On May 17, 2023, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) reintroduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which would create a permanent, national paid family and medical leave program. The bill would ensure that every worker, no matter the size of their employer or if they are self-employed or part-time,
Each week we draw closer to reaching the debt limit, which Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has estimated will happen on or about June 1, 2023, just a few weeks from now. On May 9th, President Biden met with Congressional leadership in both the House and the Senate to begin discussing a path forward,
ZERO TO THREE and Morning Consult released new poll findings showing that the vast majority of parents of infants and toddlers believe that addressing the needs of children and families in the upcoming 2024 federal budget should be a priority. Key poll findings include: Nearly 9 in 10 of parents with infants and toddlers believe
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced on May 1 that the nation could hit its existing debt ceiling as soon as June 1, 2023, mere weeks away and sooner than had previously been expected. The Treasury is currently using "extraordinary measures" to continue paying the country's debt. Following this announcement, President Biden invited Congressional
A new study from researchers at Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis and supported by the National Institutes of Health (NI), suggest that well-funded anti-poverty measures can improve both brain development and mental health in children. Past research has shown that childhood poverty has a negative long-term impact along various outcome measures, like lower
On Wednesday, April 26th, 2023, House Republicans passed their budget and debt limit bill along party lines. As noted last week, the legislation would raise the debt ceiling into next year in exchange for freezing spending at last year’s levels for a decade — a nearly 14 percent cut — as well as rolling back
On Wednesday, April 19th, 2023, House Republicans unveiled legislation that would pair lifting the debt ceiling with steep budget cuts and budget caps for the next ten years. Speaker McCarthy is expected to call a vote on the measure this week, although it’s not certain that he currently has enough votes to pass it through
On April 12, 2023, Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-OK) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) wrote a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries informing them of their creation of the Bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group. This letter indicated that ensuring paid family leave must be a bipartisan effort, as the future of
The Institute for Research on Policy hosted a webinar on April 5, 2023 titled “Expanded SNAP Benefits During The COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned.” Speakers for the event included Dr. Cindy Leung, Professor of Public Health at Harvard University; Chloe Green, Senior Policy Associate with the American Public Health Services Association (APHSA); and Dr. Marianne Bitler,
On March 28th, 2023, the Work and Welfare Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing about the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, titled “Welfare is Broken: Restoring Work Requirements to Lift Americans Out of Poverty.” The approach of the two parties was starkly different. Subcommittee Chairman