The $1.9 trillion economic recovery plan, known as the American Rescue Plan, announced by President-elect Biden contains, among other provisions, expanded cash payments and changes to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
COVID-19
Lawmakers continue to examine how to respond to the continually evolving economic crisis, precipitated by COVID-19. ITEP’s unique contribution to the policy debate is its rapid analyses of economic stimulus and relief plans. Decisions made now will have short- and long-term implications for families, communities and state and local governments. We are committed to providing distributional analyses of how all proposals affect people across the income spectrum. When possible, we also will provide analyses for all 50 states.
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report January 15, 2021 NEW ANALYSIS: Cash and Tax Provisions in Biden’s Economic Recovery Plan
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blog January 15, 2021 Happy Double Take: A President Who Takes Economic Challenges Seriously
After a solid year of federal policy doing too little to combat staggering job loss, spiking poverty, a raging pandemic and nearly 400,000 COVID deaths, we are ready for a leader who wants to hunker down and get to work on behalf of the people. So we did a happy double take when President-elect Joe Biden outlined his economic plan last night.
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blog January 8, 2021 New Leadership Should Seize Tax Justice Mandate; Cash Payments Offer On-ramp
With the victory of Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Democrats now control all three branches of government. New leaders should seize this moment to create a tax code that does much more to reduce inequality and to resource long-overdue investments in climate, health, education and other essentials. Most immediately, the historic election shifts power, making it easier to deliver on the promise to increase the recently enacted $600 cash payments to $2,000 per person.
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blog January 6, 2021 How the Proposed $2,000 Cash Payments Compare to the $600 Already Provided by Congress
On Dec. 28, the House of Representatives passed the Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help (CASH) Act of 2020, which would increase the cash payment recently provided by Congress from $600 per person to $2,000 per person, among other changes. New estimates from ITEP compare the impacts of $2,000 payments to $600 payments.
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news release December 21, 2020 COVID Relief Bill Will Help Families Now; Bigger, Bolder Package Needed in 2021
Following is a statement from Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the COVID-19 relief deal reached Sunday night.
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report December 21, 2020 National and State-by-State Estimates of New $600 Cash Payments
The House and Senate are about to pass the first COVID-19 relief legislation since the CARES Act was enacted in March. The new relief package includes, among other provisions, cash payments of $600 per person, which is half as large as the payments provided under the CARES Act, but also extends payments to spouses and children of certain undocumented immigrants who were left out of the previous payments.
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blog December 8, 2020 A Second Round of Direct Cash Payments Could Provide an Average $1,550 to the Poorest Families
It will not magically become easier for families to put food on the table or make their next rent payment. Policymakers must act. People are struggling because they are either out of work, involuntarily working part-time, trying to financially catch up after being out of work for a spell, or squeaking by because we live in a wealthy democracy that fails to guarantee basics such as access to affordable housing, health care, food, and jobs that pay living wages.
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blog December 4, 2020 McConnell Balked at More Stimulus Aid to States, Betting Red States Wouldn’t Need It. Now?
It is December 2020. Sen. McConnell has denied states—and their residents—relief for months. Congress must act now. Even if it does, it is unlikely to provide the robust aid needed to keep communities afloat and positioned for healthy recovery. Lawmakers across the country should be prepared to return to state capitals and city halls in the new year with plans to raise revenue not just to weather this crisis, but also to invest in long-term recovery.
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blog December 4, 2020 These EITC Reforms Would Help Struggling Families Now and Address Systemic Challenges
The tepid economic recovery is leaving millions behind. The nation still has nearly 10 million jobs less than it did in February, according to the latest jobs report. The number of people living in or near poverty is rising. Twelve million workers are about to lose their unemployment insurance, roughly four in 10 people report experiencing food insecurity for the first time, and conditions are likely to deteriorate further in the weeks ahead as we brace for another deadly surge in COVID cases and new or tightened restrictions on business and personal activity.
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blog December 3, 2020 COVID-19 Containment Is Key to Recovery—So Is Another Round of Stimulus
You can learn a lot about our leaders from how they act during times of crisis. This December, we are in our 10th month of the pandemic in the United States. With COVID cases climbing, deaths exceeding 270,000 and hospitalizations surpassing 100,000 for the first time, some states have halted reopening plans and imposed new restrictions.
Containment of the virus is key to sustained economic recovery. As is another round of federal stimulus.
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blog November 20, 2020 State Tax Policy: Innovations to Embrace, Schemes to Avoid
Better tax policies will help communities emerge from the current staggering fiscal crisis with tax structures that reduce inequality at a time when rich people are thriving and public services are under siege. Preserving public spending will boost the economy and improve lives–and cutting these essentials will not only hurt people but also deepen the downturn, a lesson we learned in the Great Recession’s slow recovery. Other states should take note.
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blog November 12, 2020 Biden’s Economic Policy Agenda Deserves Serious Debate, Not Obstruction
Obstructing policies that improve economic well-being should not be on any party’s legislative agenda, especially when so many are barely keeping their heads above water.
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news release September 30, 2020 People Need Relief. House Compromise COVID-19 Bill Addresses Urgent Needs
Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the COVID-19 relief bill that the U.S. House is expected… -
blog September 24, 2020 Of Shiny Objects and Scapegoats
While the moneyed elite were dangling shiny objects, scapegoating Black and brown people, denigrating immigrants, and financing studies to convince us that poor people are the problem, they were concurrently securing policies that cut taxes primarily for the rich and profitable corporations, deregulated industry, weakened unions and attacked voting rights. This and more allowed the rich to amass even more wealth and power.
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blog September 3, 2020 The Rich Are Weathering the Pandemic Just Fine: Tax Them
Reductions in critical state and local investments, including health care and education, would only exacerbate the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19 and worsen racial and income inequality for years to come. Higher taxes on top earners are among the best options for addressing pandemic-related state revenue shortfalls in the coming months.
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blog August 17, 2020 Trump’s Executive Order on Social Security Payroll Taxes Is a Mess
President Trump’s executive order that would supposedly allow workers to delay paying Social Security taxes, along with his related public statements, have created a situation that is bizarre even by 2020 standards.
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blog August 14, 2020 Action (lack thereof) on Economic Aid Reflects Longstanding Anti-Government Agenda
The biggest danger we face right now is that politicians will fail to get this health crisis under control and Americans will continue to die. The second biggest danger is that elected officials will fail to help families and communities, leading to foreclosures, evictions, and impoverishment—and also torpedoing the economy. With their inaction this week, the Senate seems determined to do both. Hold on everyone, we’re in for a sickening ride.
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blog July 31, 2020 Sorry, States: GOP Senate Ignores Need for Federal Relief to State and Local Governments
During the Great Recession, the most ambitious state revenue-raising efforts closed just 10 percent of shortfalls and most states relied heavily on federal aid and budget cuts to balance their budgets. Of course, states can and should turn to progressive revenue-raising options now, but as the pandemic rages on, the extent of this crisis will become too significant for states and localities to handle on their own. The federal government should step in to help.
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brief July 29, 2020 Sales Tax Holidays: An Ineffective Alternative to Real Sales Tax Reform
Lawmakers in many states have enacted “sales tax holidays” (16 states will hold them in 2020) to provide a temporary break on paying the tax on purchases of clothing, school supplies, and other items. These holidays may seem to lessen the regressive impacts of the sales tax, but their benefits are minimal while their downsides are significant—and amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy brief looks at sales tax holidays as a tax reduction device.
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blog July 29, 2020 A Cautionary Tale on Sales Tax Holidays During a Pandemic
Sixteen U.S. states will hold “sales tax holidays” this year. As ITEP’s newly updated brief explains, these events offer dubious benefits at significant public expense even in normal years, problems which are only amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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blog July 28, 2020 A Hero vs a Heel: No Contest
Americans are demanding policy that meets the needs of this urgent moment. There are now competing proposals from the U.S. House and Senate: One is a reasonable response to the staggering crisis we’re in. One is not.
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brief July 28, 2020 New Analysis Compares HEROES Act and HEALS Act, Disaggregates Data by Race and Income
The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act released by Senate Republicans Monday includes a tax rebate that is slightly more generous than the one provided under the March CARES Act, but fails to correct most of the earlier act’s problems. House Democrats addressed these shortcomings in the May HEROES Act, a better starting place for negotiations over the next round of COVID-19 relief. ITEP has analyzed both acts to provide a detailed comparison of how the tax rebate provisions would affect families across the income spectrum and by race. Both measures would provide cash payments to a majority of individuals and families, but the HEROES Act goes farther and is more inclusive.
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blog July 24, 2020 Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to Unemployed Workers: Don’t Worry, Get a Bank Loan
In an explanation that can only be called richsplaining, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Thursday suggested that Congress’s delay in approving expanded unemployment benefits was no problem because banks would extend loans to people in the meantime.
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news release July 23, 2020 Republican COVID Relief Plan Doesn’t Rise to the Moment
Media contact Following is a statement by Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), regarding the pending Republican plan for phase IV COVID-19 relief.… -
blog July 21, 2020 New ITEP Report on Trump’s Payroll Tax Holiday
While the White House hasn’t clarified what it is proposing, we know that a payroll tax cut would not be well-targeted. In a new report, ITEP estimates the effects of suspending Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes for employees and employers from September 1 through the end of the year. We find that 64 percent of the benefits would go to the richest 20 percent of Americans while 24 percent of the benefits would go to the richest 1 percent.