3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2017
Cash assistance cases still above pre-recession levels
Caseloads
have dropped
from peak
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The number
of Oregonians receiving fed-
eral cash assistance remains
higher than it was at the start
of the Great Recession, but
state analysts expect the num-
ber to shrink to pre-recession
levels by early 2019.
The number of people
receiving Temporary Assis-
tance for Needy Families,
or TANF, the federal cash
assistance program for peo-
ple experiencing poverty, to
an extent refl ects the state’s
uneven economic recovery.
As of June , there were
18,624 TANF cases in Ore-
gon, translating to 45,978
people, according to the Ore-
gon Department of Human
Services. Caseloads have
dropped off signifi cantly
from their peak in early 2013.
The program is “highly
sensitive to the job market,”
according to a recent Depart-
ment of Human Services
report.
The report looked at case-
loads for the program between
January of 2008 and Decem-
ber 2016 in each of Oregon’s cent growth in employment ters and a 42 percent growth to as food stamps, is avail- with a statewide dip in mid-
36 counties.
between 2008 and 2016, in employment, many of able to more people because dle-wage job growth.
While high-wage jobs and
Families who earn less its TANF caseloads have those jobs require specialized it has a higher income limit.
than 37 percent of
People receiving low-wage jobs have reached
the federal pov-
SNAP are typi- pre-recession levels, jobs
erty level are eligi-
cally required to that fall in the middle of the
Caseloads for programs such as cash
income scale are growing
ble for cash assis-
work as well.
tance . That’s about
It has also taken more slowly.
assistance are also ‘sticky’ indicators
That lagging growth isn’t
$630 per month for
longer for Ore-
just
the result of the contrac-
a family of three,
gon’s
rural
areas
that take a while to bounce back
according to the
to recover com- tion of the oft-discussed man-
state .
pared to Portland ufacturing sector and timber
from bad economic times
While
over-
and
secondary industry, but also in “pink col-
all the state is experiencing increased by about 88 percent skills and have been occupied metro areas such as Bend and lar” administrative and offi ce
jobs traditionally held by
a tight labor market, employ- in that period.
by people moving into the Corvallis.
women, Lehner said.
ment rates haven’t recovered
county.
Contractions
Many of those jobs were
uniformly across the state —
It’s also worth noting that Mirrors national trend
Gregory
Tooman,
a with a relatively small pop-
While robust population made obsolete by technologi-
and neither have caseloads for
social welfare programs such regional and caseload fore- ulation — just over 11,200 growth in Portland and other cal advances and effi ciencies,
caster for the Department of according to 2016 census esti- areas of the state has driven and saw a severe dip after the
as TANF and food stamps.
Multnomah County, for Human Services , says that mates — a 42 percent leap demand for certain services, recession, especially in rural
example, which has seen contractions in certain areas in employment in Morrow Oregon also mirrors a national areas. The recession also led
both rapid growth in employ- of the economy may not have County translates to relatively trend: metropolitan areas with to cuts in public sector jobs,
ment and in in-migration, in made a dent in TANF case- small real numbers. Same more diverse economies tend which typically take up a
December 2016 had TANF loads because jobs in those goes for the county’s TANF to recover from downturns greater share of jobs in rural
Oregon.
caseloads that were actually 2 sectors require specialized caseloads, which jumped 56.4 more quickly.
The Capital Bureau is a
And in Oregon, part of the
percent lower than they were training, licenses or skills. percent between 2008 and
People who receive cash 2016.
delay when it comes to reduc- collaboration between EO
in January of 2008.
By contrast, employment assistance are more likely to
Generally, caseloads for ing welfare caseloads may Media Group and Pamplin
in c entral Oregon’s Crook be low-skilled, semi skilled or programs such as cash assis- also have something to do Media Group.
County is 14.1 percent lower unskilled workers.
tance are also “sticky” indi-
In addition, some recipi- cators that take a while to
than it was in January 2008,
and TANF caseloads are 18.6 ents of cash assistance may bounce back from bad eco-
ASTOR STREET OPRY COMPANY
be working, but are doing so nomic times, says state econ-
percent higher.
And while employment is part time or in very low-wage omist Josh Lehner.
generally a solid indicator of jobs.
And other parts of the
The state report also social safety net may be even
what TANF caseloads will
look like, there are also other points to Morrow County as slower to bounce back from
an “extreme outlier.” While pre-recession levels than cash
factors at play.
For example, even though the north central Oregon assistance: the Supplemen-
33rd Season of
s outhern Oregon’s Jack- county has seen more high- tal Nutrition Assistance Pro-
son County saw a 7.5 per- tech jobs at new data cen- gram, colloquially referred
S hanghaied in A storia
Task force eyes state assets that could reduce pension liability
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — From the
state’s liquor control com-
mission to its approximately
4,600 parking spaces, a
group appointed by the gov-
ernor is starting to scrutinize
ways to make the most of
state assets to reduce pension
obligations.
In April, Gov. Kate Brown
announced she was appoint-
ing a task force to address the
unfunded actuarial liability in
the Public Employees Retire-
ment System, which now
stands at about $21.8 billion.
The seven-member group,
tasked with fi nding a way to
reduce that amount by $5 bil-
lion, had its fi rst meeting
Monday.
The unfunded actuar-
ial liability of the system is
the amount of money that the
state’s obligations exceed the
system’s assets currently will
be able to pay.
And the $21.8 billion
amount may grow, though it’s
not yet clear by how much.
On Friday, the PERS board is
expected to adopt rules reduc-
ing the rate it assumes invest-
ments of the Public Employ-
ees Retirement Fund will earn
annually.
You can think about PERS
like an algebra equation: Since
a certain amount of benefi ts
are guaranteed to employees,
reducing the assumed earnings
rate will increase the amount
of money that public employ-
ers — such as school districts,
cities and counties — will
have to contribute to the sys-
tem to pay those benefi ts.
Membership in the task
force draws on the public and
private sector, and ranges from
the CFO of Oregon Health &
Science University to the CEO
of the Portland tech company
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