In Case You Missed it…

This week at CBPP we focused on state budgets and taxes, food assistance, health care, housing, and the economy.

• On state budgets and taxes, Michael Leachman highlighted our major new analysis showing that most states continue to spend less per K-12 student than before the Great Recession took hold.  We posted interactive maps with state-by-state data on K-12 funding and a 90-second video summing up the report.  Also, Michael Mazerov warned that repealing the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act’s “grandfather clause” could harm every state’s ability to finance critical state and local services.
• On food assistance, Brynne Keith-Jennings presented data from two important new resources on SNAP (formerly food stamps) in a series of posts.  She explained that benefits are too low to help many families buy adequate food through the month, documented SNAP’s powerful short-term impacts on low-income families, and pointed to its lasting effects on health and development, particularly for children.
• On health care, Judith Solomon tallied the successes of health reform’s Medicaid expansion, even as threats to health reform remain.
• On housing, Barbara Sard praised a House committee-approved bill to update and streamline federal rental assistance while retaining the key characteristics that have underpinned its success.  
• On the economy, we excerpted a letter from Jared Bernstein and New York University Law School Professor Lily Batchelder to congressional leaders urging support for a proposal to ensure that financial advisers always put their clients’ interests first.  We updated our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession.

Chart of the Week: Total State K-12 Funding Below 2008 Levels in Most States

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A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:

Georgia had deeper recessionary school funding cuts than most states
Atlanta Journal Constitution
December 10, 2015

State Education Funding Hasn't Recovered from Recession
U.S. News & World Report
December 10, 2015

TPM’s Deep, Deep Dive into the Economics of Inequality
Talking Points Memo
December 7, 2015

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