Getting Behind by Getting Ahead, continued

Last week I linked to an OK Policy post about “cliff effects” that reduce or disqualify people for benefits whenever they increase their earnings, sometimes leaving people even farther behind even as they get better jobs or benefits.
The Associated Press reports that ARRA, the stimulus legislation, is causing some cliff effects of its own, and [...]

Read Full Post »

Early Education Stimulates More than the Brain

Cornell University published a paper in 2004 that measured the stimulative effect of early education spending in each state’s economy. It found that for every dollar invested in early childhood programs in Oklahoma, $1.97 of additional economic activity was generated. In 2007, the state spent an estimated $121 million on pre-K and Head Start (very [...]

Read Full Post »

Stimulus Provision to Benefit 200,000 OK Kids

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has been analyzing the impact of stimulus proposals on low-income families and state budgets. Today they released an estimate of the impact of the proposed child tax credit in the stimulus agreement.
Bottom line: 13 million children nationwide and 200,000 in Oklahoma will benefit from the measure.
The compromise stimulus [...]

Read Full Post »

Food Stamps Not Enough

Ezra Klein remarks that it seems wild to him that 1 in 9 Americans receive food stamps. “Not only are 31.5 million Americans eligible for food stamps. But 31.5 million are facing such grueling economic stress that they were willing to enroll in the food stamp program.”
At the same time, he points out, the benefit [...]

Read Full Post »