KidsCare is Arizona’s health insurance program for children who don’t qualify for Medicaid in working
families with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level – a maximum of $47,700 for a family of
four. As a budget cutting, strategy, Arizona froze enrollment in KidsCare effective January 2010. Arizona
was allowed to continue the enrollment freeze because it did so before the signing of the Affordable Care
Act. No other state has a freeze on their children’s health insurance program and states are prohibited from
diminishing children’s health coverage that existed on March 23, 2010.
In order for its economy to remain competitive, New Jersey needs a state-of-the-art transportation network and must be willing to make the investments this requires. With the funding needed to restore this essential but deteriorating lifeline about tapped out, policymakers must act with urgency to reverse a steady decline. After years of avoiding this problem – settling at best for temporary, inadequate measures – New Jersey needs bold action to fix its transportation system.
To maintain and improve the state’s roads, bridges and mass transit systems, as well as to begin projects critical to our future, New Jersey should increase funding for the state Transportation Trust Fund – which has stagnated for a decade – by 25 percent for the next 10 years, up to $20 billion over the decade from $16 billion. To do so, the most sensible option is to extend the state’s 7 percent sales tax to gasoline. Based on current gas prices of approximately $3.50 per gallon, the imposition of the sales tax would be the equivalent of a 24.5-cent-per-gallon increase.
This would not only help put the Transportation Trust Fund on solid footing, but it would also prevent the resources generated from the present gas tax from losing their purchasing power over time, jeopardizing the very transportation system the money is supposed to preserve.
- December 1, 2013
- Staff Report
Kansas has sharply reduced state support for schools, libraries and other community services in recent years, forcing towns and cities to cut programs that Kansans depend upon or raise more money locally to sustain them. While the cuts by the state were initially prompted by the Great Recession, the substantial income tax cuts Kansas lawmakers enacted in 2012 and 2013 are draining even more resources and making it nearly impossible to replace vital aid to Kansas communities.
Since the recession hit in 2008:
- State aid for schools is down 8 percent, after adjusting for inflation, and state funding to help teachers improve their skills has been eliminated. These cuts are leading schools to increase class sizes; lay off teachers, counselors, nurses, and school librarians; and pass more costs on to parents by raising fees for school activities all coming at a time when a well-educated workforce is more important than ever to prospective employers.
- State support for libraries has been cut by over 30 percent, forcing reductions in operating hours, cutbacks in book purchases, or the establishment of waiting lists for summer reading programs. In some areas, libraries are the only resource many people have for filling out online job applications and furthering their education.
- State aid for local health services is down more than 12 percent. Local health departments play a key role in providing health services, such as childhood immunizations, and addressing health emergencies in both rural and urban communities across Kansas.
- State support for community-based corrections has been cut by 21 percent. This vital program is helping make neighborhoods safe and reducing the number of repeat offenders, ultimately saving taxpayers money.
These deep cuts pose a serious problem for the state’s ability to compete in the future. Our economy, and the health of our towns and cities, depends on wise investments in the education, health, and safety of our people.
At a time when Indiana is falling short of its higher education completion goals and the proportion of Hoosiers with some college but no degree exacerbates the skills gap, an education process called ‘reverse credit transfer’ can help address both needs. This strategy would award associate’s degrees to students who have earned all the right credits but who missed out on a diploma after transferring from community college to a four-year university.
This report finds that over half of the students who transfer from Indiana’s community colleges to four-year universities have no degree after six years. Meanwhile, there are almost 890,000 Hoosiers with some college education, but no degree to show for it, including over 600,000 with a year or more of studies. At the same time, only 33.8 percent of Indiana’s working population has at least an associate’s degree, well short of its goal of 60 percent attainment by 2025. These Hoosiers are often stuck in low-skill, low-wage jobs, and are the target population for reverse credit transfer.
Earning an associate’s degree through reverse credit transfer would benefit Indiana’s students, employers and the state. Students with an associate’s degree earn an average $5,000 more per year than those with some college education, but no degree, and are nearly a third less likely to be unemployed. Going along with increased personal earnings, for every Hoosier who earns a degree through reverse credit transfer, the state stands to gain $292 per year in increased revenues. If Indiana can convert a third of its ‘some college, no degree’ population to associates degrees through reverse credit transfer, the state stands to gain an additional $59,259,356 each year.
While a dozen other states have received grants of up to $500,000 to implement reverse credit transfer programs, Indiana has been left behind because to date the state has not articulated a cohesive statewide plan. This has become an issue of competitiveness, as states and neighbors such as Ohio have used reverse credit transfer to advance their ‘number one priority’ of college completion.
The report makes six recommendations for Indiana to create a reverse credit transfer program and to become competitive for potential grants: 1. incorporate a coordinated reverse credit transfer program into the state’s existing completion strategy; 2. cast the widest net possible to get degrees for the most students possible; 3. scale up to a statewide approach that includes as many majors and degree pathways as possible; 4. reach back and boost completion by including ‘near completers’ from previous years; 5. communicate effectively and keep student costs to a minimum; and 6. use best practices from other states to Indiana’s benefit.