BEYOND THE NUMBERS
In Case You Missed It…
This week at CBPP we focused on poverty and inequality, health care, food assistance, the economy, housing, state budgets and taxes, and federal taxes.
- On poverty and inequality, Robert Greenstein noted the high notes and low notes from last Saturday’s poverty forum among GOP presidential candidates. Donna Pavetti highlighted several evidence-based programs that can boost poor people’s job prospects by improving their education and skills. She also outlined ways that Congress can focus the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program more on work and opportunity. We rounded up some of our analyses on poverty, opportunity, and the safety net.
- On health care, Jesse Cross-Call detailed two studies offering further evidence of the positive effects of health reform’s Medicaid expansion and commended Louisiana’s new governor for adopting the expansion. Judith Solomon urged Congress to pass President Obama’s proposal to grant states three years of full federal funding for the Medicaid expansion — whether they’ve already expanded or will in the future.
- On food assistance, Robert Greenstein detailed why Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s call to end SNAP ignores basic facts and decades of research. We updated our infographic on the hundreds of thousands of poor Americans who will lose SNAP benefits in 2016 as a time limit returns for many recipients.
- On the economy, we updated our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession.
- On housing, Barbara Sard and Douglas Rice recommended improvements to the Housing Choice Voucher program to help families use vouchers to move to better neighborhoods.
- On state budgets and taxes, Erica Williams estimated the cost of creating a state earned income tax credit (EITC). Nick Albares cited a study showing that better funding for schools leads to better long-term outcomes for students.
- On federal taxes, Chuck Marr lauded President Obama’s call to expand the federal EITC for childless adults, the only group that the federal tax system taxes into poverty.
Chart of the Week: Obama and Ryan Proposals Would Boost Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for Childless Workers
A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:
Republican Candidates Grapple With a Touchy Topic: Poverty
New York Times
January 12, 2016
Jeb Bush’s welfare reform plan would only make life worse for America’s poor
Washington Post
January 11, 2016
Critics Fret as IRS Prepares to Sic Debt Collectors on Tax Scofflaws
NBC News
January 11, 2016
Applications for the State Policy Fellowship Program are open until January 25, 2016.
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