Posts Tagged: poor

An idealist’s heart: Brown on poverty, politics and the budget

Gov. Brown on Jan. 9 in the state Capitol as he unveiled his 2015-16 draft budget. Brown's budget includes the newly approved "rainy day fund."(Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)

by ANTHONY YORK posted 01.11.2015

During his press conference outlining his new $164.7 billion state spending plan, Gov. Jerry Brown made extensive remarks about Californians living in poverty, and the challenges the state faces in dealing with those who continue to struggle economically. As California’s economy has recovered, statistics show nearly 25% of the state still lives in serious economic stress.

Consumers have been complaining this year that Covered California insurance plans have doctor’s networks that are too narrow. The doctors they want to see don’t accept the insurance, they say. While a relatively new problem for California’s upper- and middle-class residents, this situation has been a problem for the poor for decades.

California school districts are illegally dipping into student meal funds, misappropriating millions of dollars intended to feed the state’s poorest children, according to a new report by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.

The California Department of Education recently ordered eight districts to repay nearly $170 million to their student meal programs. But