Roundup: Chairman Ryan’s Policy Agenda

If House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan becomes the next House Speaker, he will be even better positioned to exert substantial influence over the direction of U.S. domestic policy.  With that in mind, we have pulled together some of our major pieces in connection with Chairman Ryan’s policy proposals:

Ryan Budget Plan Got 69 Percent of Its Budget Cuts From Programs for People With Low or Moderate Incomes, April 8, 2014:

Then-House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s 2015 “Path to Prosperity” budget would have cut $3.3 trillion over ten years (2015-2024) from programs that serve people of limited means — or 69 percent of its $4.8 trillion in total non-defense budget cuts.  These cuts would have come on top of the discretionary and entitlement cuts imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act’s budget caps and sequestration. 

Commentary: Ryan “Opportunity Grant” Proposal Would Likely Increase Poverty and Shrink Resources for Poverty Programs Over Time, July 25, 2014:

Then-House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s 2014 poverty plan would have consolidated 11 safety-net and related programs — from food stamps to housing vouchers, child care, and the Community Development Block Grant — into a single block grant to states.  Our analysis concludes that, for various reasons, one likely effect of the “Opportunity Grant” proposal would be to increase poverty.

Strengthening the EITC for Childless Workers Would Promote Work and Reduce Poverty, February 20, 2015:

Low-income childless workers receive little or nothing from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and, as a result, they’re the sole group of workers that the federal tax system taxes into or deeper into poverty.  President Obama’s 2016 budget would substantially strengthen the EITC for childless workers, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan proposed an expansion that’s almost identical to the President’s.  

Roundup of our work on Chairman Ryan’s fiscal 2015 “Path to Prosperity” budget

Roundup of our work on Chairman Ryan’s 2014 poverty proposal