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POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It…

| By CBPP

This week at CBPP, we focused on state budgets and taxes, health, the federal budget, housing, food assistance, and the economy.

  • On state budgets and taxes, Michael Leachman and Eric Figueroa highlighted that while K-12 funding is up in most states where teachers went on strike last year to protest low pay and other funding shortages, it is still well below 2008 levels. Leachman also summarized the report. Samantha Waxman noted the bright prospects for state expansions of earned income tax credits (EITC) in 2019. Erica Williams and Waxman updated their research on how states can adopt or expand an EITC to build a stronger future economy and their research on how much a state EITC would cost in fiscal year 2020. Williams and Waxman also showed that state EITCs and higher minimum wages work best together. Wesley Tharpe explained that New York could bolster its future by strengthening its millionaires’ tax.
  • On health, Hannah Katch pointed out that revisions can’t fix a Montana Medicaid proposal that would take coverage from thousands. Sarah Lueck warned that expanding association health plans would hurt consumers and state insurance markets. Paul N. Van de Water cited new evidence that health care spending has slowed since the Affordable Care Act’s enactment.
  • On the federal budget, Joel Friedman, Sharon Parrott, Aviva Aron-Dine, and Chye-Ching Huang listed five things to look for in the President’s 2020 budget. Richard Kogan and Kathleen Bryant updated their paper showing that program spending outside of Social Security and Medicare is historically low as a percentage of the economy. Kogan and Yixuan Huang updated their paper showing that low-income mandatory programs aren’t to blame for the long-term deficit problem.
  • On housing, Douglas Rice showed that public housing agencies generally use all available voucher funding to help families afford housing. We also posted a glossary and background information on agencies’ voucher utilization data.
  • On food assistance, Brynne Keith-Jennings lamented that Puerto Rico is being forced to slash basic food aid while waiting for federal policymakers to respond to its request for assistance.
  • On the economy, we updated our backgrounder on how many weeks of unemployment compensation are available and our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession.

Chart of the Week – States Provide Nearly Half of Public School Funding

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

At least 4 Kentucky school districts close amid protests
Associated Press
March 7, 2019

States Propose Increased Teacher Pay After Months Filled With Protests
Wall Street Journal
March 6, 2019

Democrats have united around a plan to dramatically cut child poverty
Vox
March 6, 2019

Report: Most 2018 teacher protests led to big boosts in school funding — but not enough to make up for earlier cuts
Washington Post
March 6, 2019

Here’s How Your Kids Are Going To Matter This Tax Season
WAMU
March 6, 2019

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