TheRepublic.com - Government programs News

Assembly adopts Republican changes to budget

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:02:10 -0400

MADISON, Wisconsin - The Republican-controlled state Assembly on Wednesday approved more than two dozen changes to the state budget but decided against adding a provision designed to limit public access to the proposed site of an iron ore mine near Lake Superior.

Wis. welfare-to-work incentives could trim cases

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:49:34 -0400

MADISON, Wisconsin - Wisconsin officials hope a new incentive plan will trim participation in the state's welfare-to-work program, which has seen an increase in enrollment despite predictions that fewer poor people would need its assistance.

18 mayors: Limit use of food stamps to buy soda

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:45:31 -0400

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island - The mayor of Providence is among 18 mayors nationwide reviving a push against allowing government food vouchers to be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.

House speaker: Budget at risk without Medicaid

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:39:13 -0400

CONCORD, New Hampshire - New Hampshire's House speaker says it will be hard to get the Democratic House to support a state budget that does not include a way to expand Medicaid to an estimated 58,000 poor adults.

Judge sides with provider in Medicaid fraud case

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:55:32 -0400

POCATELLO, Idaho - A state hearing officer has cleared a mental health provider with offices in southern and eastern Idaho of Medicaid fraud allegations.

Greenville woman facing 7 counts of Medicaid fraud

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:01:38 -0400

JACKSON, Mississippi - A 31-year-old Greenville woman has been indictment on seven counts of Medicaid fraud.

Obama: 'Lives have been saved' by NSA programs

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:13:55 -0400

BERLIN - Trying to tamp down concerns about government over-reach, President Barack Obama on Wednesday defended U.S. Internet and phone surveillance programs as narrowly targeted efforts that have saved lives and thwarted at least 50 terror threats.

Peterson urges compromise on farm bill

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:07:26 -0400

WASHINGTON - As the House began debate on its version of a new five-year farm bill, the dean of Minnesota's congressional delegation urged colleagues to pass it.

House to consider cuts to food stamps

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:12:20 -0400

WASHINGTON - A wide-ranging farm bill the House is considering would cut food stamps by $2 billion a year and make it more difficult for some people to qualify for the domestic food aid program.

Unmarked graves could hold up poor farm project

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:01:11 -0400

VINCENNES, Indiana - A half dozen graves could hold up conversion of a southwestern Indiana county home for the poor into a women's shelter.

Obama relying on untested oversight board on NSA

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:26:35 -0400

WASHINGTON - The obscure oversight board that President Barack Obama wants to scrutinize the National Security Agency's secret surveillance system is little known for good reason. The U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has operated fitfully during its eight years of low-profile existence, stymied by congressional infighting and, at times, censorship by government lawyers.

NSA director says plot against Wall Street foiled

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:23:32 -0400

WASHINGTON - The U.S. foiled a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange because of the sweeping surveillance programs at the heart of a debate over national security and personal privacy, officials said Tuesday at a rare open hearing on intelligence led by lawmakers sympathetic to the spying.

Gov't report: Smooth launch unsure for health law

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:10:14 -0400

WASHINGTON - There's no guarantee that President Barack Obama's health care law will launch smoothly and on time, congressional investigators say in the first in-depth independent look at its progress.

Feds say Calif. hospice owes $112M for fake claims

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:29:10 -0400

SAN DIEGO - A Southern California hospice owes the government $112 million in false claims for payment, federal officials say.

18 mayors: Limit use of food stamps to buy soda

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:13:45 -0400

NEW YORK - The mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and 15 other cities are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.

EPA report critical of Wash. oversight at Hanford

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:04:19 -0400

YAKIMA, Washington - A new report released Tuesday faults Washington state for lax oversight at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site, saying the state employs too few inspectors and gives advance notice of inspections to the federal agency charged with managing the cleanup.

Ark. AG seeks to uphold verdict against J&J

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:22:15 -0400

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - Arkansas' attorney general filed a brief Tuesday backed by his counterparts in 35 other states asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to uphold a $1.2 billion fine levied against Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary over the marketing of the antipsychotics drug Risperdal.

Report says most Miss. education schools mediocre

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:53:55 -0400

JACKSON, Mississippi - Mississippi's teacher training programs are mediocre at best, according to a group pushing for changes in how the nation trains teachers.

Ohio lawmakers offer 2 bills to change Medicaid

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:37:49 -0400

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Proposed changes to the Medicaid program in Ohio are unlikely to clear the Legislature before lawmakers break at the end of the month, the Republican leader of the House said Tuesday.

Mich. Senate doesn't vote on Medicaid expansion

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:30:40 -0400

LANSING, Michigan - The Michigan Senate adjourned Tuesday without voting to expand Medicaid eligibility to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults under the federal health care law, leaving the bill's future in doubt before lawmakers break for the summer.

Audit: Lawmakers need to define school readiness

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:18:10 -0400

COLUMBIA, South Carolina - State lawmakers must define "school readiness" and establish pre-school testing to better determine which children most need help and boost their chances for success, according to an audit of South Carolina First Steps that was released Tuesday.

18 mayors: Limit use of food stamps to buy soda

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:58:31 -0400

NEW YORK - The mayors of Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and 15 other cities are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.

Budget director: Ohio's unused surplus about $397M

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:57:48 -0400

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state should have almost $397 million in uncommitted funds leftover at end of the current budget year, Ohio's budget director said Tuesday before a legislative panel that's working to put the final touches on the next state spending plan.

Google asks FISA court to lift gag order

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:55:29 -0400

WASHINGTON - Google on Tuesday sharply challenged the federal government's gag order on its Internet surveillance program, citing what it described as a First Amendment right to divulge how many requests it receives from the government for data about its customers in the name of national security.

Report: Calif. locking up far fewer young people

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:43:47 -0400

SACRAMENTO, California - California is a national leader in reducing the number of juvenile offenders incarcerated in state and county lockups, according to a study advocacy groups released Tuesday.