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May 8, 2024
Beltway Liberals Are Playing Name Games to Expand the Welfare State
…for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits.” But policymakers in Washington are, unsurprisingly, out of step with popular opinion. A recent Brookings Institution seminar sunnily titled “Securing the…
April 29, 2024
New “Scorecard” Report Promotes Better Use of Data to Prevent Unemployment Fraud
…blocks, policymakers can’t know if state UI systems are prepared for future shocks—and whether providing expanding federal assistance will, as lawmakers intend, reach citizens in need or instead be siphoned…
April 29, 2024
Measuring What Matters: Context and Recommendations to Improve Reporting on Unemployment Insurance
Key Points This report explores the unemployment insurance system’s current data and performance management practices, including features designed to inform policymakers and the public about deficiencies in the administration of…
April 26, 2024
Washington, District of Benefit Cliffs
As the welfare state expands while policymakers struggle to contain its costs, one unintended result is the creation of significant benefit cliffs. A little-noticed September 2023 report authored by Elias Ilin and Alvaro Sanchez…
April 8, 2024
We Still Don’t Know How Much Taxpayers Lost Due to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud
…millions of independent contractors, the self-employed, and others never before eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) checks. But in some of the worst policy choices of all time, lawmakers failed to…
March 25, 2024
Families Slip Back Into Poverty After Pandemic-Era Child Tax Credit Expires
Watch the full video here. During the pandemic, lawmakers dramatically, but temporarily, expanded the social safety net, including more money for families with children. The impacts of those changes are…
March 11, 2024
How Many Forms of “Wage Insurance” Do We Need, Exactly?
…lookback policy as “a form of wage insurance,” recalling a program some liberal lawmakers proposed—and failed to enact—before the Great Recession. Authors affiliated with the liberal Center on Budget and…
March 7, 2024
Growing Congressional Dysfunction Will Worsen Our Fiscal Problems
Few were surprised when deposed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) retired in December. While Republican leaders tend to exit quickly after losing committee gavels or leadership posts, the additional departure of other respected senior lawmakers in both parties is damaging…
February 29, 2024
Recalling Pandemic Lessons on “Self-Certifying” Eligibility
…But policymakers should be on guard that this seemingly innocuous expansion in self-certification for minor workforce programs is not used to someday justify reviving the same policy for far costlier…
February 27, 2024
Options for Improving the Child Tax Credit Provisions in H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024
…policy reforms better suited to the current fiscal environment. We recognize policymakers’ urge to expand benefits for families that have weathered recent high inflation. Nevertheless, if lawmakers intend to pass…