July 9, 2009
Budget Update # 24
What’s New at the Federal Level
On May 8th, the Administration announced a new initiative that would help recently unemployed workers receive technical and higher education training while receiving unemployment benefits.This initiative was developed as an opportunity to give folks who have lost their jobs the chance to go back to school and train for the jobs of tomorrow. Currently, you cannot receive unemployment benefits while receiving Pell Grants for school. This would change. Pell Grants cover tuition at almost every community college in the country, and unemployment benefits can
help those studying to gain new skills to support their families at the same time.
The President said that our most unappreciated asset in this country is our community college system. More information can be found at www.opportunity.gov.
What’s New at the State Level California still does not have a signed budget. We have passed our constitutional deadline and the state is now beginning to issue out IOU’s to state vendors and recipients of tax refunds. The state is expected to run out of cash by the end of July. The state has also seen its credit rating drop from A- to BBB, making it one of the lowest rated states in the nation. The Governor, just yesterday, released a new proposal that outlines reforms for CalWORKs, which includes child care. It is unknown whether or not these proposals will eventually get integrated into the larger discussion around closing the state deficit
gap.
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