Welcome to the April edition of The Pointer newsletter. Tax Day is behind us, but changes to the Child Tax Credit are still on the table and on our minds. We testified in Congress on the idea of portable benefits for non-traditional workers like independent contractors and gig workers across states. Plus, U.S. interest payments on the national debt reached an eye-popping new high.
Check out the latest tech, labor, and economic analysis below from Independent Women's Forum’s Center for Economic Opportunity.
Think someone on your team would like this newsletter? Pass it on.
|
|
With just a few weeks left in tax season, one lingering question is whether Congress can deliver a little more breathing room to families through the tax code.
The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, a House-passed tax package that includes positive pro-growth tax changes for businesses along with financial relief for working households, sits before the Senate. There are understandable concerns about temporary changes to the Child Tax Credit provision (CTC) included in the package — changes that could unintentionally undermine work requirements.
Here is what should be understood about the CTC, proposed changes, and the importance of the opportunity before us.
[keep reading]
|
|
IWF senior policy analyst for the Center for Economic Opportunity, Gabriella Hoffman, testified before the House Education & the Workforce Committee, Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, on portable benefits for independent contractors.
[watch here]
|
|
 WHAT'S THE POINT
|
|
An Eye-Popping Visualization of the Massive Increase in U.S. Interest Payments
The federal government will spend more on interest on debt in 2024 than it will on defense. That’s a huge amount of money, and it’s not buying us anything. It’s just paying for debt; the money’s already been spent.
If Baby Boomers Don’t Move, Will Millennials, Gen Z Ever Become Homebuyers?
Baby Boomers bought big homes to raise families decades ago. Although their children are grown and gone and they might normally trade down to something smaller or move into a community, many Baby Boomers have reasons to stay put.
Gen Z Needs Therapy After Tax Season
While financial uncertainty in young adulthood is a fairly regular phase for many people, tax season has pushed Gen Z over the edge.
|
|
PA Doordash Drivers and UT Gig Workers Can Now Add Portable Benefits to Their Cart
DoorDash drivers in Pennsylvania can now take advantage of benefits as if they were employees, as part of a temporary pilot program.
Utah has gone even further by now offering all of the state’s gig workers access to portable benefits as part of a first-of-its-kind public-private effort.
After partnering with the benefits platform Stride, these states are blazing a path forward that allows independent workers to gain access to benefits if they need them without sacrificing their independent status.
[keep reading]
|
|
ON OUR RADAR
|
|
“I remember when Pizza Hut started, started by some students out of Wichita State University delivering pizzas to their fellow students. And not long after that came Rent-A-Center, Freddy’s Frozen Custard, Goodcents subs, and many, many more. And that story has been repeated all across the country. These businesses started off small but through franchising, were able to grow into national successes.
“We need less regulations, not more regulations… this rule threatens the success stories for all those happy endings, for all those American dreams that have become true. Instead of being independent business owners, franchisees will be reduced to middle managers – killing jobs, killing income as well.”
- U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) voted to nullify a Department of Labor rule determining which companies are joint employers
|
|
|
|
Yours in the fight,
Patrice
|
|
|
|
