In Case You Missed It . . .

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on state budgets and taxes, federal taxes, health reform, and food assistance.

• On state budgets and taxes, Michael Leachman pointed to a new report showing that lower-income families pay a bigger share of their income in state and local taxes than wealthy families. He also listed five pieces of context for analyzing Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s new budget.  Erica Williams noted that Kansas isn’t the only state facing budget woes caused partly by large tax cuts.
• On federal taxes, Chuck Marr described why policymakers should make strengthening the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit a top priority in 2015. Brandon DeBot explained how these working-family tax credits help families at virtually every stage of life. He also pointed out that cuts in IRS funding will harm customer service and raise deficits.
• On health reform, Judy Solomon highlighted new studies showing that millions more Americans will be uninsured and premiums will jump if the Supreme Court disallows health reform subsidies for people getting coverage through the federal marketplace. Paul Van de Water reiterated that arguments for repealing health reform’s medical device tax are as weak as ever.
• On food assistance, Ed Bolen summarized basic facts about the 1 million unemployed childless adults who will lose SNAP (food stamp) benefits in 2016.

This week, we published a condensed version of our paper on the impact of marginal tax rates on lower-income workers. We also issued a backgrounder on state and local borrowing and updated our backgrounders on unemployment insurance and the EITC, as well as our chart books on the legacy of the Great Recession and refundable tax credits.

 CBPP’s Chart of the Week – From Our Paper on the 1 Million People Who Will Lose SNAP Next Year

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A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:

11 myths about homelessness in America
Vox
January 15, 2015

The Push for a Constitutional Convention Is Real — and Possibly Dangerous
American Constitution Society Blog
January 15, 2015

Need Help From the I.R.S.? It May Take More Patience This Year
New York Times
January 14, 2015

Marketplace Morning Report
Marketplace
January 9, 2015

Don’t miss any of our posts, papers, or charts — follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Applications are due February 1 for our paid summer internship program, so apply today!