The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services warns that unless more funding is approved in the special session, that the food stamps program will be shut down. Walters says 64 percent of people who receive SNAP benefits are either children, disabled, or the elderly, with another 27 percent being the working poor who a earn paycheck that’s not enough to feed their families.
The feds currently pump 1.4 billion dollars in federal SNAP dollars into the state every year, which Walters says ends up being spent at one of 4,500 businesses like grocery stores and gas stations. The Secretary says that kind of economic loss would ripple throughout Louisiana’s economy.
The department is currently set for 34 million dollars in cuts.
A new state law allows Louisiana public school teachers up to 30 days of paid leave for the adoption process. Baton Rouge Representative Rick Edmonds sponsored a package of bills promoting adoption after seeing families tackle the hurdles of the process during his campaign.
Cut 6 (09) “…related to financial loss”
A North Louisianian got a huge surprise when the state’s Treasury Department informed them that they were owed 2.3 million dollars as part of the Unclaimed Property Program that returns uncollected money from estates to the next of kin. State Treasurer John Schroder says he’s never seen anything like it.