A little-known federal law, dubbed “The First Inaugural Scholarship Act,” has the power to lift tens of millions of Americans out of poverty and to make it easier for them to stay on the straight and narrow.
The federal law was introduced in 2010 as part of the National College Health Insurance Program, or NCHEIP, a federal entitlement program that provides Medicaid coverage to eligible low-income adults and families in the United States.
It allows states to waive the income-based requirement for students who do not receive financial aid from other sources and who live with their parents.
Under the law, the federal government also funds the program, providing up to $1,000 in cash payments per student for the first five years.
This week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the federal program, saying it discriminates against low- and moderate-income people by denying them federal funding to attend school.
It seeks to overturn the law as unconstitutional.
“It’s not fair for low-wage workers who are unemployed, low-skilled, low level, low income to pay for college while being excluded from federal aid programs,” said Andrew Levy, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.
“This is a cruel and inhumane policy.”
The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which has a budget of about $100 billion a year.
The law provides up to 50% of a student’s tuition and costs up to the equivalent of up to 25% of their family’s income.
Students must also meet other criteria, such as having a job, or showing proof of financial need.
The federal government pays for up to 80% of the cost of attending school, which is $1.9 million per student.
The ACLU’s lawsuit contends that the law violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws, which states that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
The law is named after President William McKinley’s 1912 declaration that “[t]he right of all men to education is a fundamental guarantee of a free and just society.”
It was passed in the wake of the Great Depression, but has been used by states and other federal agencies to help poor students stay on their feet.
In 2015, the U,S.
Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional to deny a student aid benefit to those who don’t have a job.
The National School Lunch Program, established by the federal Government in 1965, helps students get free lunches and snacks at school.
The program was expanded in the 1990s to include a variety of other programs for low and moderate income people, including housing assistance and job training.
In its complaint, the ACLU said the law unfairly discriminates in favor of low-paid workers, who are often underpaid for their services and often have lower incomes than higher-paid ones.
“This is not a new problem for the [NSCS], but it’s an even more serious one,” said Amy Bazelon, director and senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Northern California.
“The NSCS has an opportunity to address the discrimination that is being perpetrated on low-paying students by the administration and the federal school lunch program.”
The NSHS, which receives about $6.2 billion a day in federal funding, operates in nearly half the states.
About one-third of its funding goes to food stamps, and the rest goes to education and social services.
The Department of Agriculture has a separate grant program that helps low- income people afford college.