Posts Tagged Welfare

Drug_Test
By Reina Gattuso • 5 years ago

Drug Tests: Weapons Against the Marginalized

Last week, Pennsylvania Democratic state representative Kevin Haggerty proposed that people filing Protection from Abuse orders should be drug tested if they lack “substantive” evidence of abuse.

Yes, that does mean he thinks abuse victims should be drug tested in order to obtain protection from the state. Yes, that is as heinous as it sounds.

Last week, Pennsylvania Democratic state representative Kevin Haggerty proposed that people filing Protection from Abuse orders should be drug tested if they lack “substantive” evidence of abuse.

Yes, that does mean he thinks abuse victims should be ...

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By Alyssa Peterson • 7 years ago

California is Ending One of Its Most Sexist Welfare Policies

In a huge win for anti-poverty advocates, California lawmakers are poised to get rid of the Maximum Family Grant rule (MFG), a policy passed in 1994 that coerced women into having fewer children by depriving them of the resources they needed to raise them.

In a huge win for anti-poverty advocates, California lawmakers are poised to get rid of the Maximum Family Grant rule (MFG), a policy passed in 1994 that coerced women into having fewer children by depriving them of ...

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By Juliana Britto Schwartz • 9 years ago

California is punishing low-income people for having children

Two decades ago, the California legislature implemented a policy meant to control the reproductive lives of low-income people, mostly women of color. Under the “Maximum Family Grant” rule, California families that had received welfare assistance in the past 10 months were not eligible for an increased grant if they had another child. 

Two decades ago, the California legislature implemented a policy meant to control the reproductive lives of low-income people, mostly women of color. Under the “Maximum Family Grant” rule, California families that had received welfare assistance in the ...
By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

From Katie, some of the countless best of the year

1)Up with Chris Hayes drops systemic analysis on Penn State

Because the post highlights a much-needed critical, thoughtful perspective, which challenges the sensationalism and irresponsible journalism which dominates our media and manages to focus on2) because Jos becomes the 438th person I know to claim Chris Hayes as her boyfriend.

Chris Hayes, my morning talk show boyfriend, dedicated an hour of his Saturday show to the Penn State sexual abuse scandal. Hayes is joined by a great panel: The New Yorker writer Rick Hertzberg, University of Texas visiting scholar Victoria M. Defrancesco Soto, former Brooklyn District Attorney and Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, MSNBC political analyst Michael Eric Dyson, and The Nation‘s sports writer Dave Zirin. They look at the way powerful institutions breed this sort of corruption and evil, drawing links with ...

1)Up with Chris Hayes drops systemic analysis on Penn State

Because the post highlights a much-needed critical, thoughtful perspective, which challenges the sensationalism and irresponsible journalism which dominates our media and manages to focus on2) because Jos ...
By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

Florida Gov Rick Scott refuses to pee in a cup

Rick Scott, the unpopular Florida Gov who recently signed a law requiring welfare recipients to submit to a drug test before receiving their benefits, got a taste of his own medicine yesterday when The Daily Show‘s Aasif Mandvi confronted him at a press conference and demanded a urine sample.

It’s good joke–and it could even become a real policy initiative. Apparently, Georgia State Rep. Holcomb has introduced a bill requiring all state lawmakers to be drug-tested as well, saying “if required for the poor, we [lawmakers] need to do it, too.” Sounds fair. Alternatively, of course, we could just end the war on drugs, stop criminalizing poverty, and demand our lawmakers quit wasting time with such ...

Rick Scott, the unpopular Florida Gov who recently signed a law requiring welfare recipients to submit to a drug test before receiving their benefits, got a taste of his own medicine yesterday when The Daily ...
By Miriam • 12 years ago

Welfare drug testing law blocked by Florida Judge

The battle continues between State legislature’s passing all sorts of frightening laws and the judicial system fighting to see what pieces can be enacted.

This time, its the controversial Florida law that required welfare recipients to submit to a drug test before receiving their benefits. From the Associated Press:

A federal judge temporarily blocked Florida’s new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits on Monday, saying it may violate the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.

Judge Mary Scriven ruled in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Navy veteran and single father who sought the benefits while finishing his college degree, but refused to take ...

The battle continues between State legislature’s passing all sorts of frightening laws and the judicial system fighting to see what pieces can be enacted.

This time, its the controversial Florida law that required welfare recipients to submit to ...