Five additional parishes will join a pilot program that incentivizes participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy more fruits and vegetables. Louisiana is one of three states selected to participate in the program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Elise Plunk reports:
“The project helps Louisianans stretch their food budget, but the broader goal is to improve health outcomes,” said Sammy Guillory, assistant secretary of family support with the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. The program has distributed $280,000 in additional credits to SNAP recipients in Louisiana since it launched in April.
SNAP recipients in Louisiana will no longer be allowed to use their benefits to buy soda or candy starting in January. The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate’s Alyse Pfeil reports:
Gov. Jeff Landry, in a social media post, announced that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had signed off on a waiver that allows Louisiana to exclude soda and candy from purchase with SNAP benefits administered by the state. A target implementation date for the change is Jan. 15, according to information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP website.
Expanding access to doula services
Louisiana Medicaid recipients now have access to doula services under a new state law that took effect this month. Louisiana has long been one of the most dangerous places in which to be born or give birth to a child, and state leaders have not done nearly enough to address the high number of preventable maternal and infant deaths. Verite News’ Halle Parker explains how Act 228 by Rep. Dustin Miller aims to reverse course:
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Seven years ago, [Maternal and child health advocate Frankie] Robertson’s daughter was born three months early and spent the first two months of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit. The neonatal care alone cost between $60,000 to $70,000, and her baby was less expensive than others, she said. Studies have found that these births often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. “They are million-dollar babies,” she said. “It’s a no-brainer that you want to invest on the front end, not just because it’s the right thing to do and because it can save the life of the mom and the baby, but the math is pretty clear cut.”
Access to doula services could soon be under threat because of massive federal cuts to Medicaid:
Doula support is considered an optional service under the state Medicaid program, and optional services may be on the chopping block if the state receives less federal funding. Louisiana is projected to lose up to $34 billion in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade. … The largest federal funding cuts aren’t expected to take place until 2029, and state lawmakers aren’t taking any immediate action to address the potential for future funding shortfalls.
Voting Rights Act turns 60; faces uncertain future
Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which aimed to nullify state and local laws that prevented African Americans from voting. But as the AP’s Gary Fields and Jack Dura explain, those protections are under threat:
“We’re at a critical juncture right now,” said Demetria McCain, director of policy at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “And, let’s be clear, our democracy is only about to turn 60 when the Voting Rights Act anniversary gets here. I say that because there are so many attacks on voting rights, particularly as it relates to Black communities and communities of color.”
Louisiana is at the epicenter of a legal battle that could have huge implications for the Voting Rights Act:
Two years ago, voting rights activists celebrated when the Supreme Court preserved Section 2 in a case out of Alabama that required the state to draw an addition congressional district to benefit Black voters. Now it’s poised to rehear a similar case out of Louisiana that could modify or undo that decision.
Expanding universal child care
New York City’s new budget includes $10 million for a pilot program that provides access to free child care for children ages 2 and under. Governing’s Justin Brannan and Allison Lew explain how expanding access to affordable child care is becoming a priority in states and cities across the country:
Organizers in California are taking note, eager to understand how New York’s win can inspire lawmakers to pass affordable child care in their state. This isn’t a coincidence — it’s the latest sign that there’s a growing national movement to recognize child care as an essential public good, not a luxury for the lucky few. … In 2022, New Mexico became the first state to offer free child care to families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and saw its poverty rate plummet as a result. The same year, voters in New Orleans passed a ballot measure to fund thousands of new child-care and after-school seats, paid for by a small property tax increase.
Number of the Day
53% – Percentage of Americans who see grocery prices as a major source of stress. (Source: Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research)