Boxer lauds passage of unemployment benefits extension
Sen. Barbara Boxer last week praised the Senate's passage of legislation to extend unemployment insurance for nearly 2 million Americans who would have otherwise lost their benefits by the end of the year.
The bill will extend benefits by 14 weeks for jobless workers across the country and by 20 weeks in states with unemployment rates higher than 8.5 percent, including California, according to a news release from Boxer's office.
The bill includes a provision that extends homebuyer tax credits to first-time homebuyers as well as other qualified people who already own homes.
The legislation also includes a provision to ease the burden of the economic downturn on struggling businesses by allowing them to use current operating losses to get a refund of prior taxes paid, according to a news release.
"This bill comes at a critical time when millions of Americans and at least 170,000 Californians are at risk of losing their unemployment benefits," Boxer said. "Extending benefits will not only help laid-off workers support their families while they look for jobs, it will also provide a boost to our economy."
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Homebuyer tax credits are a good idea. So is the tax refund for struggling businesses. Let's keep those changes. But how in the world is California going to fund an extention of benefits for 20 weeks for jobless workers? This state is in a crippling recession and so far in the red we can't yet find a way out. Instead of constantly relying on taxpayers to bail out the unemployed, why doesn't the government start to take some responsibility for how they spend our money and resolve to make better, more efficient choices? We need look no further than our own Los Angeles County to see just how bad our money is being wasted.
Last year, the LA County Department of Public Social Services procured for vendor services to operate the county's welfare to work program. Bids came in from the incumbent company (Maximus, Inc.) and newcomer Policy Studies Inc. (PSI). Both were scored by a neutral third party, and PSI beat Maximus solidly in several categories, including performance and bid price. PSI was recommended by DPSS to receive the contract.
The Board of Supervisors rejected the recommendation with 3 votes. They claimed the process of consensus scoring somehow concealed bias from the DPSS, though no specific evidence of this was ever presented. Furthermore, this scoring process was documented as a valid process which had been used for years prior to 2008, and the same process whereby Maximus had been recommended and awarded many times before. The BOS then directed the DPSS to extend Maximus' contract for 6 months while they reissue the RFP and devise a new scoring method.
The reissue of this RFP makes no fiscal sense whatsoever, particularly given the dire state of California's economy. What's more, the state faces federal penalties to the tune of approximately $185 million if they do not meet a preexisting federal threshold. Why is the BOS insisting on spending MORE of our tax dollars in an effort to maintain their business relationship with Maximus - a company whose performance was scored lower and contract priced higher than PSI? (The county has estimated the cost to reissue the RFP to be $250,000). If PSI had been chosen, their contract would save the county over one million dollars annually. What's going on here?
An LA Times article from last year exposed just how entangled Maximus is with the BOS. In the first half of 2008, Maximus spent over $124,000 on two lobbying firms, more than doubling what they spent on marketing in the past year. Perhaps even more troubling, Maximus donated $1,000 (the maximum allowed) to the campaigns to re-elect supervisors Don Knabe and Michael D. Antonovich. They even gave $1,000 to two members whose terms had 2 years left to run.
If we focused on eradicating government corruption and waste like what's happening here in our own back yard, maybe we wouldn't have to shell out so much money when times get tough.