Payments to poor, disabled cut in half (Hawai'i)

This is not the place that I moved to, only eight-plus years ago. It had decent transit, was dominated by Dems, and no snow.

It still hasn't snowed...

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090303/NEWS01/903030349/1001

The state Department of Human Services will slice the monthly payments from $469 to $234 per person from April through June. The full payments will be restored when the new fiscal year starts in July, but the Lingle (R-Plays A Moderate On TV -Ed.) administration, looking to close the state's budget deficit, has called for a lifetime limit of one year.

The general assistance program serves about 5,150 of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the state. The monthly cash payments, which can be used for staples such as food, clothing and housing, are intended for people who have little or no income and are unable to work because of a temporary disability....

According to the department, the state Legislature provides about $31 million for both general assistance and aid to the aged, blind and disabled through a block grant. The monthly payments under general assistance were increased in the current two-year budget but the overall block grant did not change. So as the caseload grew because of the falling economy, money in the program evaporated.

edit: italics
(DHS Director Lillian -Ed.) Koller said another factor is many people are staying on general assistance longer because of delays in getting federal recognition of a permanent disability to qualify for Social Security benefits.

A lifetime limit of one year? (compare to five years for TANF) :grr: I wish the talking heads would stop floating her as a dark horse for 2012. It's starting to go to her head...

The Social Security issue is legitimate (during the recent eight-year nightmare, few new administrative judges were hired), but is not an excuse to (further) impoverish people. If anything, the state should be suing SSA to recoup the payouts caused by these delays.

And now I've missed the name change amnesty, so if I go back, I'm stuck with a Hawaiian username...

for Social Security disability? How are they supposed to live if they can't get SS and they limit a person to one year on General Assistance in their lifetime?

if the latter, most likely within a couple of blocks of Ye Olde Cubicle Farm. :eyes: