Content by Keyword: Poverty, Income, and Assets

South Carolina's budget process is dominated by the legislature. The governorship is one of the weakest in the nation. Until 1977, governors served only one term, so legislators were around much longer and exerted greater influence. In 1993, the Restructuring Act created eight appointed cabinet positions (the positions were elective before then).

Population (July 2003): 4.1 Million Total State Expenditures - SFY 2002: $14,894 Million (US Total: $1,073,816 Million) TANF Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 0.2 % (US: 1.3%) Medicaid Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 22.6% (US: 20.8%) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau and NASBO 2002 State Expenditure Report)

When research staff interviewed state officials for this project in September 2003, many cited New Mexico's growing Medicaid program as the most pressing issue for the state's social welfare programs. In 2002, Medicaid was one of the largest programs in the state budget, second only to k-12 education spending. In that same year, the program provid

Welfare reform in New Mexico was a legal and philosophical struggle between the executive and legislative branches of government. The Johnson administration started work on its welfare reform proposal before the federal government enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

New Mexico's budget cycle begins with the executive budget agency sending funding targets to state agencies for their budget requests. The executive budget proposal typically includes agency budget recommendations by functional category. The Legislative Finance Committee, the fiscal arm of the state legislature, releases its budget proposal at the

Population (July 2003): 1.9 Million Total State Expenditures - SFY 2002: $8,981 Million (US Total: $1,073,816 Million) TANF Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 1.8% (US: 1.3%) Medicaid Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 19.4% (US: 20.8%) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau and NASBO 2002 State Expenditure Report)

Prior to FY 2005 the DHS's Division of Economic Assistance administered the Medicaid Program. However, the Division of Medicaid operating within the office of the Governor determines the Medicaid eligibility for the poverty level aged and disabled and for nursing home residents. Mississippi's spending per Medicaid enrollee is below the national av

Mississippi began to reform its welfare programs with passage of a bill in late 1992, though its AFDC waiver request was not approved by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services until mid-1995. The waivers involved two programs, Work First and Work Encouragement. Work First, the larger program, made benefits contingent on fulfilling work requi

The governorship has traditionally been weak in Mississippi. The office has no line item veto power. Thus, even though the state legislature only meets 90 days per session in the early spring, the legislature has long played the dominant role in developing and enacting the budget. However, the governor has significant control over its implementati

Population (July 2003): 2.9 Million Total State Expenditures - SFY 2002: $10,521 Million (US Total: $1,073,816 Million) TANF Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 0.7 % (US: 1.3%) Medicaid Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 26% (US: 20.8%) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau and NASBO 2002 State Expenditure Report)

Louisiana's Medicaid and LaCHIP (Louisiana's SCHIP program) programs are administered by the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). The number of Medicaid enrollees including LaCHIP, increased 17 percent from 1997 to 2002. This enrollment increase was primarily for children, due to the successful outreach efforts to enroll them in LaCHIP. In SF

Louisiana's TANF and childcare programs are administered by the Office of Family Support within the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the state's child welfare, adoption, and foster care programs are administered by the Office of Community Services, also within the DSS. In 2001, the TANF Executive Office of Oversight and Evaluation was estab

In 1987, Louisiana moved from line item budgeting to program budgeting, and since 1997, it has implemented a performance-based budgeting system. The governor's office sets priorities and budget strategies. The legislature is not an independent body by practice, and is influenced by the governor, who carries line-item veto power. Political parties

Population (July 2003): 4.5 Million Total State Expenditures - SFY 2002: $17,608 Million (US Total: $1,073,816 Million) TANF Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 0.8 % (US: 1.3%) Medicaid Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 26.8% (US: 20.8%) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau and NASBO 2002 State Expenditure Report)

The impact of Proposition 204 on Arizona's Medicaid program was the most significant issue for non-TANF social welfare programs when we interviewed state officials. The citizen initiative expanded Medicaid eligibility from 36 percent of the 1992 federal poverty level to 100 percent of the current federal poverty level, and allocated tobacco settle

Arizona initiated its welfare reform efforts in late 1995 through waivers from the federal government. The state's EMPOWER program, (Employing and Moving People Off Welfare and Encouraging Responsibility), included requirements under consideration for federal welfare reform including time-limited cash assistance, automatic sanctions for not meetin

Arizona slowly transitioned from an annual to biennial budget in the 1990s. In 2002, the state returned to an annual budget cycle for larger state agencies including the Department of Economic Security (TANF, Food Stamps, child care, child welfare, adoption, foster care, and child support enforcement) and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment S

Population (July 2003): 5.6 Million Total State Expenditures - SFY 2002: $18,983 Million (US Total: $1,073,816 Million) TANF Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 0.7% (US: 1.3%) Medicaid Expenditures - SFY 2002 (% of total): 19% (US: 20.8%) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau and NASBO 2002 State Expenditure Report)

As noted in Section II.C., Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia were selected for further analysis using a three-step process that examined measures of state fiscal capacity and need for social welfare services. Staff from the Rockefeller Institute of Government and The Lewin Group spent approximately thre