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This Is the City in Mississippi With the Most People on Food Stamps | Mississippi

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www.thecentersquare.com – Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square – 2023-06-07 09:22:32

The Biden Administration and House Republicans recently reached a bi-partisan deal to raise the debt ceiling. To reach the compromise, and keep the United States from a catastrophic debt default, the White House agreed to a series of spending cuts to social safety net programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. (Here is a look at the American presidents who added the most to the national debt.)

SNAP is a federal program designed to help needy families and households afford food. The debt ceiling deal includes considerable changes to SNAP eligibility, expanding work requirements for older Americans, while also expanding access for veterans and homeless populations.

According to the latest available data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, more than 15.8 million American households — or 12.4% of all households — received SNAP benefits in 2021. And exactly how many Americans would be directly impacted by the latest eligibility changes remains to be seen.

Of the three metro areas with available data in Mississippi, Hattiesburg has the highest SNAP recipiency rate. According to the ACS, 12.7% of all area households received SNAP benefits in 2021, below the 13.5% SNAP recipiency rate across the state as a whole.

Of all 366 metro areas nationwide with available data, Hattiesburg ranks as having the 166th highest SNAP recipiency rate.

 

State Metro area with highest SNAP recipiency rate Metro area SNAP recipiency rate (%) State SNAP recipiency rate (%) Metro area(s) considered in state
Alabama Mobile 19.5 14.1 12
Alaska Anchorage 8.7 10.4 1
Arizona Yuma 22.3 11.2 7
Arkansas Fort Smith 15.1 10.9 6
California El Centro 25.9 12.0 26
Colorado Pueblo 19.4 8.4 7
Connecticut New Haven-Milford 14.4 11.7 4
Delaware Dover 12.9 10.5 1
Florida Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach 18.6 14.1 21
Georgia Columbus 22.0 12.4 14
Hawaii Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina 11.4 12.6 2
Idaho Pocatello 16.2 8.4 6
Illinois Decatur 20.4 14.1 10
Indiana Kokomo 13.8 9.4 11
Iowa Davenport-Moline-Rock Island 15.8 9.8 7
Kansas Wichita 10.0 7.3 2
Kentucky Bowling Green 15.5 14.2 5
Louisiana Lake Charles 22.9 19.0 9
Maine Lewiston-Auburn 13.5 11.5 3
Maryland Cumberland 18.0 12.6 5
Massachusetts Springfield 20.1 14.6 5
Michigan Saginaw 19.6 13.4 14
Minnesota Duluth 9.4 7.9 5
Mississippi Hattiesburg 12.7 13.5 3
Missouri St. Joseph 12.3 10.2 8
Montana Great Falls 11.5 8.6 3
Nebraska Omaha-Council Bluffs 9.2 8.5 3
Nevada Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise 14.3 13.6 2
New Hampshire Manchester-Nashua 5.9 6.0 1
New Jersey Vineland-Bridgeton 15.9 9.1 3
New Mexico Farmington 28.4 20.7 4
New York Buffalo-Cheektowaga 16.4 15.0 12
North Carolina Goldsboro 25.5 13.9 15
North Dakota Fargo 6.6 6.2 2
Ohio Lima 20.1 13.0 11
Oklahoma Lawton 13.4 13.8 3
Oregon Grants Pass 24.7 15.9 8
Pennsylvania Erie 19.6 14.1 18
Rhode Island Providence-Warwick 16.4 14.9 1
South Carolina Florence 20.9 11.1 8
South Dakota Rapid City 7.8 8.0 2
Tennessee Kingsport-Bristol 15.3 11.9 10
Texas McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 30.9 12.2 23
Utah Ogden-Clearfield 6.3 5.6 4
Vermont Burlington-South Burlington 9.9 10.9 1
Virginia Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News 10.6 8.8 9
Washington Yakima 23.9 12.3 10
West Virginia Beckley 22.1 18.3 7
Wisconsin Milwaukee-Waukesha 15.6 11.8 12
Wyoming N/A N/A 5.5 0

 

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Helene: Proposal brings back help accessing federal money | North Carolina

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www.thecentersquare.com – Alan Wooten – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-30 08:01:00

(The Center Square) – Small businesses’ access to federal aid in rebuilding from Hurricane Helene is supported through a North Carolina congressman’s proposal in the House of Representatives.



U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C.




Helene Small Business Recovery Act, authored by Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., drew the immediate support when filed last week of Democratic Rep. Don Davis and Republican Reps. Virginia Foxx and David Rouzer, all of North Carolina. The 5th Congressional District of Foxx and 11th of Edwards were significantly hit by the storm six months earlier, and the 7th Congressional District of Rouzer and the 1st of Davis are in the southeastern and eastern regions, respectively, of the state and the most often hit places by hurricanes.

The Helene Small Business Recovery Act clarifies that SBA loans and federal grants, like those that will be offered through the CDBG-DR program, are not duplicative,” Edwards said in a release. “Without this clarification, businesses that took an SBA loan to keep themselves afloat would be prohibited from accessing federal grant money when it becomes available.

“Loans and grants are inherently different, and this bill will allow small business owners access to both federal resources so that western North Carolina, and every small business that makes our mountains such a great place to live, has the resources needed to recover.”

CDBG-DR is the acronym for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery; SBA is an acronym for Small Business Administration.

The Stafford Act doesn’t allow federal agencies to duplicate benefits, and a loan is considered duplicative of a grant. SBA loans must be repaid; CDBG-DR grants are one-time payments to victims that do not have to be repaid.

A sunset passed in 2021 on the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 that, temporarily, said a loan is not part of a grant, Edwards’ release said.

The American Relief Act aiding in Helene recovery awarded $1.65 billion in disaster block grants to western North Carolina.

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Louisiana voters overwhelmingly reject all four constitutional amendments | Louisiana

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-29 20:32:00

(The Center Square) — Louisiana voters overwhelmingly rejected four proposed constitutional amendments which aimed to reshape the state’s approach to justice, juvenile crime, taxation, and judicial elections. Each amendment was rejected by more than 60% of voters.

“This was a “primal scream” kind of vote, driven by robust Democratic EV turnout that I’m not seeing being offset by a strong GOP Election Day vote,” John Couvillon, an award-winning pollster, said in a post on X. 

“Although we are disappointed in tonight’s results, we do not see this as a failure. We realize how hard positive change can be to implement in a state that is conditioned for failure,” Gov. Jeff Landry said in a statement. “We will continue working to give our citizens more opportunities to keep more of their hard-earned money and provide a better future for Louisianians. This is not the end for us, and we will continue to fight to make the generational changes for Louisiana to succeed.” 

Amendment 1: Expanded Court Powers and Specialty Courts

Voters rejected a measure expanding the Louisiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary authority over out-of-state attorneys and allowing lawmakers to establish specialized trial courts that cross district lines. The amendment followed controversy over mass hurricane lawsuits filed by an out-of-state law firm and was challenged in court earlier this month. Amendment 1 was rejected by over 170,000 votes.

Amendment 2: Sweeping Fiscal Overhaul

Amendment 2, which would have rewrote Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution, was rejected by over 150,000 votes. The 100+ page overhaul includes capping state spending growth, consolidating reserve funds, shifting nearly $2 billion from education savings accounts to pay down retirement debt, and phasing out business inventory taxes. It has been a cornerstone of Landry’s tax reform agenda. 

Amendment 3: Adult Prosecution for Juveniles

This amendment would allow lawmakers to expand the list of crimes for which minors can be tried as adults without another constitutional vote. Authored by Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek and opposed by youth justice advocates who argue the current list is already broad enough, Amendment 3 saw the most resounding rejection−a margin of over 180,000.

Amendment 4: Judicial Election Timing Fix

A technical amendment to align special judicial election timing with Louisiana’s soon-to-be closed-party primary system was rejected by over 120,000. Supporters say it prevents logistical issues when filling judicial vacancies; opponents said the change was minor and could have been handled by statute. It was the only measure not subject to a legal challenge.

 

 

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Live Nation battles anti-competitive allegations on multiple levels | National

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www.thecentersquare.com – Brett Rowland – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-29 11:20:00

(The Center Square) – Live Nation Entertainment, the events giant that operates Ticketmaster, is fighting to hold on to practices that states and the federal government allege are anti-competitive and hurt both fans and musicians.

The company recently lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of state attorneys general. The lawsuit alleges that Live Nation runs a monopoly that most recently came under fire during Taylor Swift’s Eras tour as fans struggled to get limited tickets to fast-selling shows. 

District Judge Arun Subramanian denied Live Nation’s motion to dismiss the federal action, ruling the DOJ could proceed with its case.

“These allegations aren’t just about a refusal to deal with rival promotors,” Subramanian wrote in his ruling. “They are about the coercion of artists.”

Live Nation is also working on multiple fronts at the state level. More than 25 states and Puerto Rico debated more than 75 bills on ticket sales during 2023 legislative sessions after the fallout from Swift’s mega-tour, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In the wake of the Eras collapse, Arkansas stopped local governments from banning the sale or resale of a ticket at any price; Maine required resellers to refund customers in some circumstances; and Oklahoma prohibited the use of software to bypass controls on a ticket seller’s website, according to the NCL report. In 2016, Congress passed similar legislation banning the use of bots on ticket websites.

In Massachusetts, Live Nation spent $120,000 lobbying lawmakers to pass the Mass Leads Act, a $4 billion economic development measure that ran 319 pages, according to The Verge. Despite opposition from consumer groups, it also allows ticket sellers to restrict the transferability of the tickets they sell, meaning a buyer could be limited to reselling on the seller’s platform. 

The Chamber of Progress, a tech industry trade group, asked the governor to amend the bill, concerned that Live Nation could use ticket terms to force buyers to resell tickets exclusively on their own platform, “further entrenching their monopoly position in the live events ecosystem,” according to a letter from the group.

The Chamber of Progress also opposed a bill in New Mexico to cap resale prices. The group said in a letter that price caps were arbitrary and ineffective.

Diana Moss, of the Progressive Policy Institute, said Live Nation is “pursuing an aggressive state-level campaign to push for laws that effectively regulate the resale market while [the company] continues to operate, unfettered, in the primary market.”

Live Nation has defended its practices. Dan Wall, executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Live Nation Entertainment, wrote in a blog post that the company isn’t a monopoly and doesn’t reap monopolistic profits.

“The defining feature of a monopolist is monopoly profits derived from monopoly pricing. Live Nation in no way fits the profile,” Wall wrote. “Service charges on Ticketmaster are no higher than on SeatGeek, AXS, or other primary ticketing sites, and are frequently lower. In fact, when Ticketmaster loses a venue to SeatGeek, service charges usually go up substantially. And even accounting for sponsorship, an advertising business that helps keep ticket prices down, Live Nation’s overall net profit margin is at the low end of profitable S&P 500 companies.”

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