INCOME & WORK SUPPORTS UPDATE
SEPTEMBER 2022
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You’re Invited! Reimagining the Five Pillars of the White House Hunger Conference by People with Lived Expertise  [[link removed]]

For the first time in 50 years, the White House will convene a conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in late September. As they currently stand, the Five Pillars meant to define the scope of the conference do not reflect the insights of people whose knowledge comes from direct experience with hunger, poverty, and the social systems meant to alleviate both.

Join the Community Partnership Group (CPG) at CLASP and the Experts on Poverty (EOPs) at RESULTS on Wednesday, September 14th at 3:00 pm EDT for a webinar reimagining the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health’s guiding Five Pillars. 

In this webinar, we will address the root causes of hunger, including how government decision-making, systemic racism, and inequity have exacerbated it. We’ll also offer solutions grounded in the realities of people who face the challenges of hunger every day. RSVP here to attend! [[link removed]]

Taking away a person’s access to housing and food does not promote work [[link removed]]
“Thankfully, my grandmother and I were lucky enough to receive consistent financial support from one of the nation’s largest benefit programs. For us, SNAP worked,” writes Research Assistant Jessi Russell in an op-ed for The Hill. “But I also know that far too many families, especially those considered ‘nontraditional,’ are one arbitrary requirement or misguided provision away from losing nutrition assistance and falling more deeply into poverty. All children and caregivers deserve to rest, eat, and spend time with one another without fear — without feeling heavy, unrelenting dread about where supper will come from or whose couch they can sleep on next.”

In the News
August 30, 2022| C-SPAN
Indivar Dutta-Gupta on Biden Economic Policies and Low-Income Americans [[link removed]]

August 18, 2022 | NPR
States with the toughest abortion laws have the weakest maternal supports, data shows [[link removed]]

August 17, 2022 | The Takeout
The Complicated State of Free School Meals in America [[link removed]]

August 15, 2022 | Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Means-Tested Transfers, Asset Limits, and Universal Basic Income [[link removed]]

August 3, 2022 | California Business Journal
Top 6 Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Charges [[link removed]]

IWS Update
This month, the IWS team has been responding to several notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) or changes issued by the Biden Administration.

- On July 13th, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced its plan to use private sources of rental data in the agency’s annual Fair Market Rents (FMRs). This innovation by HUD could produce more accurate estimates of rental costs in cities and counties across the U.S., in turn making it easier for people who receive a housing choice voucher (HCV) to find an affordable unit. CLASP responded in support of HUD’s proposal. You can read our comment here [[link removed]].
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a rule in late June disallowing state agencies from collecting race and ethnicity data by observation. In our response, CLASP supported the Biden Administration’s decision, encouraging states to co-define racial and ethnic categories with community members and be more mindful of racial trauma by, for example, clarifying that applicants’ identities will not impact their access to benefits. You can read our comment here [[link removed]].

We have also submitted comments supporting Washington State’s request to provide continuous coverage of Medicaid-eligible children up to age 6. You can read the comment here [[link removed]]. We are now turning to recent proposals from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid related to Section 1557, which is the clause of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that protects people from discrimination, and streamlining Medicaid enrollment/renewals.
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On September 9, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule detailing how the agency will administer the public charge ground of inadmissibility. The finalized rule closely tracks the long-standing guidance that was in place from 1999 to February 2020, when the Trump administration upended the existing public charge policy. The final rule will go into effect on December 23, 2022. Until then, the 1999 field guidance remains in effect. CLASP released a statement thanking the Biden Administration for its work on this rule and the many immigrants, service providers, and advocates who have fought against the previous administration’s weaponization of public charge – that means you! We couldn’t have gotten here without all of you. You can read CLASP's statement here [[link removed]].
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This month, the Biden Administration officially announced its student loan forgiveness plan, which would provide between $10,000 and $20,000 in debt relief to college students and graduates. Importantly, people who did not graduate college but took out federal loans are also eligible. As CLASP’s Executive Director Indi explained in an interview with CNN, "About 40% of people with student debt have no college degree.” In addition, Biden’s plan would make much-needed revisions to the income-driven repayment program for undergraduate loans, reducing the percentage of income used to determine a federal borrower’s monthly loan payment from ten to five percent. The plan would also cover the borrower’s unpaid interest so their balance will not grow. Although the Biden Administration’s plan will fully relieve about one-third of borrowers’ debts, it doesn’t go far enough. The average Black borrower owes $53,000 four years after graduation, while the average white borrower owes $28,000. Therefore, canceling $50,000 of student loan debt per borrower would immediately increase the wealth of Black Americans by 40 percent, according to a brief from the Roosevelt Institute.  You can read CLASP's response here [[link removed]].

Key Blog Posts and Publications
August 24, 2022 | Sapna Mehta and Emily Andrews
House WIOA Reauthorization Makes Important Strides, but Additional Improvements Needed [link removed]

August 23, 2022 | Hannah Liu and Suma Setty
Federal Courts Chip Away at a Vision for a Humane Immigration System [link removed]

August 11, 2022 | Clarence Okoh and Whitney Bunts
Safety from Police Violence: How the President’s Policing Executive Order Fails Low-Income Communities of Color [link removed]

August 11, 2022 | Alycia Hardy and Alejandra Londono Gomez
Child Care Assistance Spending and Participation in 2019 [link removed]

August 8, 2022 | Melissa Young, Clarence Okoh, and Jason Whyte
Recommendations for Strengthening the Reentry Employment Opportunities Program [link removed]

What We're Reading
Children’s Health Watch | 'I Didn't Have to Worry': How the Child Tax Credit Helped Families Catch Up on Rent and Improved Health [link removed]

Brookings Institute | New data shows long Covid is keeping as many as 4 million people out of work [link removed]

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation | Unwinding the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision: Projected Enrollment Effects and Policy Approaches [link removed]

Urban Institute | Effect of the Reevaluated Thrifty Food Plan and Emergency Allotments on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits and Poverty [link removed]

AFSC’s Atlanta Economic Justice Program | How to Defend Your Home Manual [link removed]

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