View All | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

This page shows a chronological list of all CBPP materials.

Pre-2005 Content Archive

Report

Federal Action Needed to Close Medicaid “Coverage Gap,” Extend Coverage to 2.2 Million People

May 6, 2021 | Judith Solomon

Closing this Medicaid “coverage gap” would be among the most important steps that policymakers can take to reduce racial health disparities.

Housing

Blog

Rental Assistance Needed to Build a Recovery That Works for People With Disabilities

May 6, 2021 | Anna Bailey

As Congress considers the Administration’s recovery proposals, lawmakers have a historic opportunity to address on a long-term basis homelessness and housing instability among people with...

Economy

Report

Congress Should Heed President Biden’s Call for Fundamental UI Reform

May 5, 2021 | Chad Stone

The underfunded UI system poorly serves unemployed workers, particularly low-paid workers, women, and workers of color.

Federal Tax

Blog

IRS Needs Authority to Regulate Tax Return Preparers

May 5, 2021 | John Wancheck

President Biden’s new American Families Plan includes several proposals to rebuild the IRS to improve tax compliance, including authorizing the IRS to regulate paid tax return preparers. That...

Health

Fact Sheet

Coverage for COVID-19 Testing, Vaccinations, and Treatment

May 5, 2021

Various laws, regulations, and guidance that federal policymakers put in place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic expand access to testing, vaccination, and treatment for the virus.

Health

Report

Continuous Eligibility Keeps People Insured and Reduces Costs

May 4, 2021 | Jennifer Wagner and Judith Solomon

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) cut the nation’s uninsured rate nearly in half from 16 percent to 9 percent, but 29 million people remain uninsured, including about 18 million who are already...

Family Income Support

Blog

Mississippi Raises TANF Benefits But More Improvements Needed, Especially in South

May 4, 2021 | Ali Safawi

Mississippi, which for over 50 years provided the nation’s lowest cash assistance benefits to families with children, has increased the maximum Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grant...

Food Assistance

Report

Permanently End the SNAP Cut-Off to Support a More Equitable Recovery

May 4, 2021 | Ed Bolen, Joseph Llobrera and Brynne Keith-Jennings

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits broadly to low-income households that meet the program’s eligibility requirements, but its coverage of non-elderly adults not...

Housing

Infographic

It’s Time for Housing Voucher Expansion

May 3, 2021

Click here to view the...

Blog

In Case You Missed It...

April 30, 2021 | CBPP

CBPP’s main focus this week was the announcement of President Biden’s proposed American Families Plan. CBPP President Sharon Parrott released a statement that the President’s recovery agenda is...

State Budget and Tax

Report

3 Principles for an Antiracist, Equitable State Response to COVID-19 — and a Stronger Recovery

April 29, 2021 | Cortney Sanders, Michael Leachman and Erica Williams

States have critical policy choices to make: they can exacerbate inequities and damage the economy, or they can set another course.

State Budget and Tax

Blog

Rigid Limits on State Taxes and Spending Damage Families and Communities

April 28, 2021 | Samantha Waxman

The health and economic crisis due to COVID-19 calls for states to raise revenues and invest in communities, not set harmful, arbitrary limits on doing so, as some state lawmakers have proposed. The...

Federal Budget

Blog

White House, Ways and Means Paid Leave Plans Would Help Workers and Families

April 28, 2021 | Kathleen Romig

This week, both the White House and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal put forward ambitious plans to address major gaps in our caregiving infrastructure by creating a permanent,...

Housing

Blog

Missing in the President’s Recovery Plans: Help for Families Struggling to Pay Rent

April 28, 2021 | Will Fischer

Millions of people with low incomes struggle to afford housing, which exposes them to overcrowding, homelessness, and other hardships and limits their ability to fully participate in the emerging...

Food Assistance

Blog

An Opportunity to Make Summer Childhood Hunger History

April 27, 2021 | Zoë Neuberger

April 28, 2021: We’ve updated this post. This week, the Agriculture Department (USDA) implemented a measure in the American Rescue Plan Act that could transform our nation’s approach...

Food Assistance

Report

Number of Families Struggling to Afford Food Rose Steeply in Pandemic and Remains High, Especially Among Children and Households of Color

April 27, 2021 | Brynne Keith-Jennings, Catlin Nchako and Joseph Llobrera

The number of households having difficulty putting food on the table grew sharply over the past year due to COVID-19’s far-reaching health and economic impacts and remains high relative to pre-pandemic levels.

Family Income Support

Blog

Subsidized Employment Must Be a Part of Any Recovery Package

April 27, 2021 | Laura Meyer

Subsidized employment, a proven job placement tool for those facing the greatest employment barriers, should be a part of any legislative package to help the millions who remain out of work in the...

Food Assistance

Report

Matching Data Across Benefit Programs Can Increase WIC Enrollment

April 27, 2021 | Jess Maneely and Zoë Neuberger

Table of Contents Overview Why Is It Worthwhile to Enroll More Medicaid and SNAP Participants in WIC? How Medicaid Participants Can Benefit From Participating in WIC How SNAP...

Economy

Report

A National Paid Leave Program Would Help Workers, Families

April 27, 2021 | Kathleen Romig and Kathleen Bryant

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal policymakers created a temporary paid family and medical leave program in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which passed with strong...

Housing

Blog

Rental Assistance in Recovery Legislation Needed to Protect Children From Hardship and Help Build a More Equitable Future

April 26, 2021 | Sonya Acosta

The COVID-19 crisis increased housing instability for millions of renters and further exposed the inadequacy of the country’s housing safety net, particularly for families with children. As...

Blog

In Case You Missed It...

April 23, 2021 | CBPP

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

Federal Tax

Fact Sheet

Rescue Plan’s Expansions of Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit Will Benefit Rural Residents

April 22, 2021

Rural communities — both nationally and in most states — will benefit disproportionately from the American Rescue Plan’s temporary expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.

Housing

Blog

Upcoming Recovery Legislation Can Make Lasting Progress Against Housing-Related Hardships

April 22, 2021 | Douglas Rice

The recovery legislation that policymakers will craft in the coming month is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make real progress in addressing the nation’s most urgent housing problems, and...

Federal Tax

Report

Asking Wealthiest Households to Pay Fairer Amount in Tax Would Help Fund a More Equitable Recovery

April 22, 2021 | Chuck Marr, Samantha Jacoby, Sam Washington and George Fenton

To fund the investments that would help build a more equitable recovery, President Biden is expected to ask the wealthiest households to pay a fairer amount in federal taxes. With the nation’s...

Health

Blog

Medicaid Expansion Cuts Hospitals’ Uncompensated Care Costs

April 20, 2021 | Gideon Lukens

Recent research from Louisiana underscores how Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could dramatically reduce uncompensated care costs — the cost of providing health care that...

Health

Report

Broadening Marketplace Enrollment Periods Would Boost Access to Health Coverage

April 19, 2021 | Sarah Lueck

Beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Administration should make additional, permanent changes to make it easier for more people to enroll in coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces.

Blog

In Case You Missed It...

April 16, 2021 | CBPP

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

Federal Tax

Report

American Rescue Plan Act Provides Critical, Permanent Tax Relief to Puerto Rico

April 16, 2021 | Javier Balmaceda

The Act extends the Child Tax Credit to families of all sizes in Puerto Rico and provides funding to substantially expand Puerto Rico’s local Earned Income Tax Credit.

Health

Blog

States Can Reduce Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatment, Especially for Immigrants

April 15, 2021 | Jennifer Sullivan

Reports of people being denied coronavirus vaccines due to immigration status — when everyone is eligible for them, for free, as the Biden Administration has stressed — underscore the...

Housing

Policy Brief

Policy Brief: More Housing Vouchers Most Important Step to Help More People Afford Stable Homes

April 15, 2021 | Will Fischer, Sonya Acosta and Erik Gartland

Vouchers help more than 2 million low-income households afford decent, stable housing, usually by helping them rent a modest unit of their choice in the private market.

Federal Tax

Blog

The Expanded Child Tax Credit Must Be Permanent and Monthly

April 15, 2021 | Chuck Marr

“Shell Reed’s 1-year-old needed diapers.” The first sentence of a recent Washington Post story highlights why the American Rescue Plan both expanded the Child Tax Credit to help families...

Health

Blog

Setting the Record Straight About Medicaid Expansion’s Impact on Missouri’s Budget

April 14, 2021 | Jesse Cross-Call

Some Missouri lawmakers, citing unfounded concerns about cost, are trying to derail the July 1 implementation of a constitutional amendment passed by voters last summer that will expand Medicaid...

Health

Blog

An Equitable Recovery Needs Investments in Connecting People Leaving Jail or Prison to Health Care

April 14, 2021 | Anna Bailey

The recovery legislation that policymakers will soon consider provides a historic opportunity to build on the Affordable Care Act and create an equitable recovery where everyone has access to...

Federal Tax

Report

Rebuilding IRS Would Reduce Tax Gap, Help Replenish Depleted Revenue Base

April 13, 2021 | Chuck Marr, Sam Washington, Samantha Jacoby and David Reich

A decade of budget cuts has severely undermined the agency’s ability to perform its fundamental jobs of enforcing the nation’s tax laws.

State Budget and Tax

Blog

States Can Create Antiracist and Equitable Tax Codes

April 12, 2021 | Cortney Sanders

As state lawmakers continue to focus on recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, they should also commit to ensuring a more racially just future by making changes to their tax codes to...

Food Assistance

Blog

El Plan de Rescate le ayudará a Puerto Rico a recuperarse del COVID-19, pero a futuro hará falta asistencia alimentaria más sólida

April 12, 2021 | Brynne Keith-Jennings

Read in English La Ley del Plan de Rescate Estadounidense (en inglés The American Rescue Plan Act) incluye mil millones de financiación en asistencia...

Food Assistance

Blog

Rescue Plan Will Help Puerto Rico’s COVID-19 Recovery, But Stronger Food Assistance Needed in Future

April 12, 2021 | Brynne Keith-Jennings

Leer en español The American Rescue Plan Act includes $1 billion in funding for nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico and other territories that receive block grants for...

Housing

Policy Basics

Policy Basics: The Housing Choice Voucher Program

April 12, 2021

What Is the Housing Voucher Program? Individuals and families with low incomes use vouchers to help pay for privately owned housing. The program is federally funded and run by the Department of...

Blog

In Case You Missed It...

April 9, 2021 | CBPP

This week at CBPP, we focused on health, the federal budget and taxes, food assistance, poverty and inequality, and the economy. On health, Sarah Lueck and Tara Straw reported...

Federal Budget

Statement

Parrott: President Biden’s Discretionary Funding Request Addresses Crucial National Needs

April 9, 2021 | Sharon Parrott

This budget request marks an important break from more than a decade of underinvestment across a range of areas.

Poverty and Inequality

Blog

Hardship Rates Dropped in March, But Many Still Borrow to Get By

April 9, 2021 | Claire Zippel

Hardship rates fell sharply in late March, according to Census Bureau data released this week. But millions of people are still without their pre-pandemic income sources and are borrowing to get by....

Elert

Puerto Rico: Nuevos recursos sobre el PAN en inglés y ahora en español.

April 9, 2021

Durante los últimos meses, hemos publicado un paquete de materiales fundamentales sobre el Programa de Asistencia Nutricional (PAN) de Puerto Rico, que les ayuda a los residentes de Puerto Rico a...

Health

Report

Recovery Legislation Should Build on ACA Successes to Expand Health Coverage, Improve Affordability

April 8, 2021 | Sarah Lueck and Tara Straw

To make further strides toward universal coverage an essential priority for recovery legislation, Congress should make broader, permanent improvements to marketplace coverage.

Federal Budget

Blog

Building an Equitable Recovery Requires Investing in Paid Leave

April 8, 2021 | Kathleen Romig

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal policymakers created a temporary emergency paid family and medical leave program on a strong bipartisan basis as part of the Families First Coronavirus...

Health

Blog

Recovery Package Can Make Critical Improvements to Help Millions Buy Health Insurance

April 8, 2021 | Tara Straw

To permanently extend coverage to the roughly 30 million people who don’t have it, the President and Congress should use upcoming recovery legislation to make the American Rescue Plan’s premium...

Health

Blog

Medicaid Expansion Boosts Coverage and Services for People With Disabilities, Despite Critics’ Claims

April 7, 2021 | Jesse Cross-Call

Policymakers in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid are giving it new consideration, in part because of the American Rescue Plan’s large new financial incentive to do so. Expansion opponents...

Food Assistance

Blog

Reversing Trump Policy, Biden Administration Includes Lowest-Income Households in Emergency SNAP Benefits

April 6, 2021 | Dottie Rosenbaum

Update, April 13: We’ve updated this post. The Agriculture Department (USDA) has announced a new policy that will provide $1 billion a month in additional SNAP benefits to 25 million of...

Health

Blog

Biden Administration Should Withdraw All Approvals of Medicaid Work Requirements

April 5, 2021 | Jennifer Wagner

The Trump Administration approved policies in 13 state demonstration projects (or “waivers”) that take Medicaid coverage away from people who don’t comply with stringent work requirements....

Blog

In Case You Missed It...

April 2, 2021 | CBPP

This week at CBPP, we focused on health, family income support, food assistance, housing, poverty and inequality, and the economy. On health, Tara Straw explained that the...

Health

Blog

Lower Premiums, More Time to Enroll Will Boost Marketplace Enrollment

April 1, 2021 | Tara Straw

A new era begins today for people who get their health coverage though the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces and for many others seeking affordable coverage. The American Rescue Plan’s...

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