Interesting aspects to the Paul Ryan poverty plan which endorses PFS structures leads today’s SIB News:
The Nod To Wall Street Buried Deep In Paul Ryan’s ‘Anti-Poverty’ Plan
Donald Cohen – Huffington Post
House Speaker Paul Ryan released a new “anti-poverty” plan last week: one section of the plan has received less attention than it deserves.
Deep in Ryan’s proposal is a push for something called “Social Impact Financing,” also known as “Pay for Success” or “Social Impact Bonds.” Ryan’s not alone — some local and state governments are showing interest in these types of financing schemes. Pay for Success is complicated, but long story short: it’s an alternative to funding social services the tried-and-true way, with public spending.
Experts: The Promise of College Requires Sustainable Funding
PRNewswire-USNewswire
Over 100 College Promise programs across the nation currently fund responsible students working to complete the first two years of community college. But, the future success of such efforts depends on sustainable funding and that’s what brought academic researchers, business leaders, foundation heads and economists to Princeton for a two-day conference this month.
The conference, “Designing Sustainable Funding for College Promise,” was co-sponsored by the College Promise Campaign and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Over 100 attendees heard presentations by five design teams offering different approaches to increase college access, affordability and completion. The findings will be published next fall and provided free-of charge so that interested parties may adopt or adapt them to local needs. The five approaches included:
- children’s savings accounts.
- state funding
- private funding,
- federal financial aid
- social impact bonds/income share agreements
Social Enterprise A Practical Solution In Tight Times – Susan Elan Jones MP
Aden Simpson – Politics Home
Susan Elan Jones, Labour MP for Clwyd South and Chair of the APPG on Charities and Volunteering, sees social enterprises as a “tremendous opportunity” to achieve social ends – with or without austerity – and is leading a debate today to ask Ministers to acknowledge their value, and recommend ways to help them grow.
Firstly, as neither charities nor social enterprises are allowed to issue equity for investment, they often secure finance in exchange for ‘quasi-equity’ (a percentage of future earnings, rather than shares in the business). Under current regulations this must be disclosed as ‘debt’ on the balance sheet, making the enterprise appear less solvent than it is.
It’s a minor tweak, but if ‘quasi-equity’ could be disclosed as ‘equity’ rather than ‘debt,’ it would be a lot easier to secure additional finance.
“It’s the sort of thing commercial organisations can do, but social enterprises can’t,” she adds.
She will also ask whether social investment tax relief could be expanded, so those making investments could deduct more of it from their income tax bill; and whether Social Impact Bonds, that reduce risk for the enterprise, could be made more available.
“I think it’s quite exciting,” Jones adds. “In part it’s something that’s already here, and many of the sorts of people who were previously drawn into politics are now looking at the social enterprise sector as a way of generating social improvement.
“But I think it’s time has come as well. We now need to look at how we can support these people with good ideas who are setting up practical projects.”