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Pre-2005 Content Archive

Report

Should Congress Authorize States to Continue Giving Tax Breaks to Businesses?

February 18, 2005 | Michael Mazerov

Key Findings:

The Cuno decision declared unconstitutional many of the most costly, ineffective, and unaccountable business tax breaks granted by states and localities.
Such tax breaks chiefly shift jobs among states while impairing the states’ ability to fund education and transportation services that do enhance job growth and national productivity.
The proposed “Economic Development Act” would reverse Cuno, thereby preserving such unproductive incentives.
Enacting the “Economic Development Act” also could open a “Pandora’s Box” of new forms of state tax discrimination against interstate commerce.

Report

Medicaid Budget Proposals Would Shift Costs to States and Be Likely to Cause Reductions in Health Coverage: Administration’s Proposal Also Implies Cap on Federal Funding

February 18, 2005 | Leighton Ku, Andy Schneider and Victoria Wachino

The President’s budget for fiscal year 2006 includes major proposals relating to Medicaid, the health care and long-term care program for low-income Americans that is jointly funded by the...

Report

The Lukewarm 2004 Labor Market: Despite Some Signs of Improvement, Wages Fell, Job Growth Lagged, and Unemployment Spells Remained Long

February 17, 2005 | Sylvia Allegretto and Isaac Shapiro

Issued Jointly WithIntroductionThe labor market showed some signs of improvement in 2004; most notable in this regard was the job growth that occurred in every month of the year. This was the...

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OMB Baseline Assumptions Lead to Understatement of Cuts to Housing Assistance

February 15, 2005

Backup documents provided to Congress indicate that, under the Administration's plan, in 2010 programs within the housing assistance budget category Subfunction 604 would be cut by 10.1 percent below...

Report

Unpublished Administration Budget Documents Show Domestic Cuts Would Significantly Reduce Funding for Most Public Services

February 14, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro, David Kamin, Ruth Carlitz and Sharon Parrott

OverviewThe Administration’s budget calls for $214 billion in reductions over five years in non-entitlement domestic programs outside homeland security, compared to current funding levels...

Report

Assessing President Bush’s New Budget Proposal

February 14, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro, Robert Greenstein and James R. Horney

This short analysis examines the priorities reflected in the Administration’s budget, the effects of its proposals on the deficit, and some budget gimmicks it contains.The Priorities of the...

Report

Appropriations Shortfall Cuts Funding for 80,000 Housing Vouchers This Year

February 11, 2005 | Peter Lawrence, Barbara Sard and Will Fischer

Executive SummaryOn December 8, 2004, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2005 (P.L. 108-447), setting spending levels for 13 federal departments...

Report

Deep Cuts in Federal Grants in FY 2006 Budget Will Squeeze States and Localities

February 9, 2005 | Iris J. Lav

Some of the spending austerity in the President’s budget is accomplished by passing down costs to other levels of government. This leaves states and localities the option of either...

Report

Administration Proposals To Change Budget Process Have Strong Ideological Cast

February 9, 2005 | Robert Greenstein and Richard Kogan

The President released a budget that proposes numerous changes in the process by which Congress develops and passes the federal budget. This analysis briefly summarizes the proposed changes,...

Report

Cuts to Low-Income Programs May Far Exceed the Contribution of These Programs to Deficit’s Return

February 9, 2005 | Isaac Shapiro and Robert Greenstein

SummaryThere is a distinct possibility that efforts to reduce the deficit this year will take a large and disproportionate bite out of programs that provide key supports and services to low-income...

Report

An Overview of Issues Raised by the Administration's Social Security Plan

February 7, 2005 | Jason Furman and Robert Greenstein

This analysis is based on the briefing on the Administration’s Social Security plan that was provided to reporters on February 2 by a “senior Administration official.”1. ...

Report

New White House Details Show the Proposed Private Accounts

February 4, 2005 | Jason Furman

A fact sheet released by the White House on February 3 acknowledged that retirees who receive a real rate of return on their private accounts equal to three percent above inflation (which is the...

Report

Future Medicaid Growth Is Not Due To Flaws in the Program's Design, But To Demographic Trends and General Increases in Health Care Costs

February 4, 2005

New Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has begun discussing plans for $60 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next ten years as part of the Administration’s federal budget...

Report

How the Individual Accounts in the President’s New Plan Would Work

February 4, 2005 | Jason Furman

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush outlined some of the details of the private accounts he is proposing but did not mention a critical fact about those accounts — individuals...

Report

White House Press Secretary’s Description of Administration’s Private Accounts May Leave Misimpressions

February 3, 2005 | Jason Furman

In a briefing today, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan contended that a story on the Administration’s Social Security plan printed in today’s Washington Post was...

Report

An Analysis of Senator Graham’s Social Security Plan

February 4, 2005 | Jason Furman and Robert Greenstein

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced a Social Security plan in the 108th Congress, reportedly developed with the help of White House staff, that is based on the main plan designed by...

Report

President Tries to Have It Both Ways

February 3, 2005

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush used misleading statistics to create a false sense of crisis about Social Security. At the same time, in a White House briefing several hours...

Report

The Administration’s Misleading $600 Billion Estimate of the Cost of Waiting to Act On Social Security

February 2, 2005 | David Kamin and Richard Kogan

SummaryPresident Bush recently claimed that delaying action on Social Security by “...just one year adds $600 billion to the cost of fixing Social Security.” [1] Other Administration...

Report

Administration Expected to Propose New Budget Rule That Could Adversely Affect Social Security, Medicare, SSI, Veterans’ Disability, and Other Programs

February 2, 2005 | Robert Greenstein and Richard Kogan

OverviewThe Administration’s forthcoming budget is likely to propose a new budget rule that would affect Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ disability compensation,...

Report

Medicaid and SCHIP Protected Insurance Coverage for Millions of Low-Income Americans

January 31, 2005 | Matt Broaddus, Leighton Ku and Victoria Wachino

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that the ranks of uninsured Americans have grown substantially since 2000. It is less commonly known, however, that the number of those uninsured...

Report

CBO Data Show Tax Cuts Have Played Much Larger Role than Domestic Spending Increases in Fueling the Deficit

January 31, 2005 | Ruth Carlitz and Richard Kogan

The new Congressional Budget Office budget projections released today show that the nation faces a fourth consecutive year of substantial budget deficits. Some seek to portray “runaway...

Report

So-Called "Price Indexing" Proposal Would Result In Deep Reductions Over Time In Social Security Benefits

January 28, 2005 | Robert Greenstein

Increasing attention is being accorded to a proposal to make a major change in how Social Security benefits levels are set. Under a proposal that President Bush’s Social Security Commission put...

Report

The Simple Story: Tax Cuts Lose Revenues

January 25, 2005 | Richard Kogan

New projections issued by the Congressional Budget Office on January 25 indicate that the tax cuts enacted over the last few years will do little if anything to promote long-term economic...

Report

Apparent Improvement in CBO's January Budget Projections Is Largely Artificial

January 24, 2005 | Richard Kogan

The most recent ten-year "baseline" projection of the federal budget, issued by the Congressional Budget Office in September 2004, showed deficits totaling $2.3 trillion over ten years. When CBO...

Report

The Flawed “Population Plus Inflation” Formula: Why TABOR’s Growth Formula Doesn’t Work

January 13, 2005 | David Bradley, Iris J. Lav and Nicholas Johnson

Limiting the growth of state revenue collections and state expenditures to a population-growth-plus-inflation formula is a central provision of a new generation of “tax and expenditure...

Report

Is Colorado’s TABOR Creating Jobs?

January 13, 2005 | Karen Lyons and Nicholas Johnson

Advocates of Colorado’s “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” (TABOR) — a stringent set of tax and spending limitations that is being promoted as a model for other states and for the federal...

Report

Tax Cuts and Consequences: The States That Cut Taxes the Most During the 1990s Have Suffered Lately

January 12, 2005 | Robert Greenstein

SummaryBetween the mid-1990s and 2001, states enacted a wave of tax cuts. Some 44 states enacted tax cuts that ultimately reduced state revenue by an average of 7.6 percent. Sixteen states reduced...

Report

Does Social Security Face a Crisis in 2018?

January 11, 2005 | Jason Furman

A recently leaked White House memo indicates that the first phase of the Administration’s strategy to sell individual accounts will be to convince Americans that the Social Security system is...

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Senator Misrepresents CBO Report in Launching Misleading Attack on Fiscally Responsible Social Security Plan

January 4, 2005 | Robert Greenstein

On December 22, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis of a Social Security plan designed by M.I.T economist Peter Diamond, one of the world’s foremost experts on retirement issues,...

Report

Hunger, Crowding, and Other Hardships Are Widespread Among Families in Poverty

December 20, 2004 | Arloc Sherman

Two recent, little noticed government reports spotlight the strained living conditions of millions of U.S. families. One report shows that the number of Americans threatened by hunger inched...

Report

Should the Budget Rules Be Changed So That Large-Scale Borrowing To Fund Individual Accounts Is Left Out of the Budget?

December 13, 2004 | William Gale, Peter R. Orszag and Jason Furman

Recent plans to replace part of Social Security with individual accounts would significantly increase federal borrowing for at least several decades. Over the next 10 years alone, various...

Report

Should the Budget Be Changed to Exclude the Cost of Individual Accounts?

December 13, 2004 | Peter R. Orszag, William Gale and Jason Furman

Executive SummaryProposals to replace part of Social Security with individual accounts are now a focus of attention, with the President expressing a strong desire to push forward on creating...

Report

Would Borrowing $2 Trillion for Individual Accounts Eliminate $10 Trillion in Social Security Liabilities?

December 13, 2004 | Jason Furman and Peter R. Orszag

Administration officials have been downplaying the significance of the $2 trillion in transition costs required by some individual accounts plans, by comparing that cost to the unfunded...

Report

State Policies to Assist Working-Poor Families

December 10, 2004 | Elizabeth McNichol and John Springer

Introduction For a large and growing number of Americans, having a job is not enough to lift them out of poverty. This report presents a menu of practical policy options that states...

Report

State Fiscal Crisis Lingers: Cuts Still Loom

December 8, 2004 | Elizabeth McNichol

For information on the state budget shortfalls states are currently facing, see:http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711As state legislatures write their budgets for the 2005-06...

Report

Did the Appropriations Bill Provide a Sufficient Increase in Low-Income Energy Assistance to Cover Spiraling Home Heating Costs?

November 23, 2004 | Richard Kogan

Because of large increases in home heating costs in recent months, the funding level that Congress provided for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) [1] in the recently...

Report

Reducing Paperwork and Connecting Low-Income Children with School Meals

November 17, 2004 | Zoë Neuberger

OverviewIn enacting the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress made several changes in the eligibility determination process for free and reduced-price school meals.[1]...

Report

The Potential Impact of Eliminating TennCare and Reverting to Medicaid: A Preliminary Analysis

November 16, 2004 | Leighton Ku and Victoria Wachino

SummaryOn November 10, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen announced, “I have set in motion a process to dissolve TennCare and replace it with a traditional Medicaid program.”[1] The...

Report

Improvements to Appropriations Bills Needed to Protect Housing Vouchers in 2005

November 8, 2004 | Barbara Sard and Will Fischer

The Senate and House Appropriations Committees have each approved bills funding the “Section 8” Housing Choice Voucher program and other HUD programs in fiscal year 2005. Neither committee...

Report

The Effects of Copayments on the Use of Medical Services and Prescription Drugs in Utah’s Medicaid Program

November 2, 2004 | Elaine Deschamps, Judi Hilman and Leighton Ku

SummaryIn recent years, a number of states have increased cost-sharing for low-income Medicaid beneficiaries as one approach to Medicaid cost-containment. While copayments have been most...

Report

Share of Economy Going to Wages and Salaries Drops for Unprecedented 14th Straight Quarter

October 29, 2004 | Isaac Shapiro and David Kamin

The Commerce Department data released today on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product — which measures the overall size of the economy — indicate the continuation of a troubling trend for...

Report

Policy Considerations Relating to Privatization in the Food Stamp Program

October 28, 2004 | David Super

The Food Stamp Act requires that state civil servants make all decisions about individual households’ eligibility for benefits. Throughout the program’s history, state civil service...

Report

Funding Instability Threatens to Erode Business Community’s Confidence In The Housing Voucher Program

October 14, 2004 | Barbara Sard

At its core, the Section 8 housing voucher program represents a partnership between the private sector, which builds and maintains the housing occupied by voucher holders, and the...

Report

Official Treasury Report Shows Fourth Year Of Deficit Growth, Despite Economic Recovery

October 14, 2004 | Robert Greenstein and Richard Kogan

Fiscal Year 2004 ended on September 30, and today the Treasury Department reported that the deficit for 2004 was $413 billion, or 3.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product.[1]At 3.6 percent of...

Report

Number of Unemployed Going Without Federal Benefits Hits Record 3 Million

October 13, 2004 | Isaac Shapiro

Since late December, when the federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation program stopped providing additional aid to individuals exhausting their regular unemployment benefits, a...

Report

Large Families Face Higher Rent Burdens and Fewer Housing Opportunities Under New HUD Rent Rules

October 14, 2004 | Tara O'Neill, Barbara Sard and Will Fischer

On October 1, 2004, HUD put into effect new rent standards — known as Fair Market Rents or FMRs — that will be used to set maximum rent levels for the “Section 8” housing voucher...

Report

Unemployment Insurance Does Not Explain Why TANF Caseloads Are Falling As Poverty and Need Are Rising

October 12, 2004 | Shawn Fremstad, Sharon Parrott and Arloc Sherman

Between 2000 and 2003, the number and percentage of single mothers living in poverty increased while the percentage of single mothers with jobs fell. At the same time, poverty among children...

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State Fact Sheets: Local Data on Final 2005 Fair Market Rents

October 12, 2004

contacts

[scald=13568]
2000 L St., NW #700
Washington, DC 20036
www.ced.org

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State-Level Ballot Measures in November 2004 With Significant Fiscal Implications

October 13, 2004 | David Bradley and Nicholas Johnson

A number of states will have measures on the November 2, 2004 ballot that have potentially significant implications for state budgets. What follows is a listing of some such measures.There...

Report

September Job Growth Is Only One-Third of Average Job Growth For An Economic Recovery Period

October 9, 2004 | Isaac Shapiro

The number of jobs grew by 96,000 in September. This is one-third the job growth of 300,000 per month that would have been achieved if job growth had occurred at the rate that is average for...