Page 5 - Consumer Issues News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Today, groups working with lower-income families in Connecticut are raising awareness about the state's "benefits cliff" with a day of action. The benefits cliff is when a person might get a raise, have a kid with a part-time job, or some other income increase which then makes them ineligible for certain benefits. The changes can have severe impacts on communities and disproportionately affect families with children. ...

Concerns about potential voter intimidation have spurred several states to consider banning firearms at polling sites but so far, New Hampshire is not among them. Only a dozen states and Washington, D.C., prohibit both open and concealed-carry weapons at voting locations. Emma Brown, executive director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said most of the bans were enacted after the 2020 election, when unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud took hold. ...

Oregon is working to address the state's digital divide with hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. Infrastructure presents the largest challenges for connecting people in Oregon to high-speed broadband internet. Nick Batz, director of the Oregon Broadband Office, said there are more than 170,000 residencies in the state with no or slow internet access. ...

New York towns are reaping many benefits since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed. Along with funds for larger clean energy projects, the state was awarded $158 million for the IRA's Home Energy Rebates program. Smaller towns and villages use these grants to implement their climate action plans. ...

Florida residents can now file their simple income-tax forms for free and save time through the Internal Revenue Service's Direct File pilot program. It's estimated the simplified filing process could eventually save Florida taxpayers more than $530 million in filing fees every year. With the April 15 income-tax filing deadline right around the corner, Adam Ruben, vice president for campaigns and political strategy at the Economic Security Project, said you can easily use the program by visiting the website Directfile.IRS.gov. ...