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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 29, 2024
Addressing the False Claims from Industry Groups on Pilot Testing SNAP Restrictions
…that respond to the needs of policy makers and managers and help ensure that nutrition assistance programs achieve their goals effectively.” The House Agriculture appropriations bill will fund a study…
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…
February 8, 2024
CTC Expansion Rooted in Desire to Roll Back Work-based Welfare
…frequently call them. For these reasons, the refundable CTC should not be labeled tax relief, and policymakers should consider changes to it in the context of the broader safety net….
February 7, 2024
Solving Benefit Cliffs in SNAP
…loss of benefits. His findings should point policymakers toward several necessary SNAP reforms. SNAP is one of the country’s largest safety net programs, providing over $107 billion in benefits to…
February 7, 2024
Child Tax Credit Bill Would Increase Marriage Penalties for Working Single Mothers
…in which taxes fall or transfers rise as a result of marriage. Policymakers have expressed growing concern over marriage penalties, in light of declining marriage rates and the growing prevalence…
January 29, 2024
Let’s Not Turn the Child Tax Credit Into Welfare
…policymakers will ultimately have to decide what the CTC should be: Is it tax relief for families, or is it a welfare program? The newly proposed CTC changes are part…
January 29, 2024
Pandemic Unemployment Fraud in Context: Causes, Costs, and Solutions
…including eligibility self-certification in new programs, and degraded administrative systems without adequate defenses against various fraudulent schemes. State and federal policymakers should review the causes and consequences of these unprecedented…
January 17, 2024
Tax Extenders Package Would Cut the Child Tax Credit’s Annual Work Requirement in Half
…what happened when Hurricane Katrina struck in mid-2005 and Congress allowed affected adults to use 2004 earnings to claim the EITC and CTC. Lawmakers applied the same logic nationwide during the pandemic emergency. In December 2020, they created a “temporary special rule” letting individuals use 2019 earnings to claim the EITC and CTC for 2020….
January 12, 2024
Congress Shouldn’t Expand Welfare in Return for Corporate Tax Cuts
…government. Disconnecting tax credits from work could end up doing long-run damage to the very children policy-makers are trying to help. The closed-doors discussion to bring back elements of the 2021 Child…