BEYOND THE NUMBERS
In Case You Missed It...
This week at CBPP, we focused on poverty and inequality, housing, health, federal taxes, food assistance, and the economy.
- On housing, Robert Greenstein cautioned that a proposed housing rule from the Trump Administration would break up families and cause thousands of citizens and eligible immigrants to lose their homes. We posted 50-state and national fact sheets on federal rental assistance. Alicia Mazzara pointed out that federal rental assistance helps families, seniors, and people with disabilities in every state. We encouraged the President and Congress to override the deep funding cuts scheduled for 2020 under the 2011 Budget Control Act and make sizable new investments in child care and housing.
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On poverty and inequality, Sharon Parrott warned that a proposal floated by the Trump Administration to change the poverty measure would reduce or eliminate assistance to millions of lower-income Americans. Jennifer Wagner noted that text messaging can be leveraged to improve communications in safety net programs.
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On health, Sarah Lueck commented that a House bill would block the Trump Administration rules on health waivers that weaken pre-existing condition protections. Peggy Bailey stressed that Medicaid must be part of the solution to the opioid crisis. Ahead of Mother’s Day, Hannah Katch recommended that states ensure women’s access to comprehensive health coverage. Jesse Cross-Call debunked false claims related to Medicaid expansion enrollment in Virginia. Paul N. Van de Water highlighted a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the Trump Administration’s proposed rule effectively banning drug rebates in Medicare and Medicaid would raise drug spending.
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On federal taxes, Chuck Marr outlined key facts and questions about the tax gap ahead of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing and explained how the Working Families Tax Relief Act would help millions of mothers and their children by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.
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On food assistance, Richard Kogan, Dottie Rosenbaum, and Zoë Neuberger urged the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to protect SNAP (food stamps) and Child Nutrition Programs from appropriations lapses.
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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 – High-Income Individuals Disproportionately Contribute to the Tax Gap
A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some of the highlights:
HUD plan aimed at undocumented immigrants to displace 55K kids in US legally
ABC News
May 10, 2019
Trump Administration Considering Changes That Would Redefine The Poverty Line
NPR
May 9, 2019
Trump Administration Seeks to Redefine Formula for Calculating Poverty
The New York Times
May 7, 2019
Trump Considers Poverty-Gauge Change That Could Trim Rolls on Aid Programs
The Wall Street Journal
May 7, 2019
Top Earners Flocked to These Opportunity Zones Pretax Break
Bloomberg
May 7, 2019
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