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Off the Charts Blog Post: State Budgets: Improving, But a Long Recovery Ahead
Revised May 24, 2012
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States Continue to Feel Recession’s Impact
Updated May 24, 2012
State budget estimates for the upcoming fiscal year continue to show that states face a long and uncertain recovery. For fiscal year 2013, the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2012, 30 states have addressed or have projected shortfalls totaling $54 billion.[1] The Great Recession that started in 2007 caused the largest collapse in state … -
Senate Funding Bill Improves on President's Budget Request for Rental Assistance
May 22, 2012
The Senate Committee on Appropriations has approved funding legislation for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that improves upon President Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2013 in several ways, including: Providing $17.5 billion for the renewal of Housing Choice Vouchers, $250 million above the Administration's … -
Policy Basics: How Many Weeks of Unemployment Compensation Are Available?
Updated May 21, 2012
The unemployment insurance (UI) system helps many people who have lost their jobs by temporarily replacing part of their wages. (See "Policy Basics: Unemployment Insurance.") The total number of weeks of benefits available in any particular state depends on the unemployment rate and unemployment insurance laws in the state where the person worked. The … -
Romney Budget Proposals Would Require Massive Cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Programs
Revised May 21, 2012
Governor Mitt Romney’s proposals to cap total federal spending, boost defense spending, cut taxes, and balance the budget would require extraordinarily large cuts in other programs, both entitlements and discretionary programs, according to our revised analysis based on new information and updated projections. For the most part, … -
Testimony of LaDonna Pavetti, Ph.D. Vice President, Family Income Support Policy, Before the House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Human Resources, Hearing on "State TANF Spending and its Impact on Work Requirements"
May 17, 2012
Good afternoon Chairman Davis, Ranking Member Doggett, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify on the relationship between TANF State maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirements and their interaction with work requirements. I am Vice President for Family Income Support Policy at the Center on … -
Statement by Robert Greenstein, President, on Speaker Boehner's Recent Remarks Concerning the Debt Limit
May 16, 2012
No one should underestimate the significance of House Speaker John Boehner's declaration yesterday that he will block an increase in the debt limit next winter unless policymakers match each dollar of debt limit increase with at least a dollar in budget cuts, with no revenue increases. This … -
North Dakota's Measure 2 is Reckless and Misguided
May 15, 2012
A proposal to amend North Dakota's constitution to ban property taxes would lock North Dakota into a risky, uncharted course of action and leave the state's schools at the mercy of the highly volatile oil industry, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, DC-based policy research institution. "North Dakota has … -
North Dakota's Measure 2: High Risk For Little Reward
May 15, 2012
A proposal on the June 12 primary ballot would amend North Dakota's constitution to ban property taxes, a highly imprudent experiment that would fail to maximize the benefits of today's oil-driven economic boom to improve the state for future generations. The list of dangers posed by Measure 2 is long. It would: Lock North Dakota into … -
Lower-Than-Expected Medicare Drug Costs Mostly Reflect Lower Enrollment and Slowing of Overall Drug Spending, Not Reliance on Private Plans
May 14, 2012
The House-passed budget would convert Medicare to a "premium support" voucher to purchase private health insurance or traditional Medicare.[1] Some supporters of premium support — most notably House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, who designed the House proposal — claim that reliance on private insurers would lower Medicare costs. As … -
Policy Basics: The Child Tax Credit
Updated May 14, 2012
Enacted 15 years ago and expanded with bipartisan support over the past decade, the Child Tax Credit (CTC) helps working families offset the cost of raising children. It is worth up to $1,000 per eligible child (under age 17 at the end of the tax year). Taxpayers eligible for the credit … -
Cantor Proposal for 20 Percent Business Tax Deduction Would Provide Windfall for Wealthy, Not Create Jobs
Updated May 11, 2012
Though billed as a measure to create jobs by aiding small businesses, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-VA) proposal for a 20 percent tax deduction in 2012for businesses with fewer than 500 employees would benefit many high-income taxpayers — including many affluent doctors, lawyers, and stockbrokers — while failing to … -
What the 2012 Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security
May 10, 2012
On April 23, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued its annual report on the program's financial status.[1] The report shows some deterioration in the program's finances since the 2011 report. While that revision — which stems chiefly from lingering economic weakness — is not alarming, it reminds policymakers … -
Are Low-Income Programs Enlarging the Nation’s Long-Term Fiscal Problem?
May 10, 2012
Several conservative analysts and some journalists lately have cited figures showing substantial growth in recent years in the cost of federal programs for low-income Americans. These figures can create the mistaken impression that growth in low-income programs is a major contributor to the nation’s long-term fiscal problems. In … -
House Budget Bills Would Target Programs for Lower-Income Families While Breaking Last Summer's Bipartisan Deal
Updated May 10, 2012
The House Budget Committee approved on May 7 a package of two bills that would alter the bipartisan deal between President Obama and congressional leaders that was reflected in last summer’s Budget Control Act (BCA). It would eliminate the “sequestration” (automatic cuts) in discretionary programs scheduled for 2013 as … -
Toomey Budget Similar to House-Passed Ryan Budget
May 9, 2012
The Senate may take up, as early as this week, a budget proposal from Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA)[1] that is similar in most important respects to the budget resolution from House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which the House passed on March 29. [2] Like the Ryan budget, the Toomey plan (S. Con. Res. 37) would protect and extend tax cuts that … -
A Closer Look at Chairman Ryan's "Sequestration" Proposal
May 8, 2012
On May 7, the House Budget Committee approved a bill designed by Chairman Paul Ryan to alter three aspects of the debt-limit agreement that the President and congressional leaders reached last summer. The bill would produce a total funding level for discretionary programs in fiscal year 2013 that exactly matches the amount in the … -
Video: Jared Bernstein and Chye-Ching Huang Discuss Tax Rates and the Economy
May 8, 2012
Jared Bernstein and Chye-Ching Huang discuss the Center's new, comprehensive analysis of recent findings on the economic effects of raising federal income taxes on upper-income taxpayers as part of a balanced effort to reduce budget deficits.
Duration 8:25
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Testimony of Stacy Dean, Vice President for Food Assistance Policy, Before the House Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture
May 8, 2012
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Stacy Dean, Vice President for Food Assistance Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan policy institute located here in Washington. The Center is an independent, non-profit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of federal and … -
Chart Book: The Legacy of the Great Recession
Updated May 8, 2012
The United States went through its longest, and by most measures worst economic recession since the Great Depression between December 2007 and June 2009. This chartbook will document the course of the economy following that recession against the background of how deep a hole the recession created … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the April Employment Report
May 4, 2012
Today’s employment report shows that April’s job growth was disappointing for the second straight month and that the economic costs in terms of fewer jobs, less income, and lower growth remain very high. In particular, the number of workers in the Labor Department’s … -
Eliminating Social Services Block Grant Would Weaken Services for Vulnerable Children, Adults, and Disabled
May 3, 2012
To help generate the savings required by the House-approved budget, the House Ways and Means Committee voted on April 18 to eliminate the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), a uniquely flexible funding source that helps states meet the specialized needs of their most vulnerable populations, primarily low- and moderate-income children and people who are … -
Policy Basics: Marginal and Average Tax Rates
April 30, 2012
Misunderstandings about two different types of tax rates often create confusion in discussions about taxes. A taxpayer's average tax rate (or effective tax rate) is the share of income that he or she pays in taxes. By contrast, a taxpayer's marginal tax rate is the tax rate imposed on his or her last dollar of income. Taxpayers' average tax rates are … -
Policy Basics: Tax Exemptions, Deductions, and Credits
April 30, 2012
Tax exemptions, deductions, and credits all can reduce a filer’s tax liability — that is, the amount of taxes that the filer owes. Some of these tax benefits are intended to reflect a taxpayer’s ability to pay tax; the Child Tax Credit, for example, recognizes the costs of … -
How the Across-the-Board Cuts in the Budget Control Act Will Work
Revised April 27, 2012
The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 imposed caps on discretionary programs that will reduce their funding by more than $1 trillion over the ten years from 2012 through 2021, relative to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline from 2010. It also established a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose legislation reducing … -
President's Budget Would Reduce Pell Grant Shortfall; Ryan Budget Would Nearly Triple It
April 26, 2012
Even though its costs are expected to remain flat over the next decade,[1] the Pell Grant program, which helps students from low-income families pay for college, faces an $8 billion funding gap in fiscal year 2014 and a $58 billion shortfall through 2022 because the way Congress has funded it in recent years has made its cost appear … -
Testimony of Paul N. Van de Water - Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Before the Subcommittee on Oversight Committee on Ways and Means U.S. House of Representatives
April 25, 2012
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Lewis, members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes a number of spending reductions and tax increases designed to assure that expanding health coverage does not drive up the deficit. Some provisions limit the use of tax-advantaged … -
Media Briefing: The Effect on the Economy of Raising Tax Rates on High-Income Households as Part of a Balanced Effort to Reduce Deficits - What the Evidence Shows
April 25, 2012
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing on Wednesday, April 25 to discuss the Center’s new, comprehensive analysis of recent findings on the economic effects of raising federal income taxes on upper-income taxpayers.
The panel featured leading authorities on tax policy, Leonard E. Burman, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Professor of Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and William G. Gale, Co-Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, and Chye-Ching Huang, Tax Policy Analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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House Bill Would Cut Medicaid Funding for Puerto Rico by About $5.5 Billion Through 2019
April 25, 2012
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to pass legislation on April 25 that would cut federal Medicaid funding for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico by about $5.5 billion through 2019, relative to current law. The provision is part of legislation that House Republicans are assembling, and plan to bring to the House floor in … -
Recent Studies Find Raising Taxes on High-Income Households Would Not Harm the Economy
April 24, 2012
Many policymakers and pundits assume that raising federal income taxes on high-income households would have serious adverse consequences for the economy. Yet this belief, which has been subject to extensive research and analysis, does not fare well under scrutiny. As three leading tax economists recently concluded in a … -
Medicaid Maintenance-of-Effort Requirement Does Not Stop States from Fighting Fraud
Updated April 24, 2012
Affordable Care Act provisions requiring states to maintain their eligibility standards and procedures for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program do not impede states’ efforts to ensure program integrity and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, contrary to claims of House members who seek their repeal. Moreover, … -
Medicare Is Not “Bankrupt”
Updated April 24, 2012
Claims by some policymakers that the Medicare program is nearing “bankruptcy” are misleading. Although Medicare faces major financing challenges, the program is not on the verge of bankruptcy or ceasing to operate. Such charges represent misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) of Medicare’s finances. … -
Media Briefing: Understanding the Annual Reports of the Social Security and Medicare Trustees
April 23, 2012
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing on Monday, April 23 at 4:00 pm (ET) to discuss the 2012 reports of the Social Security and Medicare Trustees.
Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow at the Center and one of Washington’s leading experts on both Social Security and Medicare, and Robert Greenstein, President of CBPP discussed what the reports say about the long-term financial status of Social Security and Medicare.
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Statement of Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, on the 2012 Medicare Trustees’ Report
April 23, 2012
The new report from Medicare’s trustees shows little change from last year’s report in the near-term outlook for the program, while indicating that the program continues to face significant financing challenges in the long run. The projected date of insolvency for Medicare’s … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein on the 2012 Social Security Trustees' Report
April 23, 2012
The trustees’ report, with its projection that, in the absence of policy changes, Social Security will be able to pay full benefits only until 2033 — and about 75 percent of scheduled benefits after that — indicates Congress should act soon to address the program’s long-term … -
The False Choice of National Defense Versus Helping the Poor
April 20, 2012
House committees this week approved sharp cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), the elimination of the Social Services Block Grant, and other cuts that would harm large numbers of low- and moderate-income Americans.[1] Proponents claim the cuts are needed to generate enough savings … -
What if Chairman Ryan’s Medicaid Block Grant Had Taken Effect in 2001?
April 20, 2012
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to convert Medicaid to a block grant, which the House recently passed as part of Chairman Ryan’s overall budget plan, would have cut federal Medicaid funds to most states by more than 35 percent by 2010 — and to several of them by more than 50 percent — if it had been … -
Provision in House Reconciliation Bill Would Cause 350,000 People to Forgo Health Coverage and Could Jeopardize Health Reform
April 18, 2012
The package of changes that the House Ways and Means Committee approved today in response to reconciliation instructions in the House budget resolution includes a change in the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies that would cause 350,000 people to forgo coverage and make it more difficult for the health reform law’s insurance … -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on Pending House Tax Cut and House Committee SNAP Benefit Cuts
April 18, 2012
The House majority is pursuing legislation this week that makes no economic sense. The full House will pass a $46 billion tax cut that’s advertised as a “job-creating” measure, while the House Agriculture Committee approved a plan today to save $36 billion by cutting the … -
House Agriculture Committee Proposal Would Cut 2 Million Off Food Stamps, Reduce Benefits for More Than 44 Million Others
April 18, 2012
The House Agriculture Committee, which the House-approved budget requires to quickly produce $33 billion in savings over the next decade, approved a proposal today that would obtain the entire amount from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.[1] The cuts — which would come … -
Letter: Improving the Strength and Solvency of Medicare
April 18, 2012
The Honorable Phil Gingrey, M.D. U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 202515 Dear Congressman: We are pleased to respond to the letter of March 22 from you and your colleagues asking our views on how to improve the “strength and solvency of Medicare.” We divide our response into three parts: some background … -
Out of Balance
April 18, 2012
The state budget gaps of the last five years led to $290 billion in cuts to public services and $100 billion in tax and fee increases. Those actions lengthened the recession and delayed the recovery. Because spending reductions were dominant, hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost; undermining education, health care and other state … -
Chartbook: SNAP Helps Struggling Families Put Food On The Table
Updated April 18, 2012
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. SNAP reaches millions of people in need of food assistance. It is one of the few means-tested government benefit programs available to almost all households with low incomes. For more detail on the program’s basics, see … -
Policy Basics: Introduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Updated April 18, 2012
What Is SNAP? The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation's most important anti-hunger program. In 2011, it helped almost 45 million low-income Americans to afford a nutritionally adequate diet in a typical month. Nearly 75 percent … -
Ryan Budget Would Slash SNAP Funding by $134 Billion Over Ten Years
Updated April 18, 2012
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan includes cuts in SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) of $133.5 billion — more than 17 percent — over the next ten years (2013-2022),[1] which would necessitate ending assistance for millions of low-income families, cutting benefits for millions of such … -
SNAP Is Effective and Efficient
Updated April 18, 2012
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP — formerly the Food Stamp Program) is the cornerstone of the nation’s safety net and nutrition assistance programs. It currently provides about 46 million participants in about 22 million low-income households with debit cards they can use to purchase food each month.… -
Testimony: Robert Greenstein Before the House Budget Committee Hearing on Strengthening the Safety Net
April 17, 2012
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Bob Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute located here in Washington. I also served many years ago as Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA, which operates the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, … -
Slideshow: Top Ten Tax Charts
Updated April 17, 2012
In recognition of Tax Day, we’ve collected our top ten charts related to federal taxes. Together, they provide useful context for the coming debates about how to reduce soaring budget deficits and reform the tax code. Our first chart, below, reminds us what taxes pay for: three-fifths of federal spending goes for national defense, Social … -
The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2011
Revised April 17, 2012
The successful bipartisan effort over the last two decades to reduce state income taxes on working-poor families has stalled and is in danger of reversing. No new states exempted working-poor families of four from income taxes in 2011, and in almost all of the 15 states where such families still pay income taxes, they saw their income taxes increase. … -
New Tax Cuts in Ryan Budget Would Give Millionaires $265,000 on Top of Bush Tax Cuts
Revised April 12, 2012
Even as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget would impose trillions of dollars in spending cuts, at least 62 percent of which would come from low-income programs,[1] it would enact new tax cuts that would provide huge windfalls to households at the top of the income scale. New analysis by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) …
