'Low-Income Families'
One of every 39 Alaskan Homes to be Foreclosed
According to a recent article in the Anchorage Daily News, “While Alaskans aren’t seeing the number of failed loans as some places in the Lower 48, plenty of people in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough are feeling the pain of bad home-buying decisions. Real estate agents in the Mat-Su area last year said they started seeing a […]
Hungry Children Can’t Learn
Last week Food Bank of Alaska and the Alaska Food Coalition released a new report on school breakfast in Alaska. In conjunction with the release of the study and a request for funding for school breakfasts, the Coalition held a breakfast for legislators at the Capitol Tuesday, February 12.
The Coalition’s report says that 8,500 […]
Make Alaska’s Minimum Wage a Living Wage
In my opinion Senator Elton is one of the more articulate proponents of sound public policy for the people of Alaska. For that reason I would like to republish a substantial selection from the February 1, 2008 issue of his newsletter, off the record.
Sometimes we mean well, but we mean well without oomph. So […]
Alaska Should Join Other States: Call for Moratorium on Home Foreclosures
Massachusetts became the first state to impose a moratorium last year. Without action, in the next two years, as many as 100,000 homes would be subject to foreclosure in New York. Nationwide, home foreclosure filings have increased an incredible 68% over the period of just one year. The rate is predicted to increase even further […]
Alaska Housing Least Affordable Since 1992
Each quarter the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development compiles the Alaska Affordability Index. This index assesses three economic factors in a given area: the average sales price of a home, the average income, and average interest rate, then determines the number of average wage earners required to obtain a mortgage on an average-priced […]
Alaska Economy Not So Good in Recent Years
It is not light reading, but it is important and it has just been released: The 2007 Joint Economic Report of the Joint Economic Committee Congress of the United States on the 2007 Economic Report of the President Together With Minority Views. Before we launch into a summary of critical findings about Alaska, here […]
New Policy Guide: Housing and Homelessness
The National Alliance to End Homelessness has published a Policy Guide to help policymakers and advocates understand federal programs and policies regarding housing and homelessness. The 63-page guide includes information about relevant federal programs and proposals, including homelessness funding, proposals to reauthorize HUD’s McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs, and information about funding levels of mainstream housing […]
Empty Plates in the Great Land
Empty Plates in the Great Land is an important recent report authored by the Food Bank of Alaska. The Executive Summary follows. The public policy implications are self-evident.
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Hunger is a serious and growing problem in Alaska. In 2005, 12.2 percent of Alaskan households were hungry or on the edge of […]