Daily Dime

The expanded Child Tax Credit was one of the biggest policy successes born from the Covid-19 pandemic. It reduced child poverty by more than 25% – lifting 3.4 million children out of poverty – by giving families a monthly, no-strings-attached cash allowance, which they used on basic necessities such as food, utilities or shelter.… Read more...

The tiny, majority-Black settlement of Wallace, on the west bank of St. John the Baptist Parish, has become deeply divided over a proposed new grain elevator. As The Advocate’s Roshaun Higgins reports, the allure of much-needed new jobs come with the prospect of backroom deals by politicians that would give away millions of local tax dollars, pollution that harm peoples’ health and cultural desecration: 

Instead of paying taxes on the property’s assessed value, Greenfield would pay the parish just $4 million this year and another $2 million each year beginning in 2025 or whenever the elevator begins operating, under an agreement first reported by The Lens.

Louisiana likely finished the 2022 fiscal year with a budget surplus, Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne told the Louisiana Board of Regents on Tuesday, meaning legislators will once again have extra money on hand next year as they debate the state budget.… Read more...

The encouraging news about a significant reduction in child poverty – reported last week by Child Trends and The New York Times – obscures the fact that there continues to be wide racial disparities in family wealth and income that makes it harder for Black and Hispanic children to thrive. … Read more...