In Case You Missed It...

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the federal budget and taxes, state budgets and taxes, health care, food assistance, and the economy.

• On the federal budget and taxes, Chuck Marr pointed to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s comments about the potential “catastrophic” effects of House-passed IRS funding cuts to taxpayer services. Will Fischer argued that while House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s endorsement of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s plan to limit the mortgage interest deduction is moving in the right direction, greater changes are needed.

• On state budgets and taxes, Michael Mazerov discussed further evidence that state income taxes have little to do with where people choose to live.

• On health care, Jesse Cross-Call noted that Wisconsin’s and Wyoming’s budget reports show that their failure to adopt health reform’s Medicaid expansion is costing them millions of dollars in forgone budget savings.

• On food assistance, Becca Segal urged eligible school districts to adopt community eligibility before the upcoming August 31 deadline.

• On the economy, we highlighted key facts about the minimum wage.

We released an explainer on the minimum wage. We also updated our backgrounder on how many weeks of unemployment compensation are available from state to state and our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession.

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:

The Number of Homeless Veterans Really Is Falling
FiveThirtyEight
August 27, 2014

The Myth of 'Out of Control' Disability Benefits
U.S. News & World Report
August 22, 2014

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