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State begins to shed thousands from Medicaid, push them to other care
Arizona started purging people from the pandemic-inflated Medicaid rolls this month, a process that could end up pushing more than 600,000 people off the plan, health officials and advocates said.
Arizona poverty remains among highest in nation despite recent improvements
Despite posting a sharp decrease in its poverty rate over the last two years, Arizona continued to have some of the highest poverty in the nation in 2016, the latest Census numbers show.
Wrap up with Katie Hobbs
Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, led Democrats in her chamber through yet another session where the minority party tried and failed to substantively change the budget. But the Phoenix Democrat found a few reasons to be pleased with the session, while mostly remaining frustrated by Republican legislative victories.
Governor gets nearly all he wanted in 2017 legislative session
The governor accomplished nearly all of his legislative goals this session, from various steps related to education to a measure that restores benefits to some needy families.
Arizona gives ‘low income’ assorted meanings
A family of four can bring in more than $60,000 annually to be considered low income for the state’s recently expanded voucher program, allowing them to access more funds to attend private school. But to be considered low income for various other state programs, like ones that allow the poor to buy food or basic necessities like toilet paper, the line is much lower, meaning fewer people qualify [...]
Democrats fail to modify ‘harsh’ sanctions in cash assistance bill
Democrats tried to get rid of some strings attached to a restoration of cash assistance benefits pushed by Gov. Doug Ducey, but their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.
Cash assistance limits dropped to lowest in the nation
Needy families in Arizona will soon be cut off from cash assistance meant to help the poorest parents pay for housing, food and expenses if they’ve received money from a federal program for 12 months or more.
Proposal to drug-test welfare recipients faces financial, constitutional hurdles
A bill to require random drug testing for recipients of two welfare programs is expected to be revived next year, but opponents argue that based on similar laws in other states, it would likely be ruled unconstitutional and not be cost-effective.
The broken promise of welfare reform
The swift and sweeping process used to enact historic state budget cuts has hidden major policy shifts affecting the state’s safety net for families with children. Virtually overnight, our elected officials gutted programs and policies developed with conscientious public debate, careful deliberation and clear purpose. At a time when Arizona has lost 315,000 jobs – an 11.6 percent reduction in[...]
