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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Ind. Gov't. - "Judge pushes Indiana on welfare debate: Action comes just days after governor fired vendor from $1.34 billion contract."
Here is a long story from the AP's Ken Kusmer that begins:
INDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge has ordered Indiana's partially privatized welfare intake system to speed up decisions on food stamp applications, but the state has a year to meet its first target.U.S. District Judge Robert Miller issued a preliminary injunction last week in a class-action lawsuit covering every food stamp applicant in Indiana over the past 19 months. The order represents the latest setback to one of nation's most ambitious welfare privatization efforts and came just days after Gov. Mitch Daniels fired vendor IBM Corp. from its $1.34 billion contract to lead the project.
The early problems met by IBM and its partners led LaPorte attorney Shaw Friedman to sue on behalf of eight welfare recipients in state court last year, and the state got the case moved to federal court. The IBM team's tardiness in approving or denying applications became so big an issue that federal food stamp officials in June 2008 asked the state for a formal plan to correct the problem.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 29, 2009 11:22 AM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions | Indiana Government