Over the past decade, there have been significant expansions in policies that support low-income working families, such as refundable tax credits, health insurance, child support enforcement, child care subsidies, and nutritional supports. These programs help hard working families who struggle to meet basic needs due to low wages, irregular hours and lack of benefits. However, this safety net is incomplete. CLASP advocates for improvements in individual programs and in the service delivery system to help ensure low-income families have the support they need to stay employed and provide for their families.
Budget calls for raising asset limits
President Obama's proposed budget calls for two important changes to asset test requirements across federal programs.
- The budget calls for a national asset limit floor of $10,000 for low-income, working age, non-disabled individuals and their families for federally funded programs, including those that are state administered. This excludes SSI, Medicaid, and Medicare, but includes SNAP (Food Stamps) and possibly TANF. Under current law, just $3,000 in countable assets disqualifies a household from receiving SNAP (unless a state has chosen to apply higher TANF limits to SNAP). This low limit both makes SNAP out of reach for many families that have recently become low-income due to unemployment, and discourages families receiving nutritional assistance from saving for the future.
- For all federally funded means tested programs, refundable tax credits would not be counted as either income or assets for 12 months. The Earned Income Tax Credit and other refundable tax credits are paid to recipients as lump sum payments when they file their federal income taxes. Under current law, for individuals who participate in federal means-tested programs, saving these funds could result in ineligibility.
In addition, the budget proposal continues recommendations the Administration made last year to extend the Making Work Pay Tax Credit, and improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, and calls for expansions to both child care subsidies and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.
New Report on Improving Access to Public Benefits
Income and work supports can make a vital difference in the lives of low-income workers and families. This new report from the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation suggests that there is a need for funders, states, communities and the federal government to improve access to these programs. READ MORE »- CLASP Audioconference | Sep 03, 2009 Building Public-Private Partnerships in Human Services: Inside the New York Back to School Benefit Example
- CLASP | Oct 08, 2009 The Safety Net's Response to the Recession
- Elizabeth Lower-Basch | Mar 20, 2009 Opportunities in the Recovery Act for Income Support for Low-Income Women and Children
- Neil Ridley | Mar 26, 2009 Work Sharing--an Alternative to Layoffs for Tough Times
- Elizabeth Lower-Basch | Apr 09, 2008 Tax Credits and Public Benefits: Complementary Approaches to Supporting Low-Income Families
- CLASP | Jan 25, 2010 Federal Policy Recommendations for 2010
- CLASP Audioconference | Nov 16, 2009 What the TANF Emergency Fund Can Do for Your Cash-Strapped State
- CLASP | Oct 08, 2009 CLASP Testimony to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support
- CLASP Audioconference | Sep 03, 2009 Building Public-Private Partnerships in Human Services: Inside the New York Back to School Benefit Example
- CLASP | Sep 01, 2009 Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond