Showing posts with label Media Stateline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media Stateline. Show all posts

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Stateline.org: Overcoming a backlog: How Texas conquered a mountain of food stamps applications and other stories




Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs overhauled work processes, IT systems and hiring to fix Texas' notorious backlog. (Texas Tribune photo)
Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs overhauled work processes, IT systems and hiring to fix Texas' notorious backlog. (Texas Tribune photo)
Overcoming a backlog: How Texas conquered a mountain of food stamps applications
By Melissa Maynard, Stateline Staff Writer

PART THREE OF THREE: Not long ago, Texas was slower than any other state at telling people whether they could receive food stamps. Today, the state ranks near the top. Here’s how Texas did it.
Proposed Medicaid cuts draw big protests in Maine
By John Gramlich, Stateline Staff Writer

TODAY'S TAKE: Hundreds of protesters packed the State House in Augusta, Maine, to voice their disapproval of a plan by Governor Paul LePage to eliminate Medicaid coverage for 65,000 residents. LePage says the program has grown so much that it has “cannibalized” money meant for other state priorities.
More schools fail to meet NCLB requirements
By Ben Wieder, Stateline Staff Writer


EDUCATION BEAT: With 39 states planning to apply for waivers from some of the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, a report finds that 48 percent of schools across the country likely did not meet the law's requirements in 2011 for yearly progress at student proficiency in math and reading.





US: Number of death sentences hits a 35-year low
WASHINGTON – The number of state executions continued to decline in 2011, according to an annual report issued Thursday, and for the first time in 35 years, the number of new death sentences meted out fell to below 100.
USA Today


NC: Perdue veto saves death-row appeal law
An attempt by the state's district attorneys, backed by Republican lawmakers, to derail North Carolina's two-year-old law allowing statistical evidence of racial bias to overturn death sentences appears to have failed with the governor's veto of their bill Wednesday.
The News & Observer (Raleigh)


FL: Florida lawmakers see no chance of cellphone driving ban
No way will Florida lawmakers ban the use of cellphones while driving, says state Sen. Jack Latvala. "You know the NRA saying that if they want my gun they'll pry it from my cold dead hands? That's what I think about banning cellphones and driving," said Latvala, R-Clearwater, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. "Absolutely no chance."
St. Petersburg Times


AL: Poll -- Majority say state needs immigration law
Two-thirds of Alabamians said there is a need for the state's new immigration law, but 37 percent believe the current law is unfair, according to a survey by Alabama State University.
Montgomery Advertiser


VA: McDonnell proposes $100M funding boost for Va. colleges
Gov. Bob McDonnell will ask state lawmakers to increase funding for higher education by more than $200 million over the next two years, an amount he described as a "down payment" toward reforms that should slow the escalation of tuition rates at state colleges.
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)


PA: State House rejects school-voucher proposal
Gov. Tom Corbett wanted a school voucher program in his Christmas stocking this year, but the legislators decided against giving it to him. In a last-ditch effort on Wednesday to deliver vouchers this fall, state House Republican leaders failed to get majority support for this centerpiece of Corbett's education-reform package.
The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)


OH: State will have one primary March 6
The long, messy process of drawing a new congressional map that won't face a ballot challenge, and picking a lone primary date that doesn't confuse voters and cost Ohio $15 million extra, ended yesterday when House Democrats reluctantly agreed to a deal.
The Columbus Dispatch


WV: PEIA board cuts health care benefits for state workers
Members of the Public Employees Insurance Agency's finance board unanimously voted Tuesday to cut health benefits by $18.4 million and take steps that will reduce the plan's long-term liability for retiree premium subsidies by $5 billion.
Charleston Daily Mail


KS: Brownback unveils school plan that would allow districts to raise more money locally
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback waded into the complex waters of school finance Wednesday with a sweeping new plan that would give Johnson County schools their long-sought ability to raise more taxes locally.
Kansas City Star


NV: Nevada going on five years as foreclosure capital of U.S.
Dreary conditions continued in the Nevada residential real estate market in November, with the state leading the nation in foreclosures for the 59th consecutive month.
Las Vegas Sun


WA: Legislature adjourns 17-day special session in Olympia
The Legislature adjourned a 17-day special session Wednesday after voting to close $480 million of the state's $2 billion budget gap. The action, which passed by lopsided and bipartisan votes in the House and Senate, left the tougher budget decisions until lawmakers return Jan. 9 for a regular 60-day session.
The News Tribune (Tacoma)
Labels: Maryland Municipal League see MML, MML, MML Municipal League
http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/search/label/MML%20Municipal%20League:


For more information on the 2011 Fall Maryland Municipal
League’s Fall Legislative Conference at the Cambridge Maryland Hyatt Regency
Chesapeake Bay, including a “Complete 2011 Fall Conference Information (.pdf)”
packet, visit the MML website at www.mdmunicipal.org.


*****


Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/


My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/