Federal Cost of Crop Insurance for Boone County

For the last seventeen years (1995-2012) the cost was $19,977,243 or which is an average of $1,175,132 per year.

 

Information below is from:  http://farm.ewg.org/cropinsurance.php?fips=17007&summpage=SUMMARY

 

County by County Comparison

Boone County has extensive amount of row crops but is smaller in terms of square miles than many other counties.  Here is how Boone County’s nearly $20 million compares with other Illinois counties. (NOTE:  The figures for Boone County are slightly different on the comparative numbers—$19,596,910 vs. $19,977,243.  This maybe due to methodology.)

Very interesting—in the case of Knox County—last on the comparison lists—the federal government actually made money on the insurance subsidy program.. See Knox County’s individual costs at the bottom of this posting-- government costs nearly equal premiums and earned interest.

Obama Proposes Free Community College Education for Some Students - NYTimes.com

 

WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce Friday that the federal government will work with states to waive the first two years of community college tuition for some students.

If states go along, the program would cover full-time and half-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average and “make steady progress toward completing a program,” the White House said in a fact sheet released Thursday night.

The federal government would cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college for those students, the White House said.

White House officials declined to reveal how much such a program would cost, although they called it “significant.” And they acknowledged in a conference call with reporters that the program was unlikely to quickly win approval in Congress.

States that choose to participate would have to contribute the remaining funds necessary to eliminate tuition for the eligible students. No price tag was included in the fact sheet, and the White House provided no estimate of the number of students who might qualify.

Mr. Obama, in the video, said that if the program was carried out, “it’s something that will train our work force so that we can compete with anybody in the world.”

The president will announce the initiative at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tenn. The trip is part of a tour in which he is previewing issues he will talk about in his State of the Union address.

About 7.7 million Americans attend community college for credit, of whom 3.1 million, or 40 percent, attend full time, according to the American Association of Community Colleges, relying on 2012 data.

Over all, the federal government provides about $9.1 billion to community colleges, or about 16 percent of the total revenue the colleges receive. Tuition from students provides $16.7 billion a year, or nearly 30 percent of revenue.

Obama Proposes Free Community College Education for Some Students - NYTimes.com

Illinois Policy Institute: “Welfare Cliff”

For a family living in poverty, a parent’s pay hike is more than just a golden egg.
It’s hope. It’s success. It’s cause for celebration with arms stretched upward, tracing the trajectory of a future filled with better opportunities.
But thanks to poorly planned policy, many Illinois families must brace themselves for a shuddering impact: a warped welfare system can make raises hurt.
Welfare benefits are structured with intent to address the myriad struggles associated with poverty, and even more, to serve as a foundation for upward economic mobility. But a phenomenon known as the “welfare cliff” is creating a poverty trap, making pay raises detrimental because they are outweighed by an even greater, simultaneous decline in welfare benefits.
New research from the Illinois Policy Institute details the welfare cliff experienced by single-parent, two-children households and two-parent, two-children households in Cook, Lake and St. Clair counties, as well as the city of Chicago.
The research model assumed that families have been aided by refundable tax credits, such as the state and federal Earned Income Tax Credit; cash grants through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program; and assistance for food, housing, health care and child care.
Under these assumptions, a working single parent in Chicago would be foolish to take a pay raise to $18 an hour from $12 an hour. They’d fall from the top of the welfare cliff and see a drastic net reduction in benefits, leaving them with as much as one-third less in household resources. This loss would only be made up again by finding a job paying $38 an hour.

Similarly drastic effects were observed in downstate St. Clair County, as well as northern Lake County, for both single- and two-parent households.
Per the study: “This result reveals a tremendous disincentive to seek work that pays more, essentially trapping single parents between the minimum wage and $12 per hour. It is unlikely that persons in this situation would be able to triple their incomes in order to recover lost benefits from the cliff.”
Creating this cavernous earnings gap for poor families to leap across in order to make up for lost welfare benefits is nothing short of cruel.
The welfare cliff detailed in the study is created by a combination of programs that taper off too quickly or are too generous to begin with. Specifically, housing benefits, child-care assistance and health-care assistance programs taper off steeply. It is with the narrow-minded designers of these anti-poverty initiatives where one should lay blame for the associated poverty trap.
While the state of Illinois currently has little authority to reform these programs, state and local officials must fight for Illinois families by lobbying the federal government for more discretion in welfare spending. This is the first step in addressing the inexcusable inequalities built in to the welfare system as it stands.

Employment Opportunities | Boone County, Illinois

 

Boone County government offers a wide and diverse number of direct services to its residents, including law enforcement, correction and detention of law violators, support for the criminal justice system, direct health care, maintenance of essential records, highway maintenance, property assessments, courtroom operations, building and planning services, tax collection for other local governments, and election administration among others. From these many services come many opportunities for employment.

Boone County Government job application can be found here: Job Application

CURRENT OPENINGS: 

The Boone County Health Department is currently hiring a full-time Public Health Nurse to serve as our Family Case Management/Immunizations/WIC Coordinator.  Must possess a strong desire to work with children and families.  Excellent computer skills required.  A background in public health nursing and experience working in any of the above three programs strongly encouraged to apply.  Bilingual in English/Spanish a plus!  Must be a registered nurse licensed to practice in Illinois.  Excellent working environment and great benefit package.  12 paid holidays, weekends, and most evenings off.  Send resume to Amanda Mehl, Boone County Department of Public Health, 1204 Logan Ave., Belvidere, IL 61008 or submit electronically to info@boonehealth.org. EOE

For a detailed job description for the Public Health Nurse position, click here.

Employment Opportunities | Boone County, Illinois

Employment Opportunities | Boone County, Illinois

 

APPOINTMENT VACANCIES:

The following are volunteer Boards of the County of Boone that have vacancies:

CAPRON CEMETERY ASSOCIATION

Three (3) vacancies for a term that will expire February 1, 2021

BOONE COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION

Two (2) vacancies for a term that will expire December 31, 2016

COMMISSIONERS OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTY OF BOONE

Two (2) vacancies for a term that will expire January, 2020

Interested parties are asked to send a letter and/or resume expressing your interest and qualifications to Boone County Board Chairman Bob Walberg, 1212 Logan Ave., Suite 102, Belvidere, IL 61008.  Please respond by January 2, 2015 to assure being considered.

Employment Opportunities | Boone County, Illinois

New GOP Congress Fires Shot At Social Security On Day One

 

ByDylan Scott

PublishedJanuary 6, 2015, 5:34 PM EST 111777 views

With a little-noticed proposal, Republicans took aim at Social Security on the very first day of the 114th Congress.

The incoming GOP majority approved late Tuesday a new rule that experts say could provoke an unprecedented crisis that conservatives could use as leverage in upcoming debates over entitlement reform.

The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program. The transfers, known as reallocation, had historically been routine; the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities said Tuesday that they had been made 11 times. The CBPP added that the disability insurance program "isn't broken," but the program has been strained by demographic trends that the reallocations are intended to address.

The House GOP's rule change would still allow for a reallocation from the retirement fund to shore up the disability fund -- but only if an accompanying proposal "improves the overall financial health of the combined Social Security Trust Funds," per the rule, expected to be passed on Tuesday. While that language is vague, experts say it would likely mean any reallocation would have to be balanced by new revenues or benefit cuts.

House Democrats are sounding the alarm. In a memo circulated to their allies Tuesday, Democratic staffers said that that would mean "either new revenues or benefit cuts for current or future beneficiaries." New revenues are highly unlikely to be approved by the deeply tax-averse Republican-led Congress, leaving benefit cuts as the obvious alternative.

The Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees estimated last year that the disability insurance program would run short of money to pay all benefits some time in late 2016. Without a new reallocation, disability insurance beneficiaries could face up to 20 percent cuts in their Social Security payments in late 2016 -- a chit that would be of use to Republicans pushing for conservative entitlement reforms.

"The rule change would prohibit a simple reallocation! It will require more significant and complex changes to Social Security," Social Security Works, an advocacy group, said in a statement Tuesday. "In other words, the Republican rule will allow Social Security to be held hostage."

Policy wonks who follow Social Security saw the GOP rule change as a play for leverage.

"Everybody's been talking about entitlement reform. Mr. Boehner and President Obama were pretty close to coming up with some kind of grand bargain, which ultimately fell apart," Tom Hungerford, senior economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, told TPM. "Maybe this could be used as a hostage to try to get back to something like that."

For their part, congressional Republicans were fairly transparent about their thinking. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), who has been outspoken on the disability program, co-sponsored the rule amendment. The disability program has been a favored target for the GOP; members were warning last month that the program could be vulnerable to fraud.

"My intention by doing this is to force us to look for a long term solution for SSDI rather than raiding Social Security to bail out a failing federal program," Reed said in a statement. "Retired taxpayers who have paid into the system for years deserve no less.”

Liberal analysts counter, however, that the retirement fund, which pays out $672.1 billion in benefits per year versus $140.1 billion for the disability fund, is more than healthy enough to allow for a reallocation, as has historically been done. CBPP's Kathy Ruffing wrote that, if a transfer was made before the 2016 deadline, both funds would be solvent until 2033.

The Republican angle in preventing that move then seems obvious.

"By barring the House from approving a 'clean' reallocation in 2016, the rule will strengthen the hand of lawmakers who seek to attach harsh conditions (such as sharp cuts in eligibility or benefit amounts) to such a measure," Ruffing wrote.

Above is from:  New GOP Congress Fires Shot At Social Security On Day One

Sen. Steve Stadelman: DCFS problems widespread, systemic - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

joint Illinois House-Senate committee had the first of what could be many hearings Tuesday, sparked by a newspaper’s series that investigated conditions at 50 youth facilities overseen by the Department of Children and Family Services. One of those is Rock River Academy in Rockford.

The Chicago Tribune report “found hundreds of cases of physical and sexual abuse and thousands of runaway incidents among residents from 2011 through 2013,” the paper said Tuesday about its series.

Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, said by phone from Chicago during a break in the committee meeting, that the problems at DCFS are widespread and systemic.

“This agency has had no continuity from the top down. It has had seven directors in three years,” said Stadelman. Acting director Bobbie Gregg is resigning Jan. 19. Incoming governor Bruce Rauner will name a new director.

“The hearing got started at 10 a.m.,” said Stadelman at 3 p.m. “The committee is to serve as a fact-finding panel to gather information and look at legislation that will address our concerns.”

Stadelman said DCFS has had problems “going on for 20, 30, 40 years, and according to the Tribune things are not getting better. The issues are very complex. Workers at the residential centers tend to make minimum wage and they’re dealing with very troubled and difficult kids.”

One glaring problem that came out during the hearing, said Stadelman, “was the lack of data. DCFS is a major agency but they don’t have a handle on major problems like who has run away, who’s missing, how many have been arrested. If you’re going to address a problem, you need data, and DCFS doesn’t have the data. It’s unacceptable.”

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Sen. Steve Stadelman: DCFS problems widespread, systemic - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

See other postings on this story:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2015/01/youths-drawn-into-prostitution-while.html