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APPLYING FOR SNAP IS NO SNAP
the Austin, TX-based record label with an
office in Athens. Vinyl now makes up 30 per
cent of physical music sales, and cassettes are
making a comeback, too. "We need, not the
glitz, but the nuts and bolts," Robinson says.
"We would love to have it in Georgia. It would
be an amazing thing. It would be a lot of new
business, hundreds of jobs."
Investing in music education could be
another, albeit longer-term, way to expand the
industry in Georgia. Locally, the Clarke County
School District has avoided cutting the arts
in the face of state cuts to education, deputy
superintendent Noris Price says. The district
has free after-school music programs and
concerts???some of it funded by the nonprofit
AthFest Educates.
"I'm shocked at how robust music and arts
programs are, as much as we slashed," Kaiser
says.
What Else?
Of course, the music industry will be far
from the only thing on legislators' radar
when they convene next week. The upcom
ing session, which lasts 40 working days, is
expected to be an exceptionally short one,
ending in mid-March. State elected officials???
including Gov. Nathan Deal and his likely
Democratic opponent, state Sen. Jason Carter
(D-Decatur)???are prohibited from raising
money while the legislature is in session. With
the primaries likely to be moved up to May
20 due to a court order, fundraising becomes
even important.
Because it's an election year, lawmakers
will be loathe to pass any sweeping or con
troversial laws. There will, however, be lots of
grandstanding as legislators with opposition
seek to score political points.
"We don't have, from all indications, a very
aggressive agenda this session," says Sen. Bill
Cowsert (R-Athens).
THE BUDGET: Passing it is the one thing the
General Assembly has to do before skipping
town, and it's usually the hardest.
Gov. Deal will release his proposed budget
for the 2015 fiscal year later this month. It's
not expected to be as painful as recent years,
when lawmakers slashed school days and other
services to balance the budget during the
recession. Tax collections are up $378 million,
or 5.4 percent, over last year, Deal's office
says. Georgia's unemployment rate was 7.7
percent in November, down a full percentage
point from a year prior but still higher than
the national rate.
The improving economy hasn't helped the
worst-off. More than 19 percent of Georgians,
including 27 percent of children, lived in
poverty in 2012???160,000 more than in 2010,
according to the Georgia Budget & Policy
Institute. It attributes the rise in poverty to
lagging educational opportunities and lower-
paying jobs created during the recovery.
University of Georgia President Jere
Morehead has said he'll push for raises for fac
ulty and staff, the first in five years.
"Public school teachers haven't had raises
in forever," says state Rep. Spencer Frye
(D-Athens). "University folks haven't had
raises in forever. Hopefully, we'll see we need
to invest in that instead of big corporate tax
breaks because we have extra money."
SCIENCE BUILDING: Under Chancellor Hank
Huckaby, a new era of austerity is coming for
Georgia colleges and universities. With declin
ing state support, Huckaby has warned that
the higher education system will have to do
more with less, and the days of big building
projects are all but over.
But one of UGA's top priorities for the
coming session is a bond issue for a new
Science Learning Center on South Campus.
The $44.7 million, 122,000 square-foot build
ing is needed to expand and modernize 1960s
chemistry and biology classroom and research
space, administrators say.
UGA also is requesting $4.9 million to
expand and renovate Baldwin Hall, home of
the School of Public and International Affairs.
GUNS: A bill that could allow people with con
cealed-carry permits to take their guns into
churches and bars and on college campuses is
still alive.
The original purpose of Senate Bill 201,
sponsored by Sen. Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville)
was to let out-of-state permit holders carry in
Georgia. After it passed the Senate, though,
House members inserted language from House
Bill 512 allowing guns on campuses and let
ting churches choose whether parishioners can
be packing.
Supported by gun-rights groups and
opposed by law enforcement and the uni
versity officials, a disagreement between
Senate Republicans who wanted to require a
safety class and House Republicans who didn't
scuttled the bill on the last day of the 2013
session. If they clear up that issue, it could be
resurrected this year.
"Hopefully, I can work through the
hangups we had and get a good bill passed,"
Ginn says.
HEALTH CARE: A group of conservative
back-benchers, led by Rep. Jason Spencer
(R-Woodbine), pre-filed bills last month that
would prohibit state employees from imple
menting the Affordable Care Act. It's based on
the libertarian Tenth Amendment Center's plan
to nullify Obamacare at the state level, and
similar bills have been introduced in South
Carolina and Missouri.
Georgia officials have already declined
to set up a health care exchange, opting to
let the feds do it instead, but the bill could
threaten the jobs of insurance "navigators"
employed by UGA with a federal grant and
even prevent state officials from talking about
the ACA at all.
Fulfilling another step in the Tenth
Amendment Center's plan, Deal is still refusing
to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid,
which could cover 400,000 low-income unin
sured Georgians. House Minority Leader Stacey
Abrams (D-Atlanta) says Democrats will con
tinue to push Deal to accept Medicaid money.
A block grant like the deal Arkansas cut with
the White House could be a compromise.
Rep. Spencer, incidentally, recently referred
to hospitals that support Medicaid expansion
as "like addicts on crack."
TRANSPORTATION: Local officials in Athens-
Clarke County and other cities want to hold
referenda on sales tax hikes to fund transpor
tation, similar to the failed T-SPL0ST refer
endum in 2012 but on a county rather than
regional level. In ACC, the money would go
toward improving Athens Transit bus service
and road projects.
But after watching their brainchild go
down in flames a year-and-a-half ago,
Republicans aren't inclined to even give vot
ers the option of taxing themselves. "No new
taxes," Cowsert says.
MMM... BEER: The Senate Regulated
Industries Committee, which Ginn serves on,
has been holding hearings on easing restric
tions on brewpubs, breweries and distilleries,
which aren't allowed to sell alcohol for off-
premises consumption. Such a law could help
local craft brewers like Terrapin and Creature
Comforts.
"I think we'll see some legislation drafted,"
Ginn says. "I don't know whether it'll pass this
session."
Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
Greater obstacles have recently been put
in the way of applying for, obtaining and
renewing food stamps. Previously, everything
could be taken care of in one centralized
location, the nearest Division of Family and
Children Services (DFCS) office. By visiting
this location, filling out the designated stack
of personal information, providing proper
identification and spending a few hours trick
ling through the bureaucratic rigamarole, you
could hand in hard copies to a living, breath
ing case worker. People who needed assistance
knew where to go via car, bus, bike or foot,
and could spend a designated time frame sort
ing through the specific details of their situa
tion in person.
That is no longer the case. Now, the pro
cedure has been primarily relocated to the
Internet. In order to apply or reapply for food
stamps, it is required that the applicant create
their own account via the COMPASS (Common
Point of Access to Social Services) system.
While this development appears to be progres
sive from a convenience standpoint???it is
sometimes difficult for those in need to travel
to a designated office???it presents challenges
unprecedented by the established face-to-face
procedure. Those include computer literacy,
Internet access and unfamiliarity with the
change in general.
All of these issues can best be explained
with a visit I made to the DFCS office on
North Avenue a few weeks back. More than
willing to fill out the
proper paperwork by
hand, I found the
online application to
be more easily navi
gable upon looking
up the process on the
website. I completed
each page to the
best of my ability,
patiently waited for
a phone interview,
sat on hold for 45 minutes to speak to the
interviewer and was told that I simply had to
present proper identification and pay stubs to
obtain an Electronic Benefits Transfer card.
Since I didn't have a scanner and didn't
want to wait, I decided to bike across town to
the DFCS office. I thought that I could show
up, wait my turn, talk to someone and be
on my way to grocery access on a consistent
basis. What I witnessed, on the other hand,
inspired my response to Tom Crawford's Dec.
25 Capitol Impact column in Flagpole, on the
difficulty of obtaining Supplement Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
One woman sat behind a desk, in front of
which a long line began to build soon after I
walked into the office. Uninterested in eaves
dropping but unable to ignore the conversa
tions right in front of me, I noticed a pattern.
Every person in front of me talked briefly to
the frazzled desk worker about renewing or
reapplying for food stamps. Each person was
told "We only do that online, now."
People responded with a range of emotions
including confusion, frustration and despera
tion. The woman would then ask them, "Do
you know COMPASS?"
No. Not one person was familiar with
COMPASS.
She would then go on to explain what it is,
how it works, how it is the only method now,
etc. I watched every single would-be applicant
in front of me try to register what exactly they
were supposed to do concerning this entirely
new system for filling their bellies. I don't
think anyone walked out thinking "Perfect!
I know exactly what to do now. I'll just go
home, hop on the computer, scan my docu
ments and send them to the very office I just
left in hopes that they get back to me before I
starve waiting for online confirmation."
Approaching the desk with a sense of dread
after witnessing the food stamps episode of
Kafka's The Trial, I thought surely I wouldn't
have the same issues. I was lucky enough to
have the computer access it takes to finish
the application. I finished the interview. I
was told I only had to present my IDs and pay
stubs before I could complete the entire pro
cess. I walked to what I was so sure would be
the finish line, only to hear: "You have to do
that online. Are you familiar with COMPASS?"
"Well, yes," I responded. "I actually have
an account and completed the application and
phone interview. I didn't have a scanner, so I
thought it would be easiest to simply walk in
and show someone my documents."
"You have to send the documents online
as well."
"I don't understand. I have everything
required right here"
"Yes, but you have to send it along with
your online application."
"I can't just show this to someone here?
Like a real person who can clear me?"
"You can scan them over there if you like. I
can send you to someone, but they'll tell you
the same thing."
I looked over at
the single computer
and scanner with a
mounting line behind
it. I had to be at
work in an hour, so
I gave up and biked
home. Fuming, I con
sidered the absurdity
of what had just hap
pened. I wasn't that
upset about my own situation; I can continue
eating at work, buying $1 tacos and tamales
and blowing the tip money I really need to
use to catch up on rent. I can read, I can
write, I can use a computer, I have three ser
vice jobs to get by. It's not always fun, but it
could be much, much worse.
What about the majority of people apply
ing for SNAP? Those most in need often do
not have the resources necessary for a strong
reading background. Wading through the
instructions on the website becomes an issue
compounded by basic computer literacy and
skills in website navigation. Computer skills,
of course, generally come along with computer
ownership and access. Those fortunate enough
to have regular computer access, whether from
a public source or in their own home, often
also have the good fortune of being able to
afford and more easily obtain food.
While I can see how the idea of a common
point of access is a beneficial one, my obser
vations for a mere 20 minutes at the DFCS
office suggest otherwise. I believe that mov
ing from an in-person to an online application
system will eliminate a number of people who
are eligible for and desperately need help.
Fewer state employees to pay, less paperwork,
fewer mouths to feed. Happy holidays indeed
to those who enjoy the multi-million-dollar
stadiums and toss their catered food in the
trash can.
Maizy Stell
I watched every single would-be
applicant in front of me try to
register what exactly they were
supposed to do concerning this
entirely new system for filling
their bellies.
JANUARY 8, 2014 ??? FLAGP0LE.COM 7