Free Republic

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources contracted with a company in 2017 to develop a system, known as WV PATH, to help the agency better manage programs including Medicaid, food assistance and its child welfare system. With less than four years left on the contract, the project still isn’t complete. Senate Finance Committee Chair Eric Tarr, who has questioned DHHR about the missing database, said the project has cost $173 million as of July 2022 based on information from DHHR. “The first risk is harm to kids,” Tarr, R-Putnam, said. “The larger risk is that the feds...

The lawmaker who authored the California Dream Act said Saturday that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the bill allowing Illegal immigrants attending California universities to receive state financial aid. Brown's office declined comment, and an announcement on the legislation has not yet been made. But Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) said he was notified Saturday morning by the governor's aides that Brown has approved the measure, which makes illegal immigrants who are accepted into state universities eligible, starting in 2013, for Cal-Grant assistance. The governor’s action also allows those without citizenship papers to tap into institutional grants while attending the...

Compiled by the Mercatus Center, a nonprofit public policy research center affiliated with George Mason University, using a wide swath of comparative data to determine personal freedoms, including alcohol and drug laws, asset-forfeiture rules, and education regulations. 1. Maryland 2. Illinois 3. New York 4. Rhode Island 5. Ohio 6. New Jersey 7. Massachusetts 8. Alabama 9. Georgia 10. South Carolina

RUMFORD, Maine — The NewPage Corp. paper mill in Rumford says 130 employees will lose their jobs during the next few weeks.