Loophole let state keep child care

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Published/Last Modified on Thursday, February 26, 2009 3:15 PM MST


 PHOENIX — A loophole in the federal stimulus law will allow the  state to avoid cutting subsidized care for the parents of 20,000  children.


 The $787 billion federal package includes money for states to  help low-income families pay the cost of having someone care for  their children while they are at work. But that law contains a  ``maintenance of effort’’ provision, forbidding states from cutting what they are spending now and replacing that with  federal dollars.

 The new state budget signed into law Jan. 31 cut close to $100  million out of the budget for the Department of Economic  Security, directing the agency to figure out what programs to  cut. DES Director Linda Blessing, in turn, trimmed $24 million  from the state’s child care funding.

 That program provides subsided care for families earning less  than 165 percent of the federal poverty level, which translates to $36,382 for a family of four. Blessing decided to stop  providing subsidies to families above 110 percent of the federal  poverty level, or $24,255.

 On Wednesday, though, Gov. Jan Brewer said she found a way to  take the federal cash without restoring the state cuts.

 

Copyright © 2012 Douglas Dispatch

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