Half of Louisiana’s children live in low-income families. Research consistently shows that poverty negatively affects virtually every facet of a child’s well-being, including school performance and health. Louisiana has ranked 49th in terms of overall child well-being in the national KIDS COUNT report for the past 8 years. It is unlikely that Louisiana can improve its ranking without improving economic opportunities for its children and families.

In 2007, Agenda for Children convened a partnership to develop a policy agenda to reduce poverty among Louisiana’s children and families. Called “Poor No More”, the agenda will support low and moderate income families in the workforce by enabling them to keep more of their hard-earned wages and make ends meet! This means expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit, adjusting the state income tax threshold, and preserving the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program, among other important reforms.

The "Poor No More" campaign is raising awareness about simple, research-based policies that Louisiana could use to improve self-sufficiency among Louisiana's children and families. These include:

• Raising the state income tax threshold: Louisiana is one of only nine states that require families living below poverty level to pay state income taxes. In 2006, a family of three earning just $16,079 paid $150 in state income taxes.
• Enhancing the State Earned Income Tax Credit: The 2007 Louisiana Legislature created the first refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit in the South to help working families. The credit – 3.5% of the federal credit – is worth up to about $150. Increasing the state EITC to 10% of the federal credit would help lift more Louisiana families up out of poverty.
• Health Care: Louisiana ranks in the upper tier of states for connecting eligible children to Medicaid and LaCHIP. However, we have one of the lowest income eligibility thresholds for parents and guardians, almost last in the nation. A family of four would need to earn less than $4,000 a year for the parents to be eligible for Medicaid.

For more information about the "Poor No More" policies, as well as a list of questions constituents can ask their elected officials about these policies, please click here.

Agenda for Children would like to thank the Center for the Study of Social Policy's Policy Matters project, which served as the basis for the Poor No More policies. For more information about Policy Matters, please visit the Policy Matters website.

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