For starters, this wouldn't do a whole heckuva lot for the people who need it most, i.e. the people who miss work and don't get paid.

Another problem is that the economy needs a pretty big jolt sooner rather than later. Getting a few dollars more in a paycheck over a long period of time wouldn't make that much of a difference and it would weaken Social Security, etc.

Huang argues that "Sending stimulus checks to most Americans would put more money in households’ hands much more quickly than a payroll tax cut of the same cost. Also, stimulus checks can be sent both to workers and to people without earnings, including people receiving Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, or VA benefits and people unable to find jobs."

She also stresses the importance of strengthening and reforming unemployment insurance and food assistance programs, as well as enacting and extending paid sick leave.

And, while we're stating the obvious, let's not forget investing in public health and not messing with Medicaid.

New law opens SNAP eligibility to people with drug felonies

Today is a big day in West Virginia. People with drug felony convictions have been unable to get SNAP food assistance since federal welfare "reform" passed in 1996. During the past session of the legislature, WV opted out of the ban.

According to this MetroNews article, deputy secretary Jeremiah Samples of the WV Dept. of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) estimates that as many as 15,000 people could benefit from this change. (I think it could be even more over time.)

Ending the ban was our top priority in the session. It was nice when co-conspirator Lida Shepherd sent this press release out this week:

Charleston, WV –  House Bill 2459, which lifts the federal ban on people with drug felony convictions from receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (otherwise known as SNAP or food stamps), goes into effect May 21st, 2019. 

Now people who were previously ineligible for SNAP due to a drug felony conviction will be able to apply for SNAP through the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR).  People whose drug felony crime resulted in a person’s injury or death, or that involved the fraudulent use of SNAP, will still be ineligible.

The exact number of people who will now be eligible to apply for SNAP under the new law is difficult to pin down. However, according to DHHR, in 2016 alone over 2,100 people applied for and were denied SNAP due to the ban.  This number does not account for people who never tried to apply because they were aware they were ineligible due to their conviction or those who were denied in other years.

Lida Shepherd with the American Friends Service Committee said, “This new policy going into effect is a big deal for thousands of people in our state, especially for those in recovery and who have just been released from prison, who are trying hard to put the pieces of their life back together.  Food security for these individuals is vital to their success reintegrating back into their community.”

I guess we can put "Mission Accomplished" on our aircraft carrier...That always turns out well, right?

Before the law

Every time I testify at a public hearing at the WV legislature, I think of Franz Kafka's very short story "Before the Law."  In it, a man spends his whole life waiting to present his case before the court of justice but a gatekeeper refuses to let him through.

After a while, the man, now older, tries to bribe the gatekeeper, who accepts it but says "I am taking this only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything.”

He never gets justice or even a real chance to achieve it.

A lot of times, especially these days, when you speak at a public hearing, the issue you want to address is a done deal but they do give you a minute or two to speak "only so that you do not think you have failed to do anything."

I was one of many people who spoke yesterday in defense of SNAP food assistance for low income people and against a mean spirited bill. Only two people, both paid to stick it to working and poor people, spoke on the other side.

The committee later voted to forward the bill to the house floor, with a few slightly less evil amendments.

I guess our consolation for the moment is not thinking we failed to do anything. Or thinking the fight is over.

Cuts and more cuts

If you're a public employee in WV and you feel something on your back, it could be a target. PEIA, aka the Public Employee's Insurance Agency, is gearing up to make millions of dollars in benefit cuts. This could be the next major health care fight here. Or one of them anyway.

On top of that, food assistance in the form of SNAP benefits is declining around the nation as many states impose time limits and difficult to comply with work requirements. WV did that in nine pilot counties. Meanwhile, right wing groups (whose staff seems to be pretty well fed) are pushing for further food cuts in WV. I guess that'll be another fight.

This is our concern, Dude

Over 1000 very poor West Virginians are about to lose SNAP food assistance. Many of these may be homeless or living in isolated rural areas or may be dealing with diagnosed mental and physical health issues. I guess the good news is that the number of such people is probably much smaller than it would have been without public pressure and media scrutiny.

SO THIS MUST BE MY WEEK FOR RADIO. The latest Front Porch podcast from WV Public Broadcasting features my friend Pastor Matthew Watts talking about racial disparities in WV's prison system.

The Front Porch podcast/program, by the way, won 2nd place in the Associated Press broadcasting awards for Virginia and West Virginia. The category was editorial or editorial series.

And while we're at it, the multi-state public broadcasting program Inside Appalachia recycled a Front Porch segment in a program on "Appalachianism," Appalachian dialects, prejudices against hillbillies, and the politics of language. I  never said I was not a potty mouth in case you listen.

OFF TOPIC. Some big political news in WV is a planned visit by democratic socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to my home county. You won't find any endorsements here, but a friend sent me this article by writer and WV native Jedidiah Purdy. To be exact, he proposes 11 theses on Sanders.

I have no knowledge of this topic whatsoever, nor would I be disposed to discuss it if in fact I did, but I'm pretty sure the 11 theses is a riff on the same number of theses written about philosopher Ludwig Feuerback by the young Marx.  That's what I heard anyway.