January 12, 2024
Congress Shouldn’t Expand Welfare in Return for Corporate Tax Cuts
Bipartisan negotiations to revive the Democrat-favored 2021 Child Tax Credit in return for Republican-favored business-tax cuts are…
January 11, 2024
To Better Promote Work, Stop Subsidizing More Benefit Collection
“Income disregard” policies allow welfare programs to ignore the value of certain government benefits when determining eligibility, making recipients appear poorer than they are and consequently expanding assistance. Pandemic-era policies temporarily disregarded large stimulus payments and other enhanced benefits, contributing to sharp increases in Medicaid and food stamp enrollment. Because many programs already disregard major sources of government support, proposals to expand unconditional benefits while continuing to ignore them in eligibility calculations would further discourage work and expand participation in welfare programs.
December 1, 2023
Making the Child Tax Credit “Fully Refundable” Converts It into Welfare Checks
In what is becoming an annual ritual, news accounts and DC sources suggest liberals’ end-of-year legislative wish list once…
November 14, 2023
The Comeback City
After decades of rising crime, rising poverty, and economic decline, New York City experienced a dramatic turnaround beginning in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Governor George Pataki, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The shift reflected a change in governing philosophy that emphasized individual responsibility, market-oriented policies, and data-driven accountability rather than expanded social spending. Policies such as “broken windows” policing, welfare reforms that prioritized work, tax reductions to encourage economic growth, and school reforms that increased accountability and choice contributed to falling crime, declining welfare dependence, stronger employment, and broader economic revival.
September 19, 2023
House Budget Plan Proposes Commonsense Welfare Changes
The House Budget Committee, headed by Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX), today released a draft budget…
August 9, 2023
The CTC Work Incentive Works
The expiration of the American Rescue Plan Act at the end of 2021 brought with…
August 3, 2023
Another Pandemic Legacy: Removing the EITC’s Work and Earnings Requirement
Since its origin in the 1970s, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been the…
July 12, 2023
Employment in SNAP: Setting the Record Straight
Claims that most Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households already work often rely on census survey data that suffer from significant reporting errors and broad definitions of employment. Many recipients fail to report benefits in surveys, and some analyses count work at any point in the past year rather than while households actually receive SNAP, which overstates employment. Administrative SNAP quality control data instead show that fewer than one-third of SNAP households include a worker at the time benefits are received. Properly interpreted, the evidence suggests that employment during SNAP receipt is relatively low, supporting policies aimed at encouraging work among recipients who are able.
June 16, 2023
The Missing Context Behind “Cuts” in Fast-Growing Welfare Programs
Official Washington just completed a heated debate on the debt limit, punctuated by intense partisan…
May 31, 2023
Ending the Small Checks Scam
It’s no secret that strengthening work requirements for key welfare benefits has been a flashpoint in the…
May 30, 2023
What Are the New TANF Work Requirements in the Fiscal Responsibility Act?
The Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) reflects the debt limit agreements reached over the weekend between the White…
May 30, 2023
Two Sentences Will Strengthen SNAP’s Support for Work
The debt ceiling deal, agreed to by President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, will…