Children: Whats at Stake. November 14, 2012 1 11/14/2012 - PDF document

11/14/2012 The Fiscal Showdown and Children: What’s at Stake. November 14, 2012 The Fiscal Showdown and Children: What’s at Stake. November 14, 2012 1

11/14/2012 Co-sponsored by and Joe Theis isse sen Senior Vice President, Programs Voices for America’s Children Moderator 2

11/14/2012 Ala lan Housem eman an Executive Director Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Chair, Children’s Leadership Council Ell llen Nis issenbaum baum Senior Vice President For Government Affairs Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 3

11/14/2012 Deborah orah Wein instei ein Executive Director Coalition on Human Needs Huge e Fis iscal l Decis isions ions Lie ie Ah Ahead: The Key Po Policy y Choices for Pro rote tecting ng the Po Poor CHN,CLC, Voices for America’s Children Ellen n Nissenbaum aum www.cb .cbpp.or pp.org nissenbau nbaum@ m@cbp bpp.org p.org Nove ovembe mber r 14, 2012 4

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 9 Long-Term Debt is Unsustainable cbpp.org Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 10 cbpp.org 5

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 11 Number of U.S. Households Living Below World Bank Measure of Serious Poverty in Developing Nations: Living on Less Than $2 a Day, Per Person Cash Income Cash Income plus Food Stamps 636,000 households 1996 with 1.4 million children 475,000 households 1.46 million households Start of 2011 with 2.8 million children 800,000 households cbpp.org Source: Shaefer and Edin , “Extreme Poverty in the United States,” 1996 to 2011. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 12 Debt limit is Sequestration hits hit in early in January 2013 Current FY13 Tax cuts & CR runs UI expire in through December March 27 cbpp.org 6

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 13 Health/other entitlements Revenues Discretionary (reduce deficit? spending Deficit Lower rates?) Deal: 3-legged stool cbpp.org Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 14 The 3 legs of the stool: the central issues • “Discretionary” (appropriated) spending: we’ve already cut $1.5 trillion since 2011. Will the Congress make further cuts in this area, below the deep cuts enacted in the Budget Control Act? If so, will nondefense spending be protected? • Revenues: will new revenues contribute to deficit reduction, or will conservatives win and force a new round of income tax rate cuts? • Entitlements: how much will be cut in health, and what does that mean for Medicaid? SNAP? Other low- income entitlements “off the table?” cbpp.org 7

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 15 KEY DECISIONS TO PROTECT THE POOR • Averting further cuts in NDD (nondefense discretionary) • No cuts in nonhealth low-income entitlements (SSI,etc) • Reject deep cuts and harmful changes in SNAP • Medicaid (protect beneficiaries, no cost shifts to states, no per capita cap) • No cuts or harmful changes in the refundable tax credits for working poor (EITC, Child Tax Credit) • Ensuring tax reform is progressive cbpp.org Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 16 Non-Defense Discretionary Spending Cuts Far Below Historical Levels cbpp.org 16 11/14/2012 8

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 17 Nearly Half of NDD Spending is Grants to States; Low-Income Programs cbpp.org Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 18 18 There Are Both Risks and Opportunities on Taxes, Especially for Low-Income Families with Children • If new tax revenue is raised, who will bear the burden? Will revenue increases be progressive? • How will low-wage workers fare? Some emerging proposals to make everyone who works pay at least some federal income tax would effectively result in a several-thousand-dollar tax increase for low-income working families. • A mother raising two children on full-time minimum-wage earnings now receives a $7,000 tax credit check because of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit — essentially a large negative income tax. For her to owe income tax would require taking more than $7,000 — the equivalent of $3.50 an hour — away from her. cbpp.org 9

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Most Who Don’t Owe Federal Income Tax Are Workers, Elderly, Disabled, or Students cbpp.org Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 20 The Case for Letting the High- Income Tax Cuts Expire Proposed Extension of Bush Tax Cuts Favors Millionaires cbpp.org 10

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Raising Threshold for Extending Bush Tax Cuts Would Cost $366 Billion Over First Decade *Excludes additional savings from reduced interest on the debt. cbpp.org **Savings exclude any reductions in estate tax cuts. 21 Source: Joint Committee on Taxation Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 22 Large Deficit-Reduction Packages Have Included Large Revenue Increases cbpp.org 11

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 23 Tax Expenditures are Substantial cbpp.org Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 24 BOTTOM LINE: A Balanced Plan REVENUES • Bipartisan commissions all agree • Getting to $2+ trillion • $1.5 trillion cuts already enacted • What’s “off the table?” • Two big budgetary “losers” w/o major revenues • Big hit on federal funding for state governments? cbpp.org 12

11/14/2012 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 25 Core Principles for Deficit Reduction • Requires substantial new revenues & spending cuts • Don’t increase poverty or income inequality. • End the 2001/2003 tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% • Factor in the $1.5 trillion spending cuts already made • No more cuts in total discretionary spending below BCA • Don’t shift costs to states (especially Medicaid) • No structural changes or harmful reforms in Medicaid or SNAP cbpp.org 25 11/14/2012 Take Action to Protect Children Deborah Weinstein Coalition on Human Needs 13

11/14/2012 Impact of Automatic Cuts on Children (aka “ sequestration ”)  750,000 – 900,000 fewer infants, children and moms receiving WIC  80,000 fewer children with child care assistance  96,000 fewer children in Head Start  413,000 fewer adults and youth getting job training  1.8 million fewer low-income schoolchildren with reading and math help  5 million fewer families will receive prenatal care and other maternal and child health services  212,000 fewer children vaccinated against childhood diseases  27,000 fewer infants receiving special education early intervention services Medicaid and SNAP • Medicaid serves one-third of all children in the U.S. House-pas passed ed budget would d cut Medicaid caid by 1/3 ($810b) ) by 2022 • SNAP/food stamps served 46.6 million people in July 2012, nearly half of them children. House-pas passed ed budget would d cut SNA NAP by $134 34 billion on by 2022 – could d mean 8 million on people e denied d food aid 14

11/14/2012 Tax Credits, UI, SNAP lift families out of poverty All children lifted out of poverty 4.9 million ion by EITC and CTC, 2011: All people lifted out of poverty by 2.3 million ion UI, 2011: All people lifted out of poverty by 3.9 million ion SNAP, 2011: (1.7m children dren) source: U.S. Census Bureau Strengthening America’s Values and Economy (SAVE) For All Letter signed by 1,900+ organizations nationwide  Incre rease ase revenu nues es  Prot otec ect low-in inco come me from m fair sources ces and vulner erable able peopl ple e  Seek responsi onsible ble savings ngs from the  Promo omote e job creation on Pentag agon on and ot other to streng ngthen en the areas as econom nomy 15

11/14/2012 What we’re up against • CEO’s ready to spend $60 million to get a “balanced plan” (see Kids Not CEO’s , at www.Americansfortaxfairness.org) • “Deficit scolds” using fear of fiscal “cliff” to call for huge spending cuts • Little will to invest in rebuilding the economy – kids (and former kids) will pay But! There is recent precedent for beating piles of CEO $ People spoke out throug rough the vot vote. Now ow that the ele lecti tion on is is over over, , we stil ill l need to speak k out. 16

11/14/2012 Ways to be heard: Easie siest t First:  Send d an email il: SAVE VE for All emailab ilable le let etters ers to Congress ess: Go to Tell l your net etwor orks s to www.chn.org n.org/ta takeac eaction ion send it too! Pledg edge for chil ildren dren www.v .voi oices es.org .org 17

11/14/2012 Meet with Senators By Phone In person Get in the press: • Opin inion on pie ieces es: • Hold ld eve events: ts:  Op-eds  Site visit  Letters to the Editor  Release a report  Blogs (CHN will have state fact sheets you can  Talk to editorial boards use) CHN can help:  Stand in front of contact Angie Evans, senator’s office aevans@chn.org CLC LC can help with op-eds: contact Amy Harfeld, coordinator@childrensleadershipcouncil.org 18

11/14/2012 Call l in Day: y: November mber 28 Key message ges, s, whatever r you do • If your group has signed SAVE for All letter, mention it and how many groups have signed • If you’ve signed the Voices pledge with many others in your state, talk about that • Talk about key choices… 19