Pages tagged "News Article"
House Republicans Pass Deep Cuts in Food Stamps
By Ron Nixon
WASHINGTON — House Republicans narrowly pushed through a bill on Thursday that slashes billions of dollars from the food stamp program, over the objections of Democrats and a veto threat from President Obama.
The vote set up what promised to be a major clash with the Senate and dashed hopes for passage this year of a new five-year farm bill...
Census: More Than 1 in 5 US Children in Poverty
First Focus Campaign for Children, a bipartisan children’s advocacy group, said the latest Census figures underscore the need for federal government investments in children’s health insurance and nutrition.
Specifically, First Focus pointed to SNAP, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and family tax credits.
“The good news is we know what works to lift children out of poverty, and our leaders in Congress have opportunities to protect these investments in the upcoming budget debates,” First Focus spokesman Ed Walz said in a news release.
When arguing tax reform, keep child poverty in mind
Re: “Eat Your Tax Reform — Attempt at solution eludes Congress again,” Sept. 8 Editorials.
The News is right in urging Congress not to miss the opportunity provided by federal tax reform. But the debate can’t just be about balance sheets and corporate tax rates — it must also be about children.
Texas kids have a lot at stake. Together, just three federal tax provisions — the dependent exemption, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit — account for the biggest federal investment in America’s children.
By helping parents meet kids’ basic needs, they lift millions of children out of poverty every year. With 39 percent of Dallas kids living in poverty (the national average is 23 percent), we can’t waste the opportunity tax reform provides to strengthen these protections and build even more effective defenses against child poverty.
But that will only happen if Texas’ congressional delegation sends a clear message to both parties that tax reform must be a win for children. With their leadership, we can build a tax code that invests in kids and makes real gains in child poverty.
Bruce Lesley, president, First Focus Campaign for Children, Washington, D.C., @brucelesley
New Obama policy warns agents not to detain illegal immigrant parents
Bruce Lesley, president of the First Focus Campaign for Children, said the only long-term solution is for Congress to pass a bill but the new policy helps in the meantime.
“The Family Interest Directive is a major victory for children, reducing the likelihood that immigration enforcement will tear families apart and reducing the harm to kids when separation is unavoidable,” he said in a statement.
Tax reform must not harm kids' future
Evansville Courier Press (Indiana)
It's great to see growing momentum for federal tax reform ("U.S. Rep. Young discusses tax reform with Indiana businessmen," August 12th). But the debate can't just be about businesses — it must also be about children.
Indiana kids have a lot at stake. Together, just three federal tax provisions — the dependent exemption, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child Tax Credit — account for the biggest federal investment in America's children.
By helping parents meet kids' basic needs, they lift millions of children out of poverty every year. With the number of Indiana kids living poverty up 100,000 from 2007-2011, we can't waste the opportunity to strengthen these protections and build even more effective defenses against child poverty.
But that will only happen if Indiana's congressional delegation sends a clear message to both parties that tax reform must be a win for children. With their leadership, we can build a tax code that invests in kids and make real gains on child poverty.
Bruce Lesley is president of First Focus Campaign for Children.
House passes GOP-backed revision of No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind included a requirement that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. When that proved virtually impossible, the Obama administration granted waivers to states in exchange for assurances that they’d adopt college- or work-ready standards for high school graduates and would evaluate teachers at least in part on the basis of achievement test scores.
Republicans objected. The House bill would ban the Department of Education from imposing conditions on waivers.
Among the House bill’s supporters were the National School Boards Association and the American Association of School Administrators. Both of the major teachers’ unions opposed it, as did advocacy groups such as the First Focus Campaign for Children and The Education Trust.
House Votes to Defund DACA
"There is only one group of people harmed by this vote, and that’s children," First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley said in a statement in response to the House vote. "Every parent and every American who values kids should be appalled."
The House vote comes as the Senate prepares to debate the immigration reform bill, which includes an accelerated pathway to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children.
High Stakes for Children in Immigration Reform
According to Wendy Cervantes, vice president, immigration and child rights policy, First Focus Campaign for Children, one of the most important provisions would keep families from being torn apart, and give parents who are detained or deported more of a say in what happens to their kids.
"And what's happening to those children is that they're either going back to their parents to a country they may have never known, or they're staying behind here with family members or friends," she stated.
Cervantes said about 5000 children are in foster care in the U.S. because their parents have been detained or deported.
Richard Blumenthal To File 'Little Dreamers' Immigration Amendment
Blumenthal's amendment is set to be endorsed by more than 125 organizations, including the National Education Association, First Focus Campaign for Children and undocumented youth advocacy group United We Dream...
No Mas Hambre Summit
Duke Storen, Chief of Staff for the Special Nutrition Programs at USDA, moderated the second panel, called, “On the Table: Childhood Nutrition and Food Insecurity.” The panelists included Rita Jaramillo, Chair of the National Latino Children’s Institute; Maritza Kelley, Senior Director of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs for First Focus Campaign for Children; and Lourdes Diaz, Vice President of Diversity Relations at Sodexo USA.