State Legislators Face Impossible Decisions if Congress Cuts $2 Trillion 

The U.S. House of Representatives’ budget resolution calls for at least $880 billion in cuts from the committee that oversees Medicaid. As Suzanne Wikle explains in her new blog, state legislators would have to decide how to implement these cuts. Their options include reducing eligibility; slashing provider reimbursement rates; limiting mandatory benefits that include dental, vision, and prescription coverage; or cutting across all three areas. All options would have devastating consequences for individuals, families, health care centers, and communities. 

2025 Tax Package Should Expand Credits, Increase Revenue, and Make the Tax Code More Fair 

Ashley Burnside and Jesse Fairbanks’s new fact sheet examines several provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that expire this year. They argue for reforming the tax code so it serves families with low incomes instead of wealthy individuals and corporations. The fact sheet also recommends ways to make the tax code fairer, generate more revenue, and expand tax credits for people with low incomes.

How Federal Layoffs Will Harm Generations of People with Low Incomes

Last week, CLASP released a statement about the Trump Administration’s hollowing out of the federal workforce through mass layoffs. This is an underhanded strategy to dismantle programs that support children, families, people with low incomes, communities of color, and other underserved populations. The layoffs also further the harm created by the elimination of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs. 

Black History Month   

CLASP’s Black History Month blog series concluded with several new pieces. Alyssa Fortner and Shira Small’s blog reflected on how Black women have shaped America’s child care system. Lulit Shewan examined the historical opposition to workplace organizing in the South.

Parent and Provider Experience Should Inform Child Care Policy

In this blog, Shira Small and three parent advocates from the United Parent Leaders Action Network offer recommendations on how to create child care policies that truly work for families and providers.

In “Cuts to SSBG, TANF Would Eliminate Child Care for 40K Children, Disrupt Care for Millions More,” Stephanie Schmit and Rachel Wilensky detail potential harms if Congress significantly cuts the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Social Services Block Grant programs.