TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Laid-off workers who had to fight through Florida's broken unemployment system were promised relief with increased benefits. But, Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected the plan, telling them to prepare to get back to work.

The Florida Senate wanted to increase unemployment benefits from $275 to $375 a week, with an extended eligibility period from 12 to 14 weeks. When DeSantis said he wouldn't support it, focusing instead on getting people back to work, the plan died in the House.

Dr. Rich Templin, director of politics and public policy for the Florida AFL-CIO, said Senate Bill 1906 was a bipartisan effort that could have fixed the many wrongs in the system.

"We still have an unemployment insurance system that is not working," Templin contended. "And it doesn't matter if we're in a pandemic or the normal ups and downs of our economic cycles. Our unemployment insurance system is a joke."

Templin pointed out instead of working to support the modest increase to help those out of work, lawmakers passed legislation to spend $4 billion to fix the unemployment computer system and cover the insurance premiums businesses would have to pay. The changes would overhaul the Department of Economic Opportunity and use money collected from online sales taxes.

However, advocates still celebrate moving the needle on the so-called alternative base period, which the Senate approved, to increase eligibility.

Karen Woodall, executive director of the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy at the Florida People's Advocacy Center, said it's a long-overdue technical change currently in place in 42 other states and Washington, D.C. that allows a worker to claim their most recent worked quarter for benefits.

"Who it affects are low-wage seasonal workers who work 'til the very last minute that they can and often make their highest wages in the last quarter of work. They are unable to count that," Woodall explained.

Woodall added she believes the victory in the Senate added momentum to next year's attempts to make the changes into law.

Templin noted there is a good chance for positive changes now that taxpayers pay a disproportionate share of the unemployment system.

"We're hopeful we will be able to get some fixes," Templin remarked. "Because it's always been the business community that wants to keep unemployment insurance payments low as humanly possible because they see that as their money."

DeSantis has indicated anyone receiving unemployment benefits will have to start showing proof that they've been looking for work by the end of May. He lifted that requirement early in the pandemic.

According to FileUnemployment.org, Florida is ranked among the bottom five states in the nation for unemployment compensation.

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.

Stephen Monroe Tomczak, professor of social work at Southern Connecticut State University, said it is part of a larger workforce problem.

"People, particularly people of low income, are in a sense disincentivized to participate in the labor force and denied adequate jobs and income when they try to do that," Tomczak explained.

Several General Assembly budget bills could have dealt with the issue but most failed, which inspired today's action, a mock funeral procession to the governor's office to eulogize the bills, including the refundable Child Tax Credit, a housing voucher funding boost bill, and a bill eliminating the asset limit on the HUSKY C medical insurance program.

Social service advocates know the bills will resurface in next year's budget process.

Rose Ferraro, program lead of health justice policy advocacy for the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, said people are taking alternate steps like going to food banks or avoiding medical care to cover lost benefits.

"Folks will lose their rental assistance and then, they will sort of have to make some tough decisions," Ferraro noted. "'Do I put food on my table or do I make sure to pay rent?' And, so it becomes a sort of untenable position."

Ferraro added interwoven state and federal funding makes it hard to reach the core of the issues leading to benefits cliffs. One eulogized bill would have established a benefits cliff pilot program. For two years, it would have provided subsistence for people who've reached the benefits cliff.

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.

Brighton Town Councilmember Robin Wilt said an IRA grant they applied for will help upgrade the town's HVAC system.

"We will be implementing geothermal and then use a solar array to make the system close to net zero, not quite," said Wilt. "I think we'll get 55% of our energy back with the solar panels."

The bureaucratic process to access the funding was challenging, but some groups are working with the Department of Energy to improve it.

Wilt said feedback on the clean energy projects has been positive. Future projects using IRA funding include increasing walkability and sustainable redevelopment.

Critics have said the IRA includes multiple provisions to increase fossil fuel production.

Towns nationwide are using IRA grants to bolster clean energy projects.

Joel Hicks is a council member for the Borough of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

They've just applied for a grant to work on energy efficiency and solar projects with Harrisburg. He said this will have positive impacts beyond establishing clean energy.

"We were really excited at this potential," said Hicks, "because we saw that the cost savings we would have for putting in substantial solar projects on our public property would actually fund many of our other public municipal goals."

These include purchasing an electric vehicle fleet and having more efficient solid waste programs.

One thing Hicks said he wants to see in future is state and local governments helping small towns and municipalities with putting together their IRA grant proposals.

A new report analyzes Pennsylvania's existing voucher programs, that divert public funds to private schools.

This comes on the heels of Gov. Josh Shapiro's plan to create a new voucher program for K-12 students.

Diana Polson - senior policy analyst with the Keystone Research Center - said last year's Commonwealth Court decision ruled that Pennsylvania's system of funding public education is unconstitutional, therefore the state doesn't have a dollar to waste on expanding existing private-school voucher programs or creating a new one.

"The basic-education funding commission estimated the state must pay $5.1 billion over the next seven years to make sure our public schools are funded equitably and adequately," said Polson. "Meanwhile, our report finds that existing private-school voucher programs are siphoning millions from taxpayers with little to show for it."

Supporters argue that vouchers let children leave under-performing public schools and get a better education at private schools.

Polson said Pennsylvania's voucher programs have no "meaningful educational or financial accountability," so they really have no way of knowing if these programs operate as intended or are beneficial to low-income or moderate-income students.

Polson said the report reveals that the programs have grown, and just this year they will cost the state nearly $500 million.

However, these voucher programs exclude students in rural areas, because there are few if any participating private schools in these regions.

Local public schools remain the primary option for most rural families.

"We also found that private schools receiving these funds are allowed to - and do - routinely discriminate against students for reasons including disabilities, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and more," said Polson. "These programs are also exclusive. They subsidize the state's most elite and expensive private schools as well as affluent families."

Polson said the report reveals that the Independent Fiscal Office estimated that the average EITC program scholarship was $2,314, while the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit was slightly less at around $2,000.

The cost of attending one of the top 25 private schools in Pennsylvania is around $41,000 per year. This means these schools are still out of reach for many low- and moderate-income families.