In Case You Missed It . . . | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

off the charts

POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the federal budget and taxes, inequality, health reform, and the safety net.

On the federal budget and taxes, Robert Greenstein explained that IRS funding cuts for 2015 will likely lead to more tax-credit errors. Paul Van de Water noted a New York Times editorial on the flaws of using “dynamic scoring” in budget estimates.
On inequality, we highlighted our updated paper showing that income gaps have widened significantly since the 1970s.
On health reform, Jesse Cross-Call pointed to new figures showing that the law’s Medicaid expansion isn’t hurting state budgets. We explained that people who bought coverage last year through the federal marketplace should re-enroll to avoid paying more than they should for coverage.
On the safety net, Zoë Neuberger noted that nearly 14,000 high-poverty schools across the country have adopted community eligibility this year to serve meals to all students at no charge.

This week, we released a paper on why budget and tax plans shouldn’t use dynamic scoring. We updated our backgrounder on unemployment insurance, our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession, and our guide to historical trends in income inequality.

CBPP’s Chart of the Week – Part of our Big-Picture Look at Inequality:

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

Keeping Score on the Budget
New York Times
December 6, 2014

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