Louisiana is participating in a federal program that provides extra money to help low-income families with children buy food during the summer months, state officials announced on Monday. The federal Summer EBT program, which will be administered through Louisiana SUN Bucks, will provide families with an extra $120, per child. Greg LaRose of the Louisiana Illuminator reports:
The [Department of Children and Family Services] is proactively telling families about the program, though it says nearly all participants are already signed up to receive the one-time benefit of $120. “Most eligible children will be automatically enrolled and do not need to apply,” Sammy Guillory, DCFS assistant secretary for family support, said in a statement. The summer benefits will be added to SNAP recipients’ EBT cards or the SUN Bucks card they were issued last summer. The money is available to use for 122 days after it is issued. It will be doled out starting in the second half of May for children already enrolled in the program.
Click here to learn more about program eligibility and how to apply.
Justice for non-unanimous jury convictions
In 2018, Louisiana voters overwhelmingly overturned a Jim Crow-era law that allowed people to be convicted of crimes even when some of their jurors did not believe they were guilty. In the ensuing years, both the U.S. Supreme Court and Louisiana Supreme Court ruled the change should only apply to future cases, and should not affect earlier split-jury convictions. Former New Orleans Saint Malcolm Jenkins, writing in a guest column for The Times-Picayune | Baton Rouge Advocate, explains how state lawmakers can right this historic wrong:
Sen. Royce Duplessis’s bill corrects this injustice and offers a pathway for individuals convicted by non-unanimous juries to finally receive a new trial. … Passing SB 218 is not just about correcting a legal error. It is about reaffirming our commitment to the ideals of equality and fairness that lie at the heart of our justice system. It is about restoring faith and demonstrating that in Louisiana, we believe in true justice for all, not just some. Let us finish the work we started in 2018 and finally right these past wrongs. The time to act is now.
Pushing SNAP costs onto states
House Republicans will soon begin outlining spending cuts to safety-net programs that will be used to partially offset tax cuts for the wealthy and large, profitable corporations. This includes nixing $230 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps. Katie Bergh of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains how billions of dollars in SNAP costs could be pushed onto states:
One proposal in play, according to Politico, would phase in a requirement that states pay 22.5 percent of SNAP food benefit costs over the next decade. While it is unclear when this cost shift would begin or how quickly it would ramp up, we estimate a 22.5 percent requirement would impose $23.65 billion in new costs on state budgets in 2034 alone, the first year the proposal would be fully phased in. … States are required to balance their budgets each year, so taking on any additional costs would require them to raise an equal amount of revenue or cut funding for other programs and services that people rely on.
Louisiana would need to spend $479 million over the next decade to make up for the proposed federal cut and not reduce food assistance.
Minimum wage is a poverty wage
In 2025, a single adult working full-time, year-round at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would be living below the poverty line. Sebastian Martinez Hickey and Ismael Cid-Martinez of the Economic Policy Institute explain how increasing the federal minimum would help people make ends meet and care for their families.
The federal minimum wage is a powerful tool in fighting poverty in the U.S. The best economic research has consistently shown that increasing the minimum wage lifts earnings for low-wage workers, with little to no impact on employment. Research shows that increasing the minimum wage decreases poverty by increasing the incomes of low-income families, even accounting for decreases in public benefits as families earn more from higher wages. In analysis of legislation introduced in 2021 to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, EPI concluded that the policy would lift between 1.8 to 3.7 million individuals out of poverty, including up to 1.3 million children.
Thirty states have minimum wages that are above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. Unfortunately, Louisiana doesn’t have a state minimum wage and defaults to the federal minimum. Senate Bill 206 by Sen. Gary Carter would establish a state minimum wage of $10 per hour in 2025. The state minimum would gradually increase to $14 per hour by 2029.
Number of the Day
53% – Percentage of Americans who feel their personal financial situation is getting worse. (Source: Gallup)