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Report on Louisiana livable wages released

LOUISIANA WEEKLY — Having a full-time job does not guarantee economic security, according to the updated ALICE Report for Louisiana published by the United Way

Published

6 years ago

January 16, 2019

Oakland Post

By Fritz Esker

Having a full-time job does not guarantee economic security, according to the updated ALICE Report for Louisiana published by the United Way.

ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The report was a collaboration between The Louisiana Association of United Ways and 11 Louisiana United Ways.

“The ALICE data shows that the economic benefits of low unemployment, increased productivity, and a booming stock market are not reaching all residents,” said ALICE report author Stephanie Hoopes, Ph.D.

The report states that low-paying service economy jobs have increased but other job opportunities have decreased. Most jobs in each state now pay less than $20 an hour, but in Louisiana 66 percent of jobs pay less than $20 an hour, as of 2016. The majority of the jobs in that percentage pay less than $15 an hour (equivalent to $30,000 a year, full-time). Twenty-nine percent of jobs in Louisiana pay between $20 and $40 an hour and only four percent pay $40-60 an hour.

“The reality is wages haven’t grown as fast as the costs of basic needs (like rent, childcare, etc.),” said Michael Williamson, president and CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Louisiana.

When accounting for age, the youngest households in Louisiana (those headed by people under 25) were the most likely to be in poverty. However, the households most likely to fall into the ALICE category were both the youngest and the oldest (those headed by people 65 and older).

In the 2016 ALICE report, the United Way highlighted the story of Ashley Durand, a young single mother working in a coffee shop. Durand released a prepared statement in a press conference for this year’s report. She has received help from the Earned Income Tax Credit and is now pursuing an associate’s degree in nursing. But she said it is still important for ALICE families to tell their stories, even though many Americans are taught to always “pull yourself up by your boot straps.”

“So many ALICE(s) are silent because they feel like they should try harder and not complain,” Durand wrote. “If others’ experiences are like my own, I can say that we are trying our best, but sometimes we need a break to change our circumstances.”

Williamson echoed Durand’s sentiment, stating that many people at the ALICE threshold are full-time workers average Americans see every day: grocery store cashiers, nursing home caregivers, and fast food workers.

“These are individuals that are working…They are doing all the right things, but they just aren’t earning the wages that would allow them to meet the needs of their families,” Williamson said.

In Orleans Parish, 53 percent of the city’s 154,355 households are at or below the ALICE threshold (29% were at the threshold and 24% were in poverty). That percentage has increased since 2010, when 46 percent of the city’s households were at or below the ALICE threshold.

Families with children are struggling to make ends meet in Orleans Parish. Eighteen percent of married families with children are at or below the ALICE threshold. Seventy-nine percent of families headed by a single mother and 60 percent of households headed by a single father are at or below the ALICE threshold.

Race affects a person’s likelihood of being at or below the ALICE threshold. In Orleans Parish, 58,558 African Americans (68.7% of the city’s African-American population) is at the ALICE threshold or in poverty. Meanwhile, 16,547 white residents are at or below the ALICE threshold (29.7%).

Stats from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development included household survival budgets for Orleans Parish. These numbers, also from 2016, indicate what it would take for someone to simply survive in New Orleans, not including any savings. A single adult would need $22,176 a year and an hourly wage of $11.09 to get by at a minimal level. A family of four would need $60,732 a year.

Williamson said the answer to these problems is not an either/or one. He said wages need to rise to reflect the increased costs of living, but there also needs to be more job training programs like those the United Way offers. Williamson said if workers are given more marketable skills, it can make employers want to pay them more.

The full Louisiana ALICE data can be found online at www.launitedway.org/ALICE.

This article originally appeared in the Louisiana Weekly.

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Recently Approved Budget Plan Favors Wealthy, Slashes Aid to Low-Income Americans

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The most significant benefits would flow to the highest earners while millions of low-income families face cuts

Published

7 hours ago

March 21, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown

BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent

The new budget framework approved by Congress may result in sweeping changes to the federal safety net and tax code. The most significant benefits would flow to the highest earners while millions of low-income families face cuts. A new analysis from Yale University’s Budget Lab shows the proposals in the House’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution would lead to a drop in after-tax-and-transfer income for the poorest households while significantly boosting revenue for the wealthiest Americans. Last month, Congress passed its Concurrent Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2025 (H. Con. Res. 14), setting revenue and spending targets for the next decade. The resolution outlines $1.5 trillion in gross spending cuts and $4.5 trillion in tax reductions between FY2025 and FY2034, along with $500 billion in unspecified deficit reduction.

Congressional Committees have now been instructed to identify policy changes that align with these goals. Three of the most impactful committees—Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means—have been tasked with proposing major changes. The Agriculture Committee is charged with finding $230 billion in savings, likely through changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Energy and Commerce must deliver $880 billion in savings, likely through Medicaid reductions. Meanwhile, the Ways and Means Committee must craft tax changes totaling no more than $4.5 trillion in new deficits, most likely through extending provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although the resolution does not specify precise changes, reports suggest lawmakers are eyeing steep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid benefits while seeking to make permanent tax provisions that primarily benefit high-income individuals and corporations.

To examine the potential real-world impact, Yale’s Budget Lab modeled four policy changes that align with the resolution’s goals:

A 30 percent across-the-board cut in SNAP funding.
A 15 percent cut in Medicaid funding.
Permanent extension of the individual and estate tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Permanent extension of business tax provisions including 100% bonus depreciation, expense of R&D, and relaxed limits on interest deductions.

Yale researchers determined that the combined effect of these policies would reduce the after-tax-and-transfer income of the bottom 20 percent of earners by 5 percent in the calendar year 2026. Households in the middle would see a modest 0.6 percent gain. However, the top five percent of earners would experience a 3 percent increase in their after-tax-and-transfer income.

Moreover, the analysis concluded that more than 100 percent of the net fiscal benefit from these changes would go to households in the top 20 percent of the income distribution. This happens because lower-income groups would lose more in government benefits than they would gain from any tax cuts. At the same time, high-income households would enjoy significant tax reductions with little or no loss in benefits.

“These results indicate a shift in resources away from low-income tax units toward those with higher incomes,” the Budget Lab report states. “In particular, making the TCJA provisions permanent for high earners while reducing spending on SNAP and Medicaid leads to a regressive overall effect.” The report notes that policymakers have floated a range of options to reduce SNAP and Medicaid outlays, such as lowering per-beneficiary benefits or tightening eligibility rules. While the Budget Lab did not assess each proposal individually, the modeling assumes legislation consistent with the resolution’s instructions. “The burden of deficit reduction would fall largely on those least able to bear it,” the report concluded.

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A Threat to Pre-emptive Pardons

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — it was a possibility that the preemptive pardons would not happen because of the complicated nature of that never-before-enacted process.

Published

7 hours ago

March 21, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

President Trump is working to undo the traditional presidential pardon powers by questioning the Biden administration’s pre-emptive pardons issued just days before January 20, 2025. President Trump is seeking retribution against the January 6th House Select Committee. The Trump Justice Department has been tasked to find loopholes to overturn the pardons that could lead to legal battles for the Republican and Democratic nine-member committee. Legal scholars and those closely familiar with the pardon process worked with the Biden administration to ensure the preemptive pardons would stand against any retaliatory knocks from the incoming Trump administration. A source close to the Biden administration’s pardons said, in January 2025, “I think pardons are all valid. The power is unreviewable by the courts.”

However, today that same source had a different statement on the nuances of the new Trump pardon attack. That attack places questions about Biden’s use of an autopen for the pardons. The Trump argument is that Biden did not know who was pardoned as he did not sign the documents. Instead, the pardons were allegedly signed by an autopen. The same source close to the pardon issue said this week, “unless he [Trump] can prove Biden didn’t know what was being done in his name. All of this is in uncharted territory. “ Meanwhile, an autopen is used to make automatic or remote signatures. It has been used for decades by public figures and celebrities.

Months before the Biden pardon announcement, those in the Biden White House Counsel’s Office, staff, and the Justice Department were conferring tirelessly around the clock on who to pardon and how. The concern for the preemptive pardons was how to make them irrevocable in an unprecedented process. At one point in the lead-up to the preemptive pardon releases, it was a possibility that the preemptive pardons would not happen because of the complicated nature of that never-before-enacted process. President Trump began the threat of an investigation for the January 6th Select Committee during the Hill proceedings. Trump has threatened members with investigation or jail.

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Reaction to The Education EO

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Meanwhile, the new Education EO jeopardizes funding for students seeking a higher education. Duncan states, PellGrants are in jeopardy after servicing “6.5 million people” giving them a chance to go to college.

Published

8 hours ago

March 21, 2025

Oakland Post

By April Ryan

There are plenty of negative reactions to President Donald Trump’s latest Executive Order abolishing the Department of Education. As Democrats call yesterday’s action performative, it would take an act of Congress for the Education Department to close permanently. “This blatantly unconstitutional executive order is just another piece of evidence that Trump has absolutely no respect for the Constitution,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who is the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee. “By dismantling ED, President Trump is implementing his own philosophy on education, which can be summed up in his own words, ‘I love the poorly educated.’ I am adamantly opposed to this reckless action, said Rep. Bobby Scott who is the most senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Morgan State University President Dr. David Wilson chimed in saying “I’m deeply concerned about efforts to shift federal oversight in education back to the states, particularly regarding equity, justice, and fairness. History has shown us what happens when states are left unchecked—Black and poor children are too often denied access to the high-quality education they deserve. In 1979 then President Jimmy Carter signed a law creating the Department of Education. Arne Duncan, former Obama Education Secretary, reminds us that both Democratic and Republican presidents have kept education a non-political issue until now. However, Duncan stressed Republican presidents have contributed greatly to moving education forward in this country.

During a CNN interview this week Duncan said during the Civil War President Abraham “Lincoln created the land grant system” for colleges like Tennessee State University. “President Ford brought in IDEA.” And “Nixon signed Pell Grants into law.” In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush which increased federal oversight of schools through standardized testing. Meanwhile, the new Education EO jeopardizes funding for students seeking higher education. Duncan states, PellGrants are in jeopardy after servicing “6.5 million people” giving them a chance to go to college. Wilson details, “that 40 percent of all college students rely on Pell Grants and student loans.”

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) says this Trump action “impacts students pursuing higher education and threatens 26 million students across the country, taking billions away from their educational futures. Meanwhile, During the president’s speech in the East Room of the White House Thursday, Trump criticized Baltimore City, and its math test scores with critical words. Governor West Moore, who is opposed to the EO action, said about dismantling the Department of Education, “Leadership means lifting people up, not punching them down.”