June 2006

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, the federal agency in charge of the Medicaid program, last week issued guidance to all state Medicaid directors on how they are to administer the new requirement that all Medicaid applicants and recipients who are U.S. citizens must document their U.S. citizenship. The CMS guidance clarifies and in many ways softens the potential harmful impact of the law, but the new law nevertheless persecutes citizens and wastes tax dollars.

When Katrina devastated the Gulf States last year, the hurricane alerted the nation to a state without borders, a state whose geography extends beyond the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans—it is the State of Poverty, America’s undeclared disaster area. As part of our State of Poverty initiative, the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law is coordinating media outreach events between August 21 and September 1, 2006, in a campaign called “Rebuilding America’s Lower Ninth.”

Single copies of the May-June 2006 issue of CLEARINGHOUSE REVIEW are available to nonsubscribers at $30 per copy for nonprofit organizations and $60 per copy for others. A special subscription offer is extended to nonprofit entities subscribing to CLEARINGHOUSE REVIEW for the first time: Subscribe by August 31, 2006, and get a two-year subscription for the price of one—$250.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois signed Senate Bill 2349, the Illinois Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act, which will regulate mortgage foreclosure rescue deals starting January 1, 2007.

Litigation Group Wins Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award

Illinois will expand its Breast Cancer and Cervical Program (BCCP) to cover the costs of screening and treatement for all uninsured lower-income women starting January 2007. The new state budget, which the General Assembly passed and Gov. Rod. R. Blagojevich signed into law, includes, at the governor's request, $1.6 million to cover the expansion.

Drawing on observations from CLASP's visits to six programs, "Getting Connected: Employer Engagement in Work Supports" discusses efforts to connect employees with work supports in the workplace. Connecting employees with benefits in the workplace capitalizes on the opportunity to reach low-wage workers through employers.

With higher home energy costs stretching Illinois household budgets, the Illinois Energy Assistance Act now allows the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund to prevent utility shutoffs and provide a onetime bneefit of up to $100 to households.

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich recently proposed to increase state funding for education over the next four years through the sale or long-term lease of the state lottery. Many questions have surfaced about the governor's plan. Alternatives would accomplish the governor's goal of substantial increases in education funding and eliminate the structural deficit, make the state's revenue system more equitable, and avoid further mortgaging the state's financial future.

The Internal Revenue Service has new options for direct deposit of refunds. The IRS is allowing taxpayers to split their refunds into three different accounts by filling out a new form--Form 8888. Taxpayers may direct-deposit parts of their refund into retirement and emergency funds and still have money left over to pay bills.