Monthly Archives: August 2013
- War on Poverty Hearing in the House: Chairman Ryan’s Budget Committee Witnesses Don’t Quite Toe His Line
On July 31, The House Budget Committee held a hearing anticipating the 50 year anniversary of the War on Poverty – the beginnings of Head Start, college prep programs, Work Study, and other programs for youth, and community action programs to seek community-wide economic development. Read More »
Posted in Poverty and Income, Social Services Comments Off - Student Loan Bill Enacted
On July 1, student loan rates doubled because Congress failed to agree on legislation to avert the scheduled increase. After a month of proposals and counter-proposals, Congress enacted a solution. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Education and Youth Policy Comments Off - Willing to Deny Food to 4 Million More Poor People: Rumors of House Plans to Double SNAP Cuts
The House was unable to pass a farm bill with a nutrition title because the $20 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food stamps) approved by the House Agriculture Committee was not deep enough for some of the most right-wing members. Now, the House leadership is reported to have crafted a new stand-alone bill including massive SNAP cuts – doubling the cuts to $40 billion, with 4 million more people losing SNAP and millions more seeing their benefits reduced. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Food and Nutrition, SNAP Comments Off - Immigration Reform: Ball is in House’s Court When Congress Returns
Advocacy organizations and many Democratic members of Congress plan to make the point during August recess that comprehensive immigration reform is badly needed and would be positive for the economy. One proponent of reform, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), told his constituents that October could be the month when the House votes on a plan to provide probationary visas to undocumented immigrants. Read More »
Posted in Immigration Comments Off - Tax Reform Primer: Differing Goals Make Action Elusive
The last major comprehensive federal tax reform legislation was passed in 1986. Since then, the federal tax code has been filled with changes making it more complicated and, for individuals and corporations who can afford tax lawyers, easier to find legal ways to avoid paying taxes. Chairmen of both the House and Senate tax-writing committees say they are preparing to introduce major tax reform bills this year. Both chairmen are determined to forward legislation during their remaining time in the driver’s seat – at the end of 2014 Senator Baucus will retire and Representative Camp’s tenure as Ways and Means chairman will end. Enacting reform will be a heavy lift, and advocates are concerned about the nature of tax reform under their leadership. Read More »
Posted in Tax Policy Comments Off - The Approaching Crunch: Agreement on Spending Nowhere Near as Deadlines Loom
The House and Senate are $91 billion apart on their FY 2014 appropriations totals, with the House assuming that spending will not exceed the limits set by another year of sequestration cuts, and the Senate assuming sequestration will not take place. The gap is made even larger by the fact that the House violates the Budget Control Act’s requirement that defense and “non-defense” are cut equally. Instead, the House spares defense and cuts domestic programs more deeply. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Tax Policy Comments Off
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