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Congressional Impasse Jeopardizes January Jobless Benefits for Nearly Two Million Workers
December 22, 2011
Congress's failure to resolve differences over how to pay for renewing the payroll tax cut and federal emergency unemployment insurance (UI) benefits could mean an even colder January for jobless workers. States are already taking action to shut down the provision of federal benefits at the start of the new year, putting 1.8 … -
The Case Against Premium Support
December 21, 2011
On December 16, 2011, the Brookings Institution's project on Budgeting for National Priorities hosted a discussion of the proposal for Medicare premium support developed by former Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin and former Senator Pete Domenici. [1] That proposal, and the markedly similar proposal advanced by House … -
Ryan-Wyden Premium Support Proposal Not What It May Seem
Revised December 21, 2011
The proposal for Medicare premium support by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) differs in key respects from how many media reports are describing it.[1] Despite claims to the contrary, it likely would shift substantial costs to beneficiaries rather than protect them from such cost increases, could … -
Media Briefing: A Closer Look at the Ryan-Wyden Plan to Reform Medicare
December 20, 2011
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing on Tuesday, December 20 at 12:30 pm (ET) to discuss the new Medicare reform framework put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ron Wyden. Ezekiel Emanuel, a world-renowned bioethicist and health care expert, former Special Adviser for Health Policy to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, and Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress joined CBPP's Senior Fellow Paul Van de Water, and CBPP President, Robert Greenstein to discuss the implications of the Ryan-Wyden plan on Medicare, its beneficiaries, and health care costs.
Duration: 18:27
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Key Things to Know About Unemployment Insurance
Updated December 20, 2011
In the heat of the battle over how to address the imminent expiration of federal emergency unemployment insurance (UI) benefits (and the payroll tax cut), policymakers should not lose sight of what UI is and how it has functioned over the years. UI not only cushions the financial blow for workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their … -
General Assistance Programs: Safety Net Weakening Despite Increased Need
Updated December 19, 2011
State General Assistance programs, which provide a safety net of last resort for those who are very poor and do not qualify for other public assistance, have weakened considerably in recent decades and are continuing to do so, despite the large increase in need resulting from the recession. This report discusses how General Assistance Programs … -
Slideshow: The State Budget Crisis and the Economy
Updated December 19, 2011
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House Unemployment Insurance Proposal Would Harm Jobless Workers, Weaken Economy, and Undermine UI System
December 14, 2011
The House Republican bill (H.R. 3630) to extend the payroll tax cut and federal emergency unemployment insurance (UI) through next year would sharply curtail the number of weeks of UI benefits available to the long-term unemployed, even though jobs remain scarce and long-term unemployment remains at unprecedented levels. In addition, it would … -
Senate’s Balanced Budget Amendment Could Force Deep Cuts in Aid to States
December 14, 2011
The Republican-sponsored version of a constitutional balanced budget amendment, which the Senate voted on today, would require enormous federal budget cuts, very likely resulting in dramatic reductions in federal grants to states and localities for services ranging from education to highway maintenance to public safety. The attached … -
Provision in House Republican Payroll Tax Bill Would Cause 170,000 People to Forgo Health Coverage and Could Jeopardize Health Reform
December 12, 2011
The House Republican payroll-tax bill unveiled December 9 includes a change in the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies that would cause 170,000 people to forgo coverage and make it more difficult for the health reform law’s insurance exchanges to function effectively. The provision in question would substantially increase the … -
Allowing Insurers to Withhold Data on Enrollees’ Health Status Could Undermine Key Part of Health Reform
December 12, 2011
Risk adjustment is one of the critical elements of health reform (i.e., the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) that’s designed to encourage insurers to compete based on price and quality — not on attracting the healthiest enrollees and deterring those in poorer health, as they typically do today in the individual and small-group … -
The Senate’s Balanced Budget Amendment Would Require Extreme Budget Cuts
December 5, 2011
The constitutional balanced budget amendment (BBA) that the Senate is expected to consider this month would, like any version of a BBA, risk serious harm to the economy by requiring that the budget be balanced even during an economic downturn. But this BBA, in particular, would do far more damage because it also would prevent the … -
Large Majority of Housing Voucher Recipients Work, are Elderly, or Have Disabilities
December 2, 2011
In light of renewed interest among policymakers in increasing the "self-sufficiency" of recipients of housing assistance (and other public benefit programs), we used recent administrative data submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by state and local housing agencies to analyze the demographic … -
SNAP’S Homeless Shelter Deduction Can Provide Much-Needed Help for Homeless Individuals and Families
December 2, 2011
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's (SNAP) homeless shelter deduction offers states a flexible tool to provide increased benefits to individuals and families who are without permanent housing but still have shelter expenses. Thanks to improvements made in the 2002 Farm Bill, the deduction is simple to administer and can … -
Slideshow: Examining Inequality Trends
December 2, 2011
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Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the November Employment Report
December 2, 2011
Today's employment report shows continued moderate growth in private payroll employment but a further decline in government jobs. Thus, the overall jobs deficit remains large (see chart) and jobs remain hard to find. The drop in the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent arises from people … -
Republican Proposal To Pay For Payroll Tax Extension Would Increase Already Severe Cuts In Discretionary Programs
December 2, 2011
The plan of Senate Republican leaders to extend and expand payroll tax relief includes a smaller payroll tax cut and would provide less than half of the economic boost of the Democratic alternative. The plan claims to offset the costs of its payroll tax cut by freezing federal employee pay and cutting federal employment, but that claim is … -
Testimony: Robert Greenstein, President, on “A Balanced Budget Amendment: The Perils of Constitutionalizing the Budget Debate”
November 30, 2011
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute that focuses both on fiscal policy and on policies affecting low- and moderate-income Americans. We, like most others who analyze fiscal policy developments and trends, believe that the nation's … -
Amash Constitutional Spending Cap Would Radically Shrink Federal Budget
November 28, 2011
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) has introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would impose an extraordinarily severe cap on federal spending. The amendment would force radical shrinkage of the federal government, taking the nation down the road toward antigovernment activist Grover Norquist's vision of "starving the beast." If … -
Proposed Change in HUD’s “Minimum Rent” Policy Could Raise Rents for Several Hundred Thousand Poor Families
Revised November 28, 2011
Leadership of the House Financial Services Committee recently circulated draft legislation that could increase rental costs for several hundred thousand extremely poor families that receive federal housing assistance. Families in every state could face rent increases that could total $300 a year or more (see Appendix 1). The change … -
New CBO Report Finds Up to 2.4 Million People Owe Their Jobs to the Recovery Act
Updated November 23, 2011
View the most recent version of this report: New CBO Report Finds Hundreds of Thousands of People Still Owe Their Jobs to the Recovery Act Updated May 29, 2012 A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report estimates that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) increased the number of people employed by between 0.4 million and 2.4 million jobs … -
How the Potential Across-the-Board Cuts in the Debt Limit Deal Would Occur
Updated November 22, 2011
The debt limit deal enacted on August 2 calls for about $900 billion in cuts in discretionary programs over the next decade and would impose further automatic, across-the-board spending cuts in many programs if Congress fails to enact an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures by January 15, 2012. Those across-the-board cuts … -
TANF Benefits Fell Further in 2011 and Are Worth Much Less Than in 1996 in Most States
November 21, 2011
Cash assistance benefits for the nation's poorest families with children fell again in purchasing power in 2011 and are now at least 20 percent below their 1996 levels in 34 states, after adjusting for inflation. While most states froze benefit levels in 2011, six states and the District of Columbia cut them, reducing … -
Latest Democratic Offer Includes Further Compromise,
Matches Overall Numbers of Toomey Proposal;
Republicans Reject It
November 18, 2011
Democratic members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (called by some the Supercommittee) submitted an offer last Friday in response to a plan put forward earlier in the week by Senator Pat Toomey and other Joint Committee Republicans. Various media institutions reported today that this latest Democratic … -
GOP Tax Proposal Risks a Substantial Tax Shift From High-Income Households to Low- and Middle-Income Households
November 18, 2011
The Toomey plan from Republican negotiators on the deficit-reduction "supercommittee" would produce only a modest increase in revenues — about $300 billion over ten years, relative to a baseline that assumes Congress extends all of the Bush tax cuts. But it would accomplish this through what appears to be … -
HUD Program Funding for FY 2012
November 18, 2011
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Testimony: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, at Hearing on “Could Tax Reform Boost Business Investment and Job Creation”
November 17, 2011
Chairman Casey, Vice Chairman Brady, and other members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before this committee, which has been special to me since I first worked on the JEC staff in 1989. In my testimony, I want to make one overarching point about the question raised by the title of this hearing, … -
Program Cuts Under a Balanced Budget Amendment: How Severe Might They Be?
November 15, 2011
The constitutional balanced budget amendment that the House is expected to consider this week could force Congress to cut all programs by an average of 17.3 percent by 2018. If revenues are not raised (the House-passed budget resolution assumes no increase above current-policy levels) and all programs are cut by the same percentage, … -
The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2010
November 15, 2011
The successful bipartisan effort over the last two decades to reduce state income taxes on working-poor families has stalled and is in danger of reversing. No new states exempted working-poor families from income taxes in 2010, and in most of the 15 states where such families still pay income taxes, they saw their … -
Balanced Budget Amendment Highly Ill-Advised for Addressing Long-Term Fiscal Problems
November 14, 2011
The balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution that the House will consider this week would be a highly ill-advised way to address the nation's long-term fiscal problems. It would threaten significant economic harm while raising a host of problems for the operation of Social Security and other vital federal functions. The … -
The Composition of Past Deficit-Reduction Packages – And Lessons for the Next One
November 14, 2011
Revenue increases were a part of every major deficit-reduction package in the 1980s and 1990s until the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. In several cases — notably in 1982 and 1984 (where they offset a portion of President Reagan's large tax cuts of 1981) — they dominated the package. In several other cases … -
Video: Jared Bernstein and James Horney Discuss the Perils of a Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment
November 11, 2011
[A Constitutional balanced budget amendment] "is a really bad idea. First of all, we don’t really have to have a balanced budget. We certainly are running deficits right now, that are really large, now that’s largely because of the economic downturn and in fact it helps us to keep from going deeper into the economic hole, but in the long run, under current policies, we’re facing deficits that are way too large. We should get them down. We have to. But we don’t have to balance them."
"What we have to do is bring deficits down to a level, somewhere below 3% of GDP, that would keep our debt from rising constantly as a share of the economy. That’s the danger."
Duration: 6:12
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Plan From Toomey, Other Republicans Not a First Step Toward Balanced Deficit Reduction
November 10, 2011
Senator Pat Toomey and other Republicans on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Supercommittee”) portray their new offer to raise close to $300 billion in revenues (under a plan to reduce deficits by about $1.5 trillion over ten years) as a significant concession, and some observers have suggested it represents a … -
Economic Forecasting Firm Harshly Criticizes Proposed Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment
November 8, 2011
If a constitutional balanced budget amendment (BBA) had already been ratified and were now being enforced for fiscal year 2012, “the effect on the economy would be catastrophic,” according to a scathing analysis of a BBA by Macroeconomic Advisers, one of the nation’s preeminent private economic forecasting firms. This … -
Poverty and Financial Distress Would Have Been Substantially Worse in 2010 Without Government Action, New Census Data Show
November 7, 2011
Six temporary federal initiatives enacted in 2009 and 2010 to bolster the economy by lifting consumers’ incomes and purchases kept nearly 7 million Americans out of poverty in 2010, under an alternative measure of poverty that takes into account the impact of government benefit programs and taxes. These initiatives — three … -
Video: A Discussion with Jared Bernstein and Chad Stone on the October Employment Report
November 5, 2011
Long-term unemployment is, in this recession, and aftermath, has been at unprecedented levels. In the really bad recession in the 1980s we didn’t see anywhere near as much long-term unemployment.
Duration: 4:34
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Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the October Employment Report
November 4, 2011
Today's employment report shows that jobs remain scarce, especially for the long-term unemployed. More than two-fifths of the unemployed have been looking for a job for more than six months (see chart) — and, according to a recent Pew Economic Policy Group Report, nearly a third of the … -
Democrats Offer Significant Concessions
Revised November 1, 2011
The new deficit-reduction plan from several Democrats on the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the "supercommittee") marks a dramatic departure from traditional Democratic positions — and actually stands well to the right of plans by the co-chairs of the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson commission and the … -
Republican Plan Contains Minuscule Revenue Increase Alongside Deep Cuts in Medicare and Medicaid
October 31, 2011
The latest proposal by Republicans on the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the "supercommittee") contains virtually no new revenue and deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. In those respects, it represents little change from earlier Republican budget proposals. It stands in contrast to last week's … -
Repeal of Contractor Withholding Provision Would Encourage
Tax Abuse
October 26, 2011
The House will vote tomorrow on whether to repeal a 2006 law designed to fight tax abuse by private contractors for federal, state, or local governments. Congress and President George W. Bush enacted the 2006 law after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) uncovered widespread tax abuse by government contractors. … -
The Current Services Baseline: A Tool for Understanding Budget Choices
October 21, 2011
When governors and legislative bodies put forward state budget proposals, they almost always recommend changes in state policies, such as increases or reductions in the number of people eligible for state services, alterations in formulas used to fund schools and local governments, changes in staffing levels, and so on. To … -
Video: A Discussion with Jared Bernstein and Chuck Marr on Tax Repatriation
October 20, 2011
Congress is considering a temporary "repatriation tax holiday" that would allow corporations to bring their overseas profits back to the United States at a fraction of the normal corporate tax rate. Proponents claim that corporations would then invest these earnings in the United States, but the evidence shows that a tax holiday would fail to boost the economy while increasing deficits and encouraging companies to locate jobs and future investments overseas.
In this video, Jared Bernstein and Chuck Marr discuss the proposal and its likely harmful impact.
Duration: 7:19
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Methodology and Explanation of Housing Voucher Utilization Data
October 18, 2011
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Statement: Paul N. Van de Water, Senior Fellow, on the CLASS Act
October 14, 2011
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ announcement today that her department has not been able to design a financially self-sustaining CLASS program within the law’s boundaries is sad but not surprising. It does not, however, eliminate the need for new … -
Testimony: Will Fischer, Senior Policy Analyst, Before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity
October 13, 2011
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Will Fischer, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center is an independent, non-profit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of federal and state policy issues affecting low- and moderate-income families. The Center's housing work … -
Media Briefing: The Effects of a Repatriation Tax Holiday
October 13, 2011
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing to discuss the impacts of a heavily lobbied proposal to allow U.S.-based multinational companies to pay sharply lower taxes on the profits they return from overseas. This is popularly known as a “repatriation tax holiday.”
Speakers will included Edward Kleinbard, former Chief of Staff of the non-partisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation and now Professor of Law at the University of Southern California and the author of a new important study that bears on these issues; Chuck Marr, the Center’s Director of Federal Tax Policy; and Center President Robert Greenstein, who will serve as moderator.Duration: 16:02
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House and Senate Funding Bills Risk Loss of Rental Assistance For Thousands of Low-Income Families
October 12, 2011
The House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee and the full Senate Appropriations Committee have approved fiscal year 2012 funding bills that would make deep cuts in the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The proposed cuts, which are much deeper than the average reductions that the recently-enacted Budget … -
Repatriation Tax Holiday Would Increase Deficits and Push Investment Overseas
October 12, 2011
Despite proponents' claims to the contrary, a proposal to enact a second tax holiday for the profits that U.S.-based multinational corporations bring back to the United States from foreign accounts would cost tens of billions of dollars in federal revenue — boosting deficits and debt – while not achieving its proponents' promise of … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the September Employment Report
October 7, 2011
Today's jobs report shows that more than two years after the recession officially ended, a strong jobs recovery remains elusive. With job creation still sluggish, unemployment still very high, and the share of Americans with a job still severely depressed (see chart), policymakers should enact a … -
New School Year Brings Steep Cuts in State Funding for Schools
Updated October 7, 2011
To view the updated paper see: New School Year Brings More Cuts in State Funding for Schools Elementary and high schools are receiving less state funding than last year in at least 37 states, and in at least 30 states school funding now stands below 2008 levels – often far below. These cuts are attributable, in part, to the failure of the federal … -
Many States Cutting TANF Benefits Harshly Despite High Unemployment and Unprecedented Need
Updated October 3, 2011
In 2011, states implemented some of the harshest cuts in recent history for many of the nation's most vulnerable families with children who are receiving assistance through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The cuts affect 700,000 low-income families that include 1.3 million children; these families … -
Expansion of HUD’s “Moving-To-Work” Demonstration Is Not Justified
September 27, 2011
Proposals before Congress would sharply expand HUD's Moving-to-Work (MTW) demonstration, which allows HUD to grant broad waivers of federal statutes and regulations to agencies that administer the public housing and Section 8 voucher programs in order to test experimental policies. An expansion of MTW is not justified: it would reduce the … -
“Supercommittee” Should Develop Balanced Package of Tax Increases and Spending Cuts
September 27, 2011
The new congressional committee on deficit reduction (the so-called "supercommittee") not only can consider revenue increases, but must consider them — as well as spending cuts — if it's going to produce a balanced plan. [1] There are five main reasons why. Spending cuts alone can't do the job. … -
An Update on HUD Program Funding for FY 2012
September 27, 2011
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Converting Medicare to Premium Support Would Likely Lead to Two-Tier Health Care System
September 26, 2011
Some policymakers and analysts have proposed to convert Medicare to a "premium support" system — that is, replace its guarantee of health coverage with a flat payment that beneficiaries could use to help them purchase private insurance or, in some versions, traditional Medicare. But proponents have crafted a … -
PAYGO: Improving State Budget Discipline While Retaining Flexibility
September 22, 2011
States can help policymakers and the public understand the consequences of budget decisions and properly weigh the long-term impact of alternative proposals by adopting important budget management tools that also promote fiscal responsibility. The cornerstone of these tools is "pay-as-you-go" (PAYGO), a requirement that the … -
Letter from 810 Groups Urging Senate Banking Committee to Act on Section 8 Reform Legislation
September 21, 2011
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Statement: James R. Horney, Vice President Of Federal Fiscal Policy, on President Obama’s Budget Package
September 19, 2011
President Obama proposed a balanced and well-designed package today that would boost economic growth and jobs in the short run while stabilizing federal debt as a share of the economy after 2013. By keeping federal debt held by the public from growing as a share of the economy, the President's … -
Will WIC Turn Away Eligible Low-Income Women and Children Next Year?
September 19, 2011
For each of the last 15 years, Administrations and Congresses of both parties have provided sufficient funding for the WIC nutrition program to serve all eligible low-income pregnant women, infants, and young children who apply. Leaders of the current Congress have reiterated this commitment rhetorically. But there are mounting questions as to … -
Claim Regarding High WIC Administrative Costs Is False
Revised September 19, 2011
The 2012 agriculture appropriations bill that the House approved on June 14 includes large cuts in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that would force the program to turn away more than 700,000 eligible low-income women and children next year. [1] One of the House Appropriations Committee’s … -
House Bill’s Deep Cuts in Public Housing Would Raise Future Federal Costs and Harm Vulnerable Low-Income Families
September 16, 2011
A House Appropriations subcommittee last week voted to reduce funding for public housing in 2012 by $1.4 billion, or 20 percent, below the 2011 level. This reduction, which would come on top of significant reductions in public housing capital funding over the past decade, would expose low-income households in public housing to … -
Testimony: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on Policy Prescriptions for the Economy
September 15, 2011
Chairman Conrad, Senator Sessions, and other members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on policy prescriptions for the economy. To use the medical analogy in the title of this hearing, the U.S. economy is experiencing a long and difficult recovery from a severe acute illness — the 2007-2009 financial … -
Poverty Rate Second-Highest in 45 Years; Record Numbers Lacked Health Insurance, Lived in Deep Poverty
September 14, 2011
Driven by the persistent weakness in the economy, the poverty rate in 2010 reached its second-highest point since 1965, median income declined, and the number and percentage of Americans without health insurance stood at record highs, the Census Bureau said yesterday. The share of Americans in "deep poverty" — with incomes … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on Census’ 2010 Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance Data
September 13, 2011
Today's Census report shows that in 2010, the share of all Americans and the share of children living in poverty, the number and share of people living in "deep poverty," and the number without health insurance all reached their highest level in many years — in some cases, in … -
Media Briefing: Examining the New 2010 Census Data on Poverty, Health Insurance Coverage, and Income
September 13, 2011
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities held a conference call briefing for journalists Tuesday, September 13, at 1:30 p.m. (ET) to examine the new Census Bureau data for 2010 on poverty, health insurance coverage, and income trends that will be released that morning.
Duration: 21:12
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Update on Housing Choice Voucher Funding for 2012
September 12, 2011
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Media Briefing: Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age: A Misguided Deficit-Reduction Proposal
September 12, 2011
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities will hold a conference call briefing on Monday, September 12 at 11:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss the impact of raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, a proposal that the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is expected to consider in its effort to reduce the nation's long-term deficit.
Duration: 15:11
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The Census Bureau’s Upcoming Report on Health Insurance
September 9, 2011
On September 13, the Census Bureau will release estimates of the number and percentage of Americans with, and without, health insurance coverage in 2010. Historical trends and other survey data suggest that: The number and share of Americans without health coverage are likely to … -
Making Sense of Next Week’s Poverty Data
September 9, 2011
Here are five points to keep in mind regarding the official poverty figures for 2010, which the Census Bureau will release on September 13: Poverty may well increase. Key bellwethers of poverty, such as long-term unemployment, worsened from 2009 to 2010, so the poverty rate may worsen as … -
Testimony: LaDonna Pavetti, Ph.D., Vice President, Family Income Support Policy, Hearing on “Improving Work and Other Welfare Reform Goals”
September 8, 2011
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. TANF was created 15 years ago with a balanced approach in mind – that our nation's cash assistance system would be redesigned to create an expectation of work for able-bodied recipients and that a safety net would be maintained for parents who were unable to work due to a … -
Letting Payroll Tax Cut Expire Would Shrink Worker Paychecks and Damage Weak Economy
September 7, 2011
Failure by Congress to extend the temporary payroll tax cut enacted last December would reduce all paychecks starting on January 1, withdrawing needed support from the still-weak economy. The measure, part of the tax cut-unemployment insurance deal between President Obama and Republican leaders, reduces the employee share of the Social … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the August Employment Report
September 2, 2011
Today's jobs report highlights the critical need for policies to put people back to work. Employers added no net new jobs and the unemployment rate remained 9.1 percent. Most leading forecasters in government and out expect the unemployment rate to remain very high for the next few … -
Status of State Health Insurance Exchange Implementation
August 25, 2011
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Statement: James R. Horney, Vice President Of Federal Fiscal Policy, on the Congressional Budget Office Update of Its Budget and Economic Outlook
August 24, 2011
Today’s Congressional Budget Office update of the nation’s budget and economic outlook reinforces the point that policymakers should not let legitimate concerns about deficits and debt in coming decades prevent them from pursuing policies to boost economic growth and increase jobs in … -
Raising Medicare’s Eligibility Age Would Increase Overall Health Spending and Shift Costs to Seniors, States, and Employers
August 23, 2011
Raising Medicare's eligibility age from 65 to 67, which the new Joint Select Committee will likely consider this fall as a deficit-reduction measure, would not only fail to constrain health care costs across the economy; it would increase them. While this proposal would save the federal government money, it would do so by shifting costs … -
Proposed “Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act” Likely to do More Harm Than Good In Current Form
August 11, 2011
The Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act of 2011 (S. 971/H.R. 1860) would regulate state and local taxation of downloaded music and movies and online services like photo storage and payroll processing. One section of the legislation — a set of so-called "sourcing rules" specifying which … -
Case for Regulating State and Local Taxation of Digital Goods and Services has Little Merit
August 11, 2011
A bill before Congress, the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act of 2011 or DGSTFA (S. 971/H.R. 1860), would regulate states' and localities' taxation of downloaded music, movies and online services like photo storage and payroll processing. Though proponents of the legislation claim that it is needed to … -
Six Ways that States and School Districts Can Make It Easier for Children in Foster Care to Get Free Meals at School
August 9, 2011
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has made it easier for school districts to enroll children who are in foster care for free school meals. [1] Children in foster care are now automatically eligible for free meals regardless of their income (a policy known as "categorical eligibility").[2] As a result of … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the July Employment Report
August 5, 2011
Today's jobs report shows that the labor market continues to limp along rather than put people back to work. The share of the population with a job remains severely depressed and unemployment remains alarmingly high — with more than 40 percent of the unemployment rate … -
Tax Flight Is a Myth
August 4, 2011
Executive Summary Attacks on sorely-needed increases in state tax revenues often include the unproven claim that tax hikes will drive large numbers of households — particularly the most affluent — to other states. The same claim also is used to justify new tax cuts. Compelling evidence shows that this claim is … -
Podcast: Tax Flight Is a Myth
August 4, 2011
"Attacks on sorely-needed increases in state tax revenues often include the unproven claim that tax hikes will drive large numbers of households - particularly the most affluent - to other states. The same claim also is used to justify new tax cuts. Compelling evidence shows that this claim is false. The effects of tax increases on migration are, at most, small - so small that states that raise income taxes on the most affluent households can be assured of a substantial net gain in revenue."
Duration: 1:54
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Video Podcast: Tax Flight Is a Myth
August 4, 2011
"Attacks on sorely-needed increases in state tax revenues often include the unproven claim that tax hikes will drive large numbers of households - particularly the most affluent - to other states. The same claim also is used to justify new tax cuts. Compelling evidence shows that this claim is false. The effects of tax increases on migration are, at most, small - so small that states that raise income taxes on the most affluent households can be assured of a substantial net gain in revenue."
Duration:1:49
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Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on New Debt Ceiling Agreement
Updated August 2, 2011
The new debt ceiling agreement will achieve the essential goal of avoiding a potentially catastrophic default in the days ahead. But to say that the deal is likely to lead to highly unbalanced results would be an understatement. The deal places the nation on a disturbing policy course and sets what may become important precedents that are cause … -
Contrary to Speaker Boehner’s Claim, Budget Deal’s “Supercommittee” Can Consider Revenue Increases
August 1, 2011
Speaker of the House John Boehner erroneously claims that the legislation implementing the new debt limit agreement does not allow the joint congressional committee it establishes to propose revenue increases to help reduce deficits. The legislation does no such thing. Rather, it is the speaker's adamant opposition to … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on the Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendments Before the House
July 28, 2011
The House is scheduled to consider two versions of the constitutional balanced budget amendment later this week — H.J. Res 1 and H.J. Res 2. The first (H.J. Res 1) requires a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate for any legislation that includes a tax increase and also prohibits federal spending from exceeding 18 percent of GDP. Both of these … -
Press Release: Nobel Laureates and Leading Economists Oppose Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment
Updated July 28, 2011
Organized Jointly With Phoebe Silag 202-775-8810 (office) 202-870-2644 (cell) A group of leading economists, including five Nobel Laureates in economics, today publicly released a letter to President Obama and Congress opposing a constitutional balanced budget amendment. The letter outlines the reasons why writing a balanced … -
State Budget Cuts in the New Fiscal Year Are Unnecessarily Harmful
Updated July 28, 2011
The cumulative effect of four consecutive years of lagging revenues has led to budget-cutting of historic proportions. An analysis of newly enacted state budgets shows that budget cuts will hit education, health care, and other state-funded services harder in the 2012 fiscal year – which started July 1, 2011 – than … -
A Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment Threatens Great Economic Damage
Revised July 27, 2011
A balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution — including the version that the House is expected to consider this week — would be a highly ill-advised way to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems. It would threaten significant economic harm while raising a host of problems for the operation of Social … -
Balanced Budget Amendment Would Require More Extreme Cuts Than Ryan Plan
Revised July 27, 2011
The constitutional balanced budget amendment that the House is expected to consider this week is a highly ideological measure that would force Congress to enact the Republican Study Committee's extreme budget plan or something similar to it. Even the House-passed budget plan of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would not pass … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on House Speaker Boehner’s New Budget Proposal
Updated July 27, 2011
House Speaker John Boehner’s new budget proposal would essentially require, as the price of raising the debt ceiling again early next year, a choice between deep cuts in the years immediately ahead in Social Security and Medicare benefits for current retirees, repeal of health reform’s coverage expansions, or wholesale … -
Testimony: Robert Greenstein, President, on “Deficit Reduction: A Review of Key Issues”
July 26, 2011
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for the invitation to testify here today. As you well know, the nation is on an unsustainable fiscal course, and substantial changes in policy will be needed to right the ship. As a number of bipartisan commission have recommended over the past year, policymakers should aim … -
Gang of Six Plan Represents Useful Step Forward, Despite Troubling Elements
July 22, 2011
Some describe the Senate Gang of Six’s budget plan as a kind of fiscal Holy Grail. Others denounce it as a deeply unjust plan that cuts heavily into vital programs for the poor and the middle class while shielding the wealthy. Neither characterization withstands scrutiny. The plan is something of a mixed bag, with both very positive … -
Separating the Debt Limit from the Deficit Problem
July 21, 2011
Policymakers are risking a default on U.S. federal obligations because of a dispute over how to reduce budget deficits. The nation’s long-term fiscal path is unsustainable, and policymakers should address it in a timely and responsible way. But policymakers should not hold the debt limit hostage to approval of deficit … -
Section 8 Rental Assistance Programs Are Not Growing as Share of HUD Budget
July 20, 2011
Contrary to the concerns that some lawmakers have expressed, there is no evidence that the Section 8 rental assistance programs for low-income families — the Housing Choice Voucher and Project-Based Rental Assistance programs — are crowding out spending on other HUD programs. In 2010, the most recent year for which data are available, total outlays … -
Greenstein Statement on the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act” That the House Will Consider on July 19
Updated July 16, 2011
The “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act” that the House of Representatives will vote on next week stands out as one of the most ideologically extreme pieces of major budget legislation to come before Congress in years, if not decades. It would go a substantial way toward enshrining Grover … -
TANF’s Inadequate Response to Recession Highlights Weakness of Block-Grant Structure
July 14, 2011
Leading conservatives in Congress – including House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan – as well as some conservative activists and commentators [1] have recently cited welfare reform and the TANF block-grant structure as a model for reshaping the federal-state funding relationship in other programs for low-income … -
National Organizations Opposing the Balanced Budget Amendment
Updated July 14, 2011
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A Tempest in a Teapot
July 13, 2011
A few weeks ago, some news articles suggested that a large and costly “glitch” in the health reform law would allow several million middle-income people to receive Medicaid, which would greatly swell budget deficits. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor claimed that the provision in question, under which Medicaid … -
Testimony: Paul N. Van de Water, Senior Fellow, On the Financial Status of the Medicare Program
July 12, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Davis, and members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. Although Medicare faces significant financing challenges, claims that the program is nearing “bankruptcy” are highly misleading. The 2011 report of … -
Better-Than-Expected State Tax Collections Highlight Importance of Income Taxes
July 11, 2011
State revenues—especially income tax collections—are beginning to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s, but they still have a long way to go. At least 28 states have reported that tax collections for the just-ended fiscal year will exceed the amount expected when their budgets were adopted last spring. … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the June Employment Report
July 8, 2011
Today’s very disappointing employment report shows that two years after the technical end of the recession and after 16 straight months of private-sector job creation, the jobs deficit remains huge (see chart). The depth of the job losses from the recession is unprecedented since … -
CHIP's Success Not an Argument for Block-Granting Medicaid
June 29, 2011
Some proponents of converting Medicaid to a block grant have attributed the success of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in extending coverage to millions of low-income uninsured children to the program’s financing structure, which provides states with fixed allotments rather than open-ended federal financing.[1] … -
Health Care Providers Would Face Deep Cuts in Payments and Higher Uncompensated Care Costs Under Medicaid Block Grant
June 28, 2011
The proposal in the House-passed budget plan to convert Medicaid to a block grant would weaken the nation’s health care infrastructure by making it difficult for a multitude of providers — including hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, and pharmacies — to remain economically viable and to continue to deliver … -
New Fiscal Year Brings Further Budget Cuts to Most States, Slowing Economic Recovery
June 28, 2011
States have enacted deep cuts in education, health care, and other important public services in their budgets for fiscal year 2012 (which begins July 1 in most states). It is the fourth year in a row of budget-cutting for states, and the 2012 cuts are deeper than in past years. Of the 32 states that have enacted budgets, as … -
States Should Take Additional Steps to Limit Adverse Selection Among Health Plans in an Exchange
June 28, 2011
Health insurance exchanges, as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), are intended to make an array of different coverage options available to individuals and small businesses. Exchange plans will be offered at several coverage levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum, plus a catastrophic plan open to certain … -
Expiration of TANF Supplemental Grants a Further Sign of Weakening Federal Support for Welfare Reform
June 27, 2011
In a continued unraveling of the deal that Congress made with the states in enacting the 1996 welfare reform law, federal Supplemental Grants provided every year since 1996 to 17 states to augment their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant will expire on July 1 (see Figure 1). These states include some of … -
Medicaid and the Uninsured: Online Applications for Medicaid and/or CHIP
June 27, 2011
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Leading National Groups Urge Importance of Reducing Deficits Without Increasing Poverty
June 27, 2011
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Proposal to Establish Federal Medicaid “Blended Rate” Would Shift Significant Costs to States
June 24, 2011
An Obama Administration proposal that’s on the table for budget negotiators would reduce federal Medicaid expenditures by reducing the federal share of Medicaid and CHIP costs, shifting costs to states and likely prompting states to cut payments to health care providers and to scale back the health services that Medicaid covers for … -
Testimony: Barbara Sard, Vice President for Housing Policy, Before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Support
June 23, 2011
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Barbara Sard, Vice President for Housing Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center is an independent, nonprofit policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of federal and state policy issues affecting low- and moderate-income families. … -
Media Briefing: Strategies For Reining in Health Care Costs Beyond Measures in Health Reform
June 23, 2011
Peter Orszag, former Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, now Vice Chair of Global Banking at Citigroup and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses and critiques various ideas and approaches for transforming the U.S. health care system in order to slow the rise in health care costs.
Duration: 16:24
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Unbalanced Approach to Deficit Reduction Could Cripple Housing and Community Development Programs
June 23, 2011
Housing and community development programs could face crippling cuts over time if Congress and the Obama Administration agree to a deficit reduction plan that relies primarily or entirely on spending reductions rather than on a balanced mix that includes a significant revenue contribution. Congress already made significant funding cuts in … -
Testimony: Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow Before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee United States Congress
June 23, 2011
Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Enzi, I thank you for this opportunity to testify before this committee. There are few topics as important to America's economic success as the well-being of the broad middle class and I applaud this committee for once again bringing these issues to the forefront of your work. I am … -
Tax Holiday for Overseas Corporate Profits Would Increase Deficits, Fail to Boost the Economy, and Ultimately Shift More Investment and Jobs Overseas
Updated June 23, 2011
Momentum is growing in Congress behind legislation to enact another “repatriation tax holiday” that allows multinational corporations to bring profits held overseas back to the United States and pay tax on them at a rate of only about 5 percent (rather than the normal tax rate on corporate profits). But the … -
Testimony: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, Before the Joint Economic Committee
June 21, 2011
Vice Chairman Brady and other members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify. I feel especially privileged to be appearing as a witness before the Joint Economic Committee, which together with the President's Council of Economic Advisers — both established by the Employment Act of 1946 — … -
Global Spending Cap Would Make it Virtually Impossible to Enact Climate Legislation
June 16, 2011
In the bipartisan deficit-reduction negotiations that Vice President Biden is conducting with congressional leaders and senior lawmakers, Republicans have proposed that negotiators include a global spending cap in the package they craft. And this week, the House Judiciary Committee approved, on a party line vote, a … -
Redesigning the TANF Contingency Fund to Make it More Effective
June 13, 2011
When Congress created the TANF block grant in 1996, it created the TANF Contingency Fund for states to draw upon during periods of economic distress. This fund was intended to address some of the risks and hardships states would face as a result of the conversion of the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children program — an … -
Camp-Hatch Proposal Would Harm Long-Term Unemployed and Weaken Recovery
June 13, 2011
Legislation from House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch would rescind the federal government’s commitment to provide unemployment insurance (UI) benefits through 2011 to Americans who have been out of work for more than half a year and are still looking for a job. Their bill … -
House-Passed Proposal to Block-Grant and Cut SNAP (Food Stamps) Rests on False Claims About Program Growth
Revised June 7, 2011
The House-passed plan to convert SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps) to a block grant and cut the program by almost 20 percent rests on the false claim that the program is experiencing “relentless and unsustainable growth.” [1] SNAP’s substantial growth of recent years … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the May Employment Report
June 3, 2011
Today’s employment report should be a wake-up call to policymakers who continue to say the budget deficit is a more immediate threat to the economy than the jobs deficit. Nearly two years after the economy technically turned the corner from recession to recovery, job growth was … -
Small Housing Agency Reform
June 2, 2011
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New Estate Tax Rules Should Expire After 2012
May 26, 2011
The tax-cut compromise enacted in December established estate tax rules for 2011 and 2012 that are considerably weaker than those in effect in 2009, the last year before the tax temporarily expired in 2010. The new rules will cost about $23 billion more than reinstating the 2009 rules over the same two years, yet will benefit … -
Under House Budget, “Tax Reform” Places Top Priority on High-Income Tax Cuts and Ignores Deficit Reduction
Updated May 26, 2011
The tax proposals in the budget that the House approved on April 15 place a top priority on cutting taxes for high-income people, while doing nothing to reduce budget deficits, themselves. [1] In addition to making the Bush tax cuts permanent and continuing to provide relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax … -
Toomey Budget Even More Radical, and Potentially More Damaging, Than Ryan Budget
May 25, 2011
The Senate will likely consider this week a budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 from Senator Patrick J. Toomey that, in several ways, is even more radical than the House-passed plan of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.[1] At first blush, the Toomey plan may seem more moderate than the Ryan budget, which the Senate also will … -
Tax Data Show Richest 1 Percent Took a Hit in 2008, But Income Remained Highly Concentrated at the Top
Revised May 25, 2011
The Piketty-Saez data has been updated. An analysis of the new data as of March 7, 2012 can be found here: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3697. An analysis of recently released IRS data on pre-tax income by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez [1] shows that: The average income of the top 1 percent of … -
What the 2011 Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security
May 24, 2011
On May 13, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued its annual report on the program’s financial status. [1] The trustees’ report shows some mild deterioration in the program’s short- and long-term outlook — a finding that was widely expected and well within the range of past revisions. Several key … -
Promoting State Budget Accountability Through Tax Expenditure Reporting
Updated May 24, 2011
Each year states spend tens, maybe hundreds, of billions of dollars through “tax expenditures.” Tax expenditures are tax credits, deductions, and exemptions that reduce state revenue. They can include everything from poverty-reducing tax credits, to middle-class benefits, to corporate subsidies. Tax expenditures … -
Ensuring Effective Risk Adjustment
May 18, 2011
Risk adjustment is a critical element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that can help assure the long-term success of the law’s new health insurance exchanges and market reforms. Risk adjustment compensates insurers offering plans in the individual and small-group markets inside and outside the exchanges for the risks … -
Media Briefing: Understanding the Annual Reports of the Social Security and Medicare Trustees
May 13, 2011
Robert Greenstein, the Center’s President, and Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow at the Center and one of Washington’s leading experts on social insurance programs, discuss what the reports say about the long-term financial status of Social Security and Medicare.
Duration: 11:17
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Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on the 2011 Medicare Trustees' Report
May 13, 2011
The new report from Medicare’s trustees shows little change from last year’s report in the long-run outlook for the program, while indicating that the program continues to face significant financing challenges. Partly because the trustees now foresee a modestly slower economic … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on the 2011 Social Security Trustees' Report
May 13, 2011
The trustees’ report shows that Social Security faces no immediate crisis and will have substantial resources to pay benefits even over the long run, but it faces a long-term shortfall that Congress should address sooner rather than later so the program can meet its promises. … -
Testimony: Robert Greenstein, President, Before the House Judiciary Committee
May 13, 2011
Thank you for the invitation to testify today. I am Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute that focuses both on fiscal policy and on policies affecting low- and moderate-income Americans. We, like most others who analyze fiscal policy developments and trends, believe that … -
Federal “Business Activity Tax Nexus” Legislation: Half of a Two-Pronged Strategy to Gut State Corporate Income Taxes
Updated May 13, 2011
Major multistate corporations are engaged in a two-pronged lobbying strategy aimed at substantially increasing the share of their nationwide profit that is not taxed by any state. The strategy involves the enactment of complementary state and federal legislation. The state legislation — which corporations have already … -
A Common-Sense Strategy for Fixing State Pension Problems in Tough Economic Times
May 12, 2011
Restoring underfunded state and local workers’ pension programs to full fiscal health is a long-term goal for state policymakers that should be accomplished with moderate, common-sense steps, rather than drastic measures that could imperil states’ economic recoveries. Today’s pension shortfalls were caused in substantial … -
Economic Downturn and Bush Policies Continue to Drive Large Projected Deficits
May 10, 2011
We have since updated this paper. To view the new paper, click here. Some lawmakers, pundits, and others continue to say that President George W. Bush’s policies did not drive the projected federal deficits of the coming decade — that, instead, it was the policies of President Obama and Congress in 2009 and 2010. But, the fact remains: the … -
Lower-Than-Expected Medicare Drug Costs Reflect Decline in Overall Drug Spending and Lower Enrollment, Not Private Plans
May 6, 2011
Some supporters of the House budget plan’s proposal to replace Medicare with a voucher to purchase private health insurance claim that reliance on private insurers can lower costs.[1] They cite the fact that the costs of Medicare Part D, which took effect in 2006, have been lower than the Congressional Budget Office predicted … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the April Employment Report
May 6, 2011
Today’s employment report provides mixed signals on the jobs market. The survey of employers shows they added jobs at a solid pace in April. Yet the jobs deficit from the recession remains very large and, even more discouraging, the survey of households shows that unemployment is still high, with too many people … -
Testimony: Iris Lav on the Transparency and Funding of State and Local Pensions
May 5, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lewis, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. I would like to make six related points in my testimony: Most state and local employees receive modest pension benefits, for which both they and their employers contribute annually during their working years. … -
Testimony: Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, on Budget Enforcement Mechanisms
May 4, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Senator Hatch, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. The federal budget is on an unsustainable path. If we continue current policies — including a further extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and AMT relief — deficits will remain high throughout the … -
State-By-State Fact Sheets: Federal Rental Assistance
Updated May 4, 2011
This page is no longer being updated. For the most recent data on federal rental assistance please see this page. For each state, the linked fact sheet has data on each of the major federal rental assistance programs and the unmet need for housing assistance. The sources of the various data in the fact sheet for each state are explained here. To view the … -
Testimony: Aviva Aron-Dine on the Distribution of Tax Burdens and the Fairness of the Tax System
May 3, 2011
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Ryan Medicaid Block Grant Would Cause Severe Reductions in Health Care and Long-Term Care for Seniors, People with Disabilities, and Children
May 3, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which the House passed on April 15, would dramatically restructure Medicaid by converting it to a block grant and cutting the program’s funding sharply. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Ryan budget would reduce federal funding by 35 percent in 2022 … -
Proponents' Case for a Federally-Imposed Business Activity Tax Nexus Threshold Has Little Merit
Updated April 27, 2011
A bill under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives would strip states of their current authority to tax a fair share of the profits of many corporations that are based out-of-state but do business within their borders. The Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law of the House Judiciary Committee held a … -
HUD Requests Applications for Small Area FMR Demonstration
April 26, 2011
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Impact of the House Republican FY 2012 Budget on Housing and Community Development Programs
April 26, 2011
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A Unique Opportunity to Improve School Meals Applications
April 21, 2011
The school meals programs can play a critical role in supporting the healthy development of children and helping to ensure that low-income school-aged children have access to adequate nutrition. The process of enrolling for free or reduced-price meals and the application form itself are the gateway to these benefits. Typically school … -
Chairman Ryan Gets Nearly Two-Thirds of His Huge Budget Cuts From Programs for Lower-Income Americans
Updated April 20, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan would get nearly two-thirds of its $4.5 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years from programs that serve people of limited means, which violates basic principles of fairness and stands a core principle of President Obama’s fiscal commission on its head. The plan … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan’s Budget Plan
Updated April 20, 2011
Chairman Ryan’s sweeping budget plan has been labeled “courageous,” but it’s a cowardly budget in a crucial respect. It proposes a dramatic reverse-Robin-Hood approach that gets the lion’s share of its budget cuts from programs for low-income Americans — the politically and economically weakest group in … -
An Arizona “TABOR” Would Endanger Education, Public Safety, and Infrastructure
April 19, 2011
The Arizona legislature is considering a new, very rigid limit on state spending. The limit would closely resemble a Colorado limitation known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights or TABOR. An Arizona TABOR would make it very difficult for future Arizona legislatures and governors to meet the state’s obligations in … -
Earned Income Tax Credit Overpayment and Error Issues
Updated April 19, 2011
The federal Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax credit for low- and moderate-income working families, has been widely hailed for its success in increasing work and lowering welfare receipt, reducing poverty, and making the tax code fairer. (See the box below.) Census data indicate that the credit lifted 6.6 million individuals out of poverty in 2009, including more than 3 million children. The EITC lifts more children out of poverty than any other program.
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Understanding Health Reform’s Waivers for State Innovation
April 18, 2011
What are waivers for state innovation? Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows states to request five-year waivers of certain key provisions of health reform, including the individual mandate and the requirement to set up an exchange. To be approved, a “waiver for state innovation” must cover at least as many people as under the ACA and provide … -
A Hand Up: How State Earned Income Tax Credits Help Working Families Escape Poverty in 2011
April 18, 2011
Summary The federal Earned Income Tax Credit, which began in 1975 and has been expanded several times since then, is often heralded as the most effective anti-poverty program in the United States, particularly for children in working families. In 2009 alone, it lifted 6.5 million working families, including 3.3 million children, out … -
Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs Would Skyrocket for Low-Income Seniors and People with Disabilities Under the Ryan Budget Plan
April 15, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget proposal to convert Medicare into a system of vouchers and to block-grant Medicaid would substantially increase out-of-pocket costs for millions of low-income seniors and people with disabilities who are “dually eligible” for both programs. Under current law, Medicaid pays the Medicare premiums — and in … -
Reforming Tax Expenditures Can Reduce Deficits While Making the Tax Code More Efficient and Equitable
April 15, 2011
With the federal budget on an unsustainable path, our country’s fiscal problems need to be addressed in a way that is both effective and equitable. Scaling back and reforming “tax expenditures” — spending that is delivered through the tax code rather than government programs — should be an important part … -
Proposed Cap on Federal Spending Would Force Deep Cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security
Revised April 15, 2011
A prominent proposal by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to limit total federal spending to no more than 20.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is attracting increasing attention, may sound benign, but it would inevitably force enormous cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly Social Security. The … -
States Can Avert New Revenue Loss And Protect Their Economies by Decoupling From Federal Expensing Provision
Updated April 14, 2011
A recent change in federal tax law regarding business investment in machinery and equipment could be very costly for many states and hurt their economies. Eighteen states are on track to lose $4.6 billion in state corporate and individual income tax revenues during the current and next two state fiscal years: some … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein on President Obama's Deficit-Reduction Plan
April 13, 2011
President Obama made an important contribution today to efforts to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems, proposing a plan to reduce deficits by about $4 trillion over the next 12 years and meet the essential goal of stabilizing the national debt so that it rises no faster than … -
Podcast: The Effect of Chairman Ryan’s Radical Budget Plan on Medicare
April 13, 2011
Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, discusses how Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan would affect Medicare.
Duration: 4:22
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Proposed “Business Activity Tax Nexus” Legislation Would Seriously Undermine State Taxes on Corporate Profits And Harm the Economy
Updated April 13, 2011
A bill recently reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would strip states of their current authority to tax a fair share of the profits of many corporations that are based out-of-state but do business within their borders. Representative Bob Goodlatte reintroduced the “Business Activity Tax Simplification Act” … -
Tax Foundation Figures Do Not Represent Typical Households’ Tax Burdens
April 12, 2011
This report has been updated. Click here for the updated analysis. Executive Summary Each year, the Tax Foundation releases a report projecting “Tax Freedom Day,” which it describes as the day when Americans will have “earned enough money to pay this year’s tax obligations at the federal, state, and local levels.” [1] The Tax … -
State and Local Governments Should Close Online Hotel Tax Loophole and Collect Taxes Owed
April 12, 2011
State and local governments throughout the United States are losing roughly $275 million to $400 million in revenue each year because of their failure to ensure that online travel companies like Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline collect and remit the appropriate amount of tax on hotel room bookings. Online travel companies (OTCs) typically pay applicable … -
What if Ryan's Medicaid Block Grant Had Taken Effect in 2000?
April 12, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s radical proposal to convert Medicaid to a block grant, which the House will consider this week as part of Ryan’s sweeping budget plan, would have cut federal Medicaid funds to most states by more than 25 percent by 2009 and to several of them by more than 40 percent if it … -
Ryan Budget Would Slash SNAP Funding by $127 Billion Over Ten Years
April 11, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan would cut the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps) by $127 billion — almost 20 percent — over the next ten years (2012-2021), which could throw millions of low-income families off the rolls, cut benefits for many households, or some combination of the two.… -
Ryan Budget Plan Produces Far Less Real Deficit Cutting than Reported
April 8, 2011
On April 9, the House Budget Committee announced corrections to Chairman Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget resolution. The Center’s April 13 blog post updates the data reflected in this report to account for the committee’s correction. Even some critics of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan have praised his “courage” and his willingness to make “hard … -
CBO Report: Ryan Plan Specifies Spending Path That Would Nearly End Most of Government Other Than Social Security, Health Care, and Defense by 2050
April 7, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget plan specifies a long-term spending path that means that, by 2050, most of the federal government aside from Social Security, health care, and defense would literally cease to exist, according to figures in a Congressional Budget Office report[1] that was released on Tuesday. CBO's … -
Media Briefing: A Greater Understanding of Rep. Ryan's Budget Plan
April 7, 2011
Robert Greenstein, James Horney, and Paul Van de water discuss emerging new findings from the Center and from the Congressional Budget Office about House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's plan.
Duration 22:18
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Ryan Plan’s “Path to Prosperity” Is Just for the Wealthy
April 6, 2011
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s name for his budget — “The Path to Prosperity” — is a cruel joke. One of this nation’s core beliefs is that if you work hard and act responsibly, you can get ahead, raise a family, and have a decent life. That was never more true than in the three decades after World War II, when the path to … -
CBO Confirms Ryan’s Medicaid Block Grant Would Likely Harm States, Beneficiaries, and Providers
April 6, 2011
The majority of the $1.4 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next ten years in House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget would come from converting the program into a block grant. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued an analysis yesterday finding that block-granting Medicaid would shift costs to states, beneficiaries, and health care … -
Testimony of LaDonna Pavetti, Ph.D. Vice President, Family Income Support Policy before the House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Human Resources
April 5, 2011
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. In its recent report, “Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue,” the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) examined programs throughout the government with an eye towards identifying … -
Podcast: Governors' Budgets Proposals: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
April 5, 2011
Erica Williams, Policy Analyst with the Center’s State Fiscal Project discusses how proposed budgets put forth by many governors would greatly harm their states residents.
Duration: 3:17
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Republican Study Committee Bill Would Require Deepest Cuts in Programs for the Poor in U.S. History
April 5, 2011
Legislation unveiled last month by the Republican Study Committee, the powerful caucus that includes 176 House Republican members, would require the most severe cuts in programs for the poor in the nation’s history. Introduced by RSC Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), Tim Scott (R-SC), and RSC Budget and Spending Task Force Chair … -
Heritage’s Rosy View of Ryan Budget
April 5, 2011
Ryan Avent beat me to the punch in calling out the Heritage Foundation’s analysis of how House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget would affect the economy. I’m with Avent: Heritage’s unemployment projection is so bizarre as to call into question the whole exercise. As the chart above shows, Heritage projects that under the Ryan budget, the unemployment rate will be 6.4 percent in 2012 — a full two percentage points below the Congressional Budget Office forecast — and will drop below 3 … -
Ryan’s Cowardly Budget
April 5, 2011
The Center has just issued a statement on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan and a brief analysis showing that the plan would get about two-thirds of its more than $4 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years from programs that serve people of limited means. . -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the March Employment Report
April 1, 2011
Today’s employment report shows that the economy is creating jobs at a solid pace. But it also reminds us that without even stronger job growth, it will take years to erase the large jobs deficit that the 2007-2009 recession created (see chart) and to lower the unemployment rate … -
Statement by Robert Greenstein on Senate Republican Leaders’ Proposed Balanced Budget Amendment
March 31, 2011
The balanced budget amendment to the Constitution that Senate Republican leaders unveiled today is the most radical major fiscal policy proposal in decades. It would require a balanced budget every year regardless of the state of the economy, an exceedingly unwise requirement that most … -
Converting Funding of Some Public Housing Developments to Section 8 Subsidies Would Help Preserve Needed Units
March 25, 2011
The Obama Administration’s 2012 budget proposes a demonstration project to fund a limited number of public housing developments through the “Section 8” rental assistance program rather than the public housing program. These conversions should help preserve the nation’s stock of public housing by giving … -
Off the Charts Blog Post: Keeping Public Housing in Good Repair
March 25, 2011
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Media Briefing: Principles and Cautions for Deficit Reduction
March 24, 2011
Robert Greenstein, President, and James R. Horney, Vice President for Fiscal Policy discuss a major new report, which suggests a framework for a comprehensive deficit reduction package, discusses the appropriate mix of tax and program savings for it, recommends some important ways to achieve those savings, explains the effects that such a package should have on poverty and inequality, and highlights some misguided proposals that policymakers should avoid.
Duration: 20:13
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A Framework for Deficit Reduction: Principles and Cautions
March 24, 2011
The nation is on an unsustainable fiscal course, and policymakers need to make major changes in policy. As a number of bipartisan panels have recommended over the past year, policymakers should aim to stabilize the debt as a share of the economy (the Gross Domestic Product) so the debt does not rise relentlessly as a share of the … -
Podcast: Radical Medicaid Proposals Could Add Millions to Ranks of Uninsured
March 24, 2011
Edwin Park, Vice President for Health Policy, discusses how Medicaid block grant proposals would harm seniors, children, and people with disabilities, as well as states.
Duration: 4:59
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Rhode Island’s Global Waiver Not a Model For How States Would Fare Under a Medicaid Block Grant
Updated March 22, 2011
In recent months, proponents of converting Medicaid into a block grant have cited a Medicaid waiver demonstration project in Rhode Island as evidence that a block grant would produce substantial federal and state savings while giving states greater flexibility over their Medicaid programs. [1] These claims, however, are off the mark.… -
Ryan-Rivlin Plan Would End Guaranteed Medicare, Shift Medicaid Costs To States And Beneficiaries
Revised March 22, 2011
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chair of the House Budget Committee, and Alice Rivlin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, issued a proposal in November that would make deep reductions in Medicare and Medicaid benefits and fundamentally alter the nature of those programs.[1] The proposal … -
Governors are Proposing Further Deep Cuts in Services, Likely Harming Their Economies
Updated March 21, 2011
All of the 48 states releasing initial budget proposals for fiscal year 2012 (which begins July 1 in most states) have done so, and for the fourth year in a row, these budgets propose deep cuts in education, health care, and other important public services — in many cases, deeper than previous cuts. [1] These cuts will delay the … -
Testimony: Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, Before the Committee on the Budget
March 17, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Van Hollen, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today to discuss health and retirement security. Our landmark public programs — Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — are bulwarks in defending the well-being of America’s seniors and people with disabilities.… -
Podcast: Basic Facts About State and Local Workers
March 17, 2011
Liz McNichol, Senior Fellow with the Center’s State Fiscal Project discusses the facts about state and local workers: who they are, what they do, and how their pay compares to their private sector counterparts.
Duration: 3:37
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Hatch-Upton Report On Costs to States of Expanding Medicaid Relies On Seriously Flawed Estimates
March 16, 2011
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) recently released a report purporting to estimate the net cost to states of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. [1] The report claims it provides, on a state-by-state basis, the best estimates of … -
Testimony of Paul N. Van de Water, Senior Fellow, Before the Committee on Finance
March 16, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Senator Hatch, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. When Congress was about to enact health reform last March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the legislation would reduce the deficit — modestly in its first ten years, but substantially in the … -
Proposed Public Employee Pension Reporting Requirements Are Unnecessary
March 15, 2011
In February, Congressmen Devin Nunes and Darrell Issa (both California Republicans) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis) introduced legislation (H.R. 567) to require states and local governments to report their pension liabilities to the federal government using what is known as a “riskless rate” — an interest rate tied to … -
In Battle Over 2011 Appropriations, Both Sides Calling for Substantial Cuts
Updated March 11, 2011
Public discussions about congressional efforts to agree on a measure to fund the government for the rest of fiscal year 2011 have focused on the difference between the size of the cuts in non-security appropriations recently passed by the House and an alternative proposed by Senate Democrats and voted on yesterday. This … -
Medicaid Block Grant Would Produce Disparate and Inequitable Results Across States
March 10, 2011
Some policymakers, including House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, are considering converting Medicaid to a block grant to produce large federal budget savings. For example, a block-grant proposal that Ryan co-authored last fall would reduce federal Medicaid spending by … -
Testimony of Robert Greenstein, President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Before the Senate Committee on Budget
March 9, 2011
Chairman Conrad, Ranking Member Sessions and members of the Budget Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss tax expenditures, tax reform, and what role they might play in deficit reduction. I am Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy institute … -
Podcast: Improving the Delivery of Key Work Supports at this Critical Moment
March 8, 2011
Stacy Dean, Vice President for Food Assistance Policy, and Dottie Rosenbaum, Senior Analyst, discuss the Work Support Strategies Initiative and their report on improving the delivery of key services to needy families.
Duration: 8:36
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House Spending Bill Renews Most Low-Income Rental Assistance but Would Undercut Efforts to Reduce Homelessness and Meet Other Critical Housing Needs
March 7, 2011
Legislation that the House of Representatives recently passed to cut funding for non-security discretionary programs in the current year (fiscal 2011) would provide adequate funding for several major low-income rental assistance programs — for renewal of Housing Choice vouchers and Section 8 project-based rental assistance … -
Local Estimates of Public Housing Capital Fund Cuts Under House GOP Bill
March 7, 2011
The 2011 funding proposal (H.R. 1) that the House of Representatives passed on February 19 would reduce public housing capital funding by nearly $1.1 billion, or 43 percent, compared to the 2010 level. This cut would prevent local housing agencies from carrying out needed repairs to public housing developments, such as replacing boilers or fixing roofs. To … -
Podcast: The February Unemployment Report and What It Means for the Economy
March 4, 2011
The jobs report for February is discussed by Chief Economist, Chad Stone.
Duration: 2:46
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Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the February Employment Report
March 4, 2011
Today’s employment report shows job creation bouncing back from last month’s depressed level, but it also shows that the labor market is still suffering serious ill-effects from the 2007-2009 recession. Job growth thus far in the economic recovery has reduced only a small part … -
Off the Charts Blog Post: What Will Happen to Housing Funding in the Next 2 Years?
March 3, 2011
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House Ways and Means Offset for Repealing Affordable Care Act’s Tax Reporting Requirement Would Weaken Health Reform
Updated March 2, 2011
On February 17, both the House Ways and Means Committee and the full Senate approved legislation to repeal a provision of the health reform law — usually referred to as the 1099 tax reporting requirement — that is designed to raise revenue by improving compliance with the nation’s tax laws. The full House will consider its version of the bill this week. The Ways and … -
Podcast: Tax Cuts Worsening Wisconsin’s Budget Problems
March 1, 2011
Nick Johnson, Vice President for State Fiscal Policy discusses the budget situation in Wisconsin.
Duration: 4:18
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House Bill Means Fewer Children in Head Start, Less Help for Students to Attend College, Less Job Training, and Less Funding for Clean Water
Updated March 1, 2011
Some 157,000 at-risk children up to age 5 could lose education, health, nutrition, and other services under Head Start, while funds for Pell Grants that help students go to college would fall by nearly 25 percent, under a bill passed by the House that would cut current-year non-security discretionary funding by an average of 14.3 percent.… -
Media Briefing: Medicaid, Health Reform, and the States
February 28, 2011
Judith Solomon, Vice President for Health Policy, Edwin Park, Vice President for Health Policy, and Robert Greenstein, the Center’s President, will discuss proposals to block grant the Medicaid program and repeal its maintenance of effort requirements.
Duration: 20:00
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A Balanced Approach to Closing State Deficits
Updated February 25, 2011
As states head into their fourth year of fiscal crisis, most continue to face severe revenue shortfalls that require closing huge deficits. [1] As they prepare and consider budgets for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2011 in most states, the choices they make about how to close those deficits have serious … -
Improving the Delivery of Key Work Supports
February 24, 2011
For more than 15 years, federal and state governments have been working together in earnest to simplify enrollment in public benefit programs. Their work has been driven by the fact that the share of people who participate in public programs has not kept pace with the need; by a desire to make full use of the federal … -
Repealing Health Reform’s Maintenance of Effort Provision Could Cause Millions of Children, Parents, Seniors, and People With Disabilities to Lose Coverage
Updated February 24, 2011
The Affordable Care Act requires states to maintain their current Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility standards until 2014, when new, nationwide Medicaid eligibility standards take effect and state-based health insurance exchanges will begin operating. However, citing state budget problems, a number of … -
Medicaid Block Grant Would Shift Financial Risks and Costs to States
February 23, 2011
Some states may mistakenly believe that proposals to convert Medicaid into a block grant or otherwise cap federal funding would make their Medicaid costs more predictable and stable over time. In reality, a block grant is intended to provide predictability for the federal government by replacing the current financing … -
Florida “TABOR” Proposal SJR 958 Would Endanger Education, Public Safety, and Infrastructure
Updated February 22, 2011
The Florida legislature is considering a TABOR proposal, SJR 958, to limit the growth in state revenues by the combined rate of inflation and population growth. The measure would: Immediately and over the long term raise Florida’s cost of borrowing to invest in infrastructure, costing the state potentially tens of … -
Administration’s Rationale for Severe Cut in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Is Weak
February 18, 2011
The President’s 2012 budget proposes cutting funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) from the $5.1 billion enacted for 2010 to just $2.57 billion, a 50 percent reduction. The Administration’s rationale is that Congress sharply increased LIHEAP funding for fiscal year 2009 in response … -
House-Passed Amendment to Defund Health Reform Would Block Insurance Reforms, Cost-Containment Measures, and Coverage Improvements
Updated February 18, 2011
The House today passed an amendment by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) to the fiscal year 2011 continuing resolution, which is expected to pass tonight or tomorrow. The amendment would bar the use of any funds provided by the legislation to implement any aspect of the Affordable Care Act, the health reform law enacted last year.[1] If … -
Bowles-Simpson Social Security Proposal Not a Good Starting Point for Reforms
February 17, 2011
The Social Security proposal from the co-chairs of President Obama’s fiscal commission is not a suitable starting point, let alone a reasonable outcome, for Social Security reform because it relies far too much on deep benefit cuts to restore solvency to the program and makes a number of harmful changes. The Social Security proposal … -
Media Briefing: Examining Serious Flaws in the Bowles-Simpson Social Security Plan
February 17, 2011
Paul N. Van de Water and Robert Greenstein discuss the problematic changes proposed in the Bowles-Simpson Social Security Plan
Duration: 14:31
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Podcast: Examining the President’s Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2012
February 16, 2011
James Horney, the Center’s Vice President for Federal Fiscal Policy, discusses the President’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2012.
Duration: 4:29
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Creating Subsidized Employment Opportunities for Low-Income Parents
February 16, 2011
Issued Jointly With Amidst the worst downturn since the Great Depression, Congress included the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund [1] in the 2009 Recovery Act to help states cover the costs of providing more assistance to low-income families suffering from the ill effects of the … -
Statement: Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, on the President's Budget Proposal
February 14, 2011
The President’s budget would take an important step toward addressing the nation’s long-term fiscal challenge, cutting the deficit enough to stabilize the debt as a share of the economy for most of this decade. The debt would represent the same share of the economy in 2019 as in 2013, and be only 0.7 percent of … -
Media Briefing: Examining the President's Budget Proposal
February 14, 2011
Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, discusses the President's Budget Proposal for FY2012.
Duration: 14:13
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Press Release: State Unemployment Insurance Systems Need Major Reforms to Avoid Employer Tax Increases, Deep Benefit Cuts for Jobless Workers
February 9, 2011
Issued Jointly With Many states’ systems for financing unemployment insurance (UI) are broken and, without major reforms, will remain broken, requiring years of high federal taxes on employers and threatening UI’s role as a key economic stabilizer during recessions, according to a major new report … -
Testimony: Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, Before the Committee on Education and the Workforce U.S. House of Representatives
February 9, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Miller, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today to discuss the impact of health reform on the economy, employers, and the workforce. My testimony draws on a letter that I and over 250 other economists have submitted to the committee (a copy of which is attached). The … -
Testimony: Iris Lav, Senior Advisor, Before the House Oversight Committee Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs
February 9, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Quigley, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. A spate of recent articles regarding the fiscal situation of states and localities have lumped together their current fiscal problems, stemming largely from the recession, with longer-term issues relating to debt, … -
An Update on State Budget Cuts
Updated February 9, 2011
See the following reports for more up-to-date data: State Budget Cuts in the New Fiscal Year Are Unnecessarily Harmful, July 28, 2011 New School Year Brings Steep Cuts in State Funding for Schools, October 7, 2011 With tax revenue still declining as a result of the recession and budget reserves largely drained, the vast majority of states have … -
Podcast: Troubling Trends in Governors’ Budget Proposals
February 8, 2011
Erica Williams, policy analyst with the Center’s State Fiscal Project, discusses troubling trends in governors’ new budget proposals.
Duration: 4:16
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Rebuilding the Unemployment Insurance System: A Deficit-Neutral Plan That Limits Tax Increases and Maintains Benefits
February 8, 2011
Issued Jointly With The systems for financing unemployment insurance (UI) in many states are broken and, without major reforms, they will remain broken through this decade and beyond, requiring years of high federal taxes on employers and threatening the system’s role as a key economic stabilizer during … -
Podcast: The January Unemployment Report and What It Means for the Economy
February 4, 2011
The jobs report for January is discussed by Chief Economist, Chad Stone.
Duration: 3:07
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Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the January Employment Report
February 4, 2011
Today’s jobs report is another in the recent string of such monthly reports showing modest job creation. The unemployment rate dropped surprisingly to 9 percent, but it remains very high. While labor market conditions are brighter than two years ago when the economy was … -
House GOP Plan Cuts Non-Security Discretionary Programs 15 Percent Through End of Fiscal Year
February 4, 2011
House Republican leaders announced yesterday the next steps in their plan to impose deep cuts in non-security discretionary (annually appropriated) programs. Under the plan, non-security programs would shrink, on average, by 15.4 percent below current funding under the continuing resolution (which expires on March 4) and 19.4 percent below what President Obama proposed … -
Why and How States Should Strengthen Their Rainy Day Funds
February 3, 2011
The roller-coaster economy of the last decade has highlighted the importance of state “rainy day funds” — budget reserves designed to respond to unexpected revenue declines or spending increases caused by recessions or other events. Between 2001 and 2004 and again starting in 2007, states … -
Media Briefing: The Corker-McCaskill Proposal to Cap Total Federal Spending: Is It Sound Policy?
February 1, 2011
Executive Director, Robert Greenstein, and Senior Fellow, Paul Van de Water discuss the “Commitment to American Prosperity Act” that would set a binding spending cap of 20.6% of the Gross Domestic Product.
Duration: 16:59
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Health Policy Brief: Governance Issues for Health Insurance Exchanges
February 1, 2011
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Corker-McCaskill Spending Cap Doesn’t Account for Basic Changes in Society and Government
February 1, 2011
The proposal from Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to limit total federal spending to 20.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the average from 1970 to 2008, would force draconian cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and many other programs while making it harder for the nation to recover from recession. That’s because the proposal, which … -
Podcast: The Commerce Department’s Report on GDP and What It Means for the Economy and Job Creation
February 1, 2011
Chad Stone, the Center’s Chief Economist, discusses what the Commerce Department’s new report on gross domestic product means for the economy and job creation.
Duration: 3:12
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Federal Debt on Unsustainable Path Under Current Policies
January 31, 2011
The latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirm what we already knew: the federal budget is on an unsustainable path. [1] If we continue current policies — including a further extension of the Bush tax cuts, which policymakers recently extended through 2012 — deficits will remain … -
Off the Charts Blog Post: “Nightline” Exposé on Public Housing Tells Incomplete Story
January 28, 2011
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Statement of James Horney, Director of Federal Fiscal Policy, on CBO’s New Budget Estimates
Revised January 28, 2011
Correction: We have revised this statement to correct numbers in the third bullet. The Congressional Budget Office’s new report on the budget and economic outlook suggests three important points that might be lost in the current cacophony of calls to slash federal domestic … -
Testimony: Paul Van de Water, Senior Fellow, Before the Committee on the Budget
January 26, 2011
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Van Hollen, and members of the committee, I appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. When Congress was about to enact health reform last March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the legislation would reduce the deficit — modestly in its first ten years, but substantially in the following decade. [1] CBO has reiterated that finding … -
TANF Responded Unevenly to Increase in Need During Downturn
(with state-by-state fact sheets)
January 25, 2011
Nationally, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which provides basic assistance to low-income families with little or no income, has only been modestly responsive to the economic downturn. Using data collected directly from the states, [1] we estimate that between December 2007 and December 2009, TANF caseloads increased by just 13 percent, while … -
Podcast: Misunderstandings About State Debt and Pensions Create Unnecessary Alarm
January 25, 2011
Senior advisor Iris Lav discusses misconceptions concerning bond debt, pensions and other challenges facing states.
Duration: 4:42
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Media Briefing: Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Create Unnecessary Alarm
January 20, 2011
Iris Lav discusses misconceptions about state and local bond debt, pension obligations, and retiree health costs that have lead to misguided calls for drastic, immediate measures that are not necessary and could prove harmful.
Duration: 14:49
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Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Create Unnecessary Alarm
January 20, 2011
A spate of recent articles regarding the fiscal situation of states and localities have lumped together their current fiscal problems, stemming largely from the recession, with longer-term issues relating to debt, pension obligations, and retiree health costs, to create the mistaken impression that drastic and immediate measures are needed to avoid an imminent fiscal … -
Podcast: Debunking False Claims About Health Reform's Impact on Jobs and the Deficit
January 18, 2011
Senior Fellow Paul Van de Water discusses myths about health reform’s impact on jobs and the deficit.
Duration: 3:57
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Policy Basics: Introduction to Supplemental Security Income
January 13, 2011
What Is the Supplemental Security Income Program? The federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides monthly cash assistance to people who are disabled, blind, or elderly and have little income and few assets. SSI is distinct from the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) programs commonly known as Social Security, though … -
Social Security Benefits are Modest
January 11, 2011
Social Security benefits may be on the chopping block as policymakers wrestle with the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. The co-chairs of the President’s fiscal commission, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, proposed a plan to ensure Social Security’s long-term solvency that relies on benefit cuts for two-thirds of its savings over the next 75 years, and … -
Podcast: The Impact of the New Budget Rules in the U.S. House of Representatives
January 11, 2011
Jim Horney, the Center’s Director of Federal Fiscal Policy, discusses the new budget rules in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Duration: 3:47
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Introduction to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program
January 10, 2011
What Is Supplemental Security Income? The federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides monthly cash assistance to people who are disabled, blind, or elderly and have little income and few assets. In December 2009, 7.7 million people collected SSI benefits (see Figure 1). For three-fifths of recipients, SSI represents their only source of income. [1] … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the December Employment Report
January 7, 2011
Today’s jobs report shows that after two years of net job losses, payroll employment grew modestly in 2010, with private employers adding jobs every month (see chart). The drop in December’s unemployment rate was welcome, but a key reason for it was people leaving … -
Podcast: The December Unemployment Report and What It Means for the Economy
January 7, 2011
The jobs report for December is discussed by Chief Economist, Chad Stone.
Duration: 3:29
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Debunking False Claims About Health Reform, Jobs, and the Deficit
January 7, 2011
Proponents of repealing the health reform law (the Affordable Care Act) argue that that the law will increase deficits — contrary to the Congressional Budget Office’s finding that it will reduce deficits by $143 billion over 2010-2019 and by about $1.3 trillion over the following decade [1] — and that it will “kill jobs.” Independent evidence … -
No Evidence for House Republican Charge that Health Reform Is a “Job-Killer”
January 6, 2011
Health reform will change the American economy in many ways over the next few decades, but it will not significantly change the number of jobs or the unemployment rate. A nonpartisan economic assessment by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds a variety of possible labor market effects, some positive and some negative, … -
Medicaid Block Grant or Funding Caps Would Shift Costs to States, Beneficiaries, and Providers
January 6, 2011
Proposals to convert Medicaid into a block grant or otherwise cap its funding are receiving renewed attention in the emerging debate over cutting federal spending. For example, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, reportedly has already discussed block-granting Medicaid with some … -
Statement of Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, on the New House Budget Rules
January 5, 2011
Today’s vote by the new House majority to change the chamber’s rules, making it easier to pass tax cuts that increase the deficit, contradicts many Republican members’ anti-deficit rhetoric and marks a significant step away from fiscal discipline and toward the kind of rules that helped pave the way for the return of large deficits in the years … -
Despite Deep Recession and High Unemployment, Government Efforts — Including the Recovery Act — Prevented Poverty from Rising in 2009, New Census Data Show
January 5, 2011
Despite a deep recession, very high unemployment, and widespread hardship, a combination of existing safety net programs and temporary expansions in them enacted in 2009 all but prevented a rise in the poverty rate that year, according to a Center analysis of new poverty data the U.S. Census Bureau released this week that … -
House Republican Rule Changes Pave the Way For Major Deficit-Increasing Tax Cuts, Despite Anti-Deficit Rhetoric
Updated January 5, 2011
House Republican leaders yesterday unveiled major changes to House procedural rules that are clearly designed to pave the way for more deficit-increasing tax cuts in the next two years. These rules stand in sharp contrast to the strong anti-deficit rhetoric that many Republicans used on the campaign trail this fall. While … -
Policy Basics: Introduction to the Federal Budget Process
Updated January 3, 2011
The way Congress develops tax and spending legislation is guided by a set of specific procedures laid out in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The centerpiece of the Budget Act is the requirement that Congress each year develop a "budget resolution" setting aggregate limits on spending and targets for …
