Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on this timely and important topic. My name is Ann Oliva; I am the Vice President for Housing Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The...

Congress should put the IRS on a path to a much needed, and long overdue, rebuild after years of crippling funding cuts.

As policymakers pursue compromise on a Build Back Better bill, they should craft legislation that, even if smaller, still makes significant progress toward more broadly shared prosperity in which more families can make ends meet and access health care, more children have what they need for healthy development and school success, and more workers can upgrade their skills to match the needs of today’s economy.

Adequate cash assistance is essential to help families maintain stability and to support children’s healthy development, especially when families with low incomes experience a job loss or other crisis. Yet since the early 20th century, cash assistance programs have provided very low benefits.

The increases the House was able to provide for low-income programs highlight the importance of reaching agreement on a robust topline for non-defense funding in coming negotiations.

Federal rental assistance helps struggling seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and working families keep a roof over their heads, often by helping them afford rental units they find in the private market. Ten million people in over 5 million low-income households receive federal rental assistance.

For decades, wealthy interests, large corporations, and their allies in state capitols have pushed tax cuts that haven’t yielded the promised economic benefits but instead have undermined state...

States continue to use their considerable flexibility under TANF to divert funds away from income support for families and toward other, often unrelated, state budget areas. By redirecting the funds back toward cash assistance, however, states could promote racial equity and child well-being.

The Biden Administration, which is currently re-examining Georgia’s waiver, should stop the state from leaving the federal marketplace by revoking federal approval to implement this harmful change.

The House-passed legislation would fill critical gaps in economic and health security programs for all five U.S. Territories, including permanent funding increases for their Medicaid programs and full access to SSI benefits.

BBB is unlikely to have any noticeable effect on inflation. The long-term benefits from its investments are large, while the risks of it generating inflation that the Federal Reserve cannot manage are small.

The additional vouchers provided through BBB would be expected to have only a limited impact on rents overall.

Failing to pass Build Back Better would take away the entire credit from many children who would no longer qualify at all and would cut the amount of the credit for millions more.

The House vote brings us a critical step closer to delivering policy advances that help families meet everyday challenges such as paying rent and putting food on the table, affording child care and preschool, securing health coverage, and paying for college.

Many communities across the United States are considering new approaches to public safety that go beyond traditional policing, and the federal American Rescue Plan has given them a unique opportunity...

Build Back Better’s proposed $24 billion voucher program investment, once fully phased in, would help make homes affordable for an estimated 300,000 households with low incomes — including about 274,000 children.

Safe, stable, accessible, and affordable housing remains out of reach for millions of women and girls in the U.S., which can undermine their health, safety, and economic opportunity. To address these...

Policymakers have committed to offsetting the costs of the bill’s new investments and have proposed a series of sound measures to do so.