– Mississippi will increase the lowest monthly welfare payments in the nation under a bill signed into law Wednesday by the state's Republican governor.
The payments in Mississippi have been $146 for a family of two, $170 for a family of three and $194 for a family of four.
AdEven with the increase, the Mississippi welfare payments will still be only a fraction of the federal poverty level, according to the liberal-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Brandon Jones, a Democratic former Mississippi House member and current policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund in Mississippi, called the increase long overdue.
“This $90 increase gets Mississippi off the bottom and is desperately needed by struggling families throughout the state."