In Case You Missed It...

This week at CBPP, we focused on the economy, state budgets and taxes, health, food assistance, and the federal budget.

On the economy, Robert Greenstein stated that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes important aid, but there is more needed to meet urgent needs. CBPP and the Niskanen Center issued joint recommendations to strengthen a Senate Republican COVID-19 economic response proposal. We compiled a coronavirus response roundup that we will continue to update as we issue more analyses. We also updated our chart book tracking the post-Great Recession economy and our backgrounder on how many weeks of unemployment compensation are available.
On state budgets and taxes, Nicholas Johnson noted that the bipartisan CARES Act contains significant funds for states. We posted a fact sheet on how much each state will receive from the Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. We posted an interactive map detailing how some states are much better prepared than others for a recession.
On health, Tara Straw reflected on how, on its tenth anniversary, the Affordable Care Act is helping to address our public health and economic crisis.
On food assistance, Dottie Rosenbaum, Ed Bolen, Zoë Neuberger, and Stacy Dean called on the Department of Agriculture and states to act quickly to deliver food assistance allowed by the Families First Act. Rosenbaum explained that the CARES Act does not boost SNAP, but the next stimulus package should.
On the federal budget, Greenstein emphasized that low-income people must be eligible for stimulus payments and actually receive them.