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off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the federal budget and taxes, health care, state budgets and taxes, SNAP (formerly food stamps), the economy, and the safety net.

  • On the federal budget and taxes, Chuck Marr pointed out that a recent Goldman Sachs analysis bolsters the case against renewing the “bonus depreciation” tax break.
  • On health care, Edwin Park noted new Congressional Budget Office findings that a five-year delay in health reform’s individual mandate would mean 13 million more uninsured and higher premiums.  January Angeles explained that the President’s new budget reaffirms the federal commitment to pay for nearly all of health reform’s Medicaid expansion.  Paul Van de Water rebutted claims by health insurance lobbyists that proposed payment policies for Medicare Advantage plans would seriously harm the program.  Judy Solomon outlined the President’s new initiative to improve access to health care for underserved populations.
  • On state budgets and taxes, we excerpted Elizabeth McNichol’s op-ed on how Oklahoma can improve its long-term budget planning.
  • On SNAP, Dottie Rosenbaum pointed to the latest evidence that SNAP caseloads have started falling.  Brynne Keith-Jennings explained how cuts to SNAP benefits have worsened hardships for low-income families.
  • On the economy, Jared Bernstein highlighted his latest post for the New York Times on how updating overtime rules could help millions of workers.  Chad Stone highlighted his post for U.S. News and World Report on the Senate’s bipartisan deal to restore emergency federal jobless benefits.
  • On the safety net, Liz Schott warned that effective home visiting programs for high-risk families are in jeopardy.  Will Fischer listed five proven benefits of housing vouchers for poor and vulnerable households.

In other news, we posted Paul Van de Water’s testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Medicare Advantage.  We issued papers on how housing vouchers reduce hardship and provide long-term gains among children and how evidence-based home visiting programs are at risk if Congress doesn’t extend funding.  We also updated our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession and our national and state housing data fact sheets.

CBPP’s Chart of the Week:

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

A Tax Break Worthy of Bipartisan Cheers
Wall Street Journal
March 12, 2014

Housing Vouchers Reduced The Number Of Low-Income Homeless Families By 75 Percent
Think Progress
March 11, 2014

Schools across the country offering universal free lunch
MSNBC
March 10, 2014