Benefits

House Republicans are planning to release an annual budget resolution soon that will likely call for deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). House Republican leaders are pressing for cutting the deficit, refusing to raise revenues, and even calling for more tax cuts, while saying they will shield certain areas of the budget (Medicare, Social Security, and military spending) from cuts. This approach makes Medicaid and SNAP prime targets for proposed cuts.[1] Prominent Republicans have put forward several proposals to cut SNAP (the focus of this analysis) and there is

This week at CBPP, we focused on state budgets and taxes, income security, the federal budget, food assistance, health, and the economy.On state budgets and taxes, Iris Hinh explained why state policymakers should reject K-12 school voucher programs. Bernie Gallagher and Wes Tharpe emphasized that Arizona’s proposal for automated income tax cuts sounds benign but would cause great harm. Michael Mitchell noted that New Jersey’s governor is proposing to eliminate fees for state public defenders and that other states should follow suit. On income security, LaDonna Pavetti, Ed Bolen, Laura Harker

Our country’s criminal legal system should work for everyone regardless of income, race, or other identities. In his fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy included new funding that would move the state closer to this vision by eliminating fees levied on people with low incomes who receive counsel from a state public defender. Public defender fees are just one of a constellation of burdensome criminal legal fees that undermine just outcomes and create ongoing financial hardship for people with low incomes who interact with the legal system.Lawmakers across the

The Arizona legislature is considering a proposal that would wreak enormous harm on rural areas, local governments, schools, and other vital services Arizona’s people and economy depend on, while delivering an unnecessary payout to already wealthy people through a series of new income tax cuts.The plan is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: proponents claim it’s harmless, but its complex formulas hide a predatory, harmful outcome. It’s dressed up differently, but it’s ultimately the same kind of irresponsible, triggered income tax cuts being pushed in states across the country.The proposal takes two

A key ruling earlier this year from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed how state- and locally administered Medicaid programs can send automated texts to enrollees. This will help Medicaid agencies send timely information to the millions of enrollees who will soon be subject to losing their coverage as they undergo renewals now that the COVID-19 continuous coverage requirement is coming to an end.In response to a Health and Human Services Department inquiry, the FCC confirmed that state governments can send automated text messages without facing Telephone Consumer Protection

Every child deserves a quality K-12 education that equips them for long-term opportunities and success. But this year, at least half of the states are considering school voucher bills that undermine the promise of public schooling. School vouchers raise the risk of harm to students, do little to expand opportunity, and cut funding to public schools. State policymakers should reject these proposals.Every child deserves a quality K-12 education that equips them for long-term opportunities and success.K-12 school vouchers are typically funded through state revenues and give families a set amount

The COVID-19 federal public health emergency is ending on May 11, 2023, along with several related policy provisions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other programs.

Everyone needs enough resources to afford food, a roof over their heads, and health care as well as access to affordable, high-quality child care and other caregiving supports. Programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), Medicaid, housing assistance, and cash benefit programs help people afford the basics and provide a foundation that can help them succeed in work and family life.Despite these programs’ important roles, some Republican lawmakers are proposing to create or expand policies to take away benefits from those who cannot

This week at CBPP, we focused on the federal budget, and in particular President Biden’s 2024 budget proposal. We also focused on federal and state taxes, health, income security, and the economy. And we marked the ratification of our new union contract. We had several analyses of the President’s budget proposal. CBPP President Sharon Parrott released a statement and a tweet thread explaining how the proposal would build toward an economy where everyone can thrive. Chuck Marr noted that the President’s budget proposes a full expansion of the Child Tax Credit through 2025 and calls for

President Biden’s 2024 budget invests in people and communities and creates a 21st century tax system that supports these investments to build toward an economy that works for everyone

Policymakers in many state capitols are pushing irresponsible plans for automatic, deep, and costly income tax cuts to be implemented several years after their enactment — obscuring the effect of tax changes that primarily benefit wealthy households and corporations but ultimately damage most people and communities.Commonly described as “phase-ins” or “triggers,” these automatic cuts have become increasingly popular with tax-cutting proponents. While details differ, they have the same outcome: they set the stage for serious harm to schools and other vital services, reduce electoral

Congress is likely to engage in major battles over appropriations this year, particularly for budget areas other than defense.

A high-stakes tax debate will begin this year, accelerate through the presidential campaign, and likely culminate with legislative action in 2025. This debate provides an opportunity to correct our course — moving away from the flawed trickle-down path of the 2017 tax law and toward a tax code that raises more needed revenues, is more progressive and equitable, and supports investments that make the economy work for everyone. Specifically, this course correction should include letting regressive provisions of the 2017 tax law expire on schedule, scaling back the egregiously large and permanent

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued its annual advance notice of planned Medicare Advantage (MA) payment changes for 2024. CMS estimates these changes would increase nominal revenues of MA plans by an average of 1.03 percent. These updated payment rates are unlikely to have a major impact on the Medicare program or its beneficiaries, despite allegations by the health insurance industry. About 30 million of Medicare’s 65 million beneficiaries receive their benefits through MA plans operated by private insurers. Medicare pays MA plans a specified dollar amount for

Three years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in the U.S., sending the economy into a downward spiral. Amid intense fear and hardship, federal policymakers responded, enacting five relief bills in 2020 that provided an estimated $3.3 trillion of relief and the American Rescue Plan in 2021, which added another $1.8 trillion. This robust policy response helped make the COVID recession the shortest on record and helped fuel an economic recovery that has brought the unemployment rate which peaked at 14.8 percent in April 2020, to a low of 3.4 percent in January 2023.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonpartisan research and policy institute, and employees represented by the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU), IFPTE Local 70, have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement. This agreement is the second union contract for CBPP employees, who formed a union in 2018.The new contract increases worker pay and expands workplace flexibility, transparency, and opportunity in important areas such as hiring, career development, and benefits.“This contract means more money, more flexibility, and more fair and

This week at CBPP, we focused on health, the federal budget, state budgets and taxes, food assistance, and the economy. On health, Allison Orris and Sarah Lueck explained that the Congressional Republicans’ budget plans are likely to cut health coverage. We also updated our fact sheets that provide information about adults in the coverage gap in each state that hasn’t adopted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. On the federal budget, Nick Gwyn identified how the Ways and Means Bill misses the mark on unemployment fraud. On state budgets and taxes, Samantha Waxman and Iris Hinh

This spring, House Republicans are expected to release an annual budget resolution that calls for large health care cuts, and Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace coverage are likely to be prime targets.

On Tuesday, February 28, the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to mark up legislation circulated late Friday afternoon by Chair Jason Smith — the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act. Despite its name, the bill could hamper ongoing efforts to reduce unemployment insurance (UI) fraud by repealing funding dedicated to that very purpose. Other provisions in the legislation also are unnecessary and counterproductive, such as allowing state UI agencies to use temporary contractors rather than public employees for important work to process UI claims and shore up the