Other Good News in NHby: Jennifer DalerFri Mar 27, 2009 at 10:36:29 AM EDT |
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Elections do matter. It matters to have a Democratic legislative majority and executive at the state and national level even if we all don't always agree with them on every point. I would also submit that we shouldn't always agree with them on every point, and when those points are important to us, we should let them know it. That is how we foster dialog and hopefully create better policies.
But in perusing other news from the State House, in addition to passing marriage equality, the NH House of Representatives passed other bills which will help alleviate the suffering of our neediest and most vulnerable citizens. |
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One bill is to add a housing voucher for the neediest families receiving TANF (Temporary Assiatance to Needy Families). According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, New Hampshire is second best in the nation for homeless children. But that isn't saying much. In their report on New Hampshire, it says that it takes 168% of the TANF benefit to pay rent on a two bedroom apartment. You don't have to be a math whiz to see that money meant for all necessities except food cannot also pay for bare housing, much less utilities, transportation, etc.
The NH House has passed HB658-FN to address this problem: III-a.(a) The department shall identify the neediest families who are receiving TANF and, subject to available funds, issue such families a monthly supplemental rent voucher in the amount required to ensure such families access to the bottom 30 percent of the state's private rental market. The cash amount of the voucher shall be based on the average of the maximum monthly TANF grant issued to 2 and 3 member TANF households and the gross median monthly rent of a 2 bedroom apartment at the thirtieth percentile of the state's private rental market as determined by the New Hampshire housing authority. The amount of the voucher shall be determined biennially by the department, in consultation with the New Hampshire housing authority, on a schedule coordinated with the state's budget cycle. The House also voted to close a gap that exists in the Healthy Kids program between Healthy Kids Gold and Silver (HB529). Introduced last session by yours truly, and taken up by the able Representative Suzanne Butcher (D-Keene), this bill corrects a gap in coverage for kids moving from the Gold (Medicaid) to Silver (S-CHIP) programs. Right now, when a family's income goes above the Gold guidelines, but they are eligible for Silver, the Gold is terminated within ten days , but they cannot enroll in the Silver program until the first of the following month. This potentially leaves the children bare for three or four weeks, depending on the dates in question. After some great work on the part of Katie Dunn and Chris Shannon over at DHHS, a way was found to close the gap for very little money. This bill had to be put into interim study because W. kept vetoing S-CHIP (remember?). Suzanne, Katie, Chris, Representative Peter Batula (R-Merrimack) and I worked hard on this policy change. It came out of the study committee with bipartisan support. These bills still need to pass the State Senate and be signed into law, but they are on their way. If you support them, it doesn't hurt to let your State Senator and the Governor know. Also, the AP is reporting that the NH Department of Health and Human Services is able to increase food stamp benefits with federal stimulus money. These are a few examples of how important our majorities are. These changes can make the difference for people being able to lift themselves out of poverty, or staying in a vicious cycle. But they would have been unthinkable only a short while ago. |