Weekly News Round-Up: August 23, 2016

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of federal legislation that resulted in the overhaul of welfare and creation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Many thought leaders and advocates used this anniversary to discuss the future of these programs and how new policies, including tax credits for working families, could help lower the poverty rate (Chicago Tribune, The Hill, Heritage Foundation).

  • Lawmakers in New Jersey continued to debate a plan that would expand the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and increase the state’s transportation fund.
  • Tax policy experts and political analysts compared the tax plans of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Trump has remained silent about his plans for working family tax credits. Clinton has said she wants to expand the EITC and Child Tax Credit, although has provide few details. Albert Hunt, a columnist for Bloomberg View, wrote that tax policy should be a much more prominent area of debate in this election (Bloomberg, New York Times).
  • A new report from the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) took an in-depth look at the racial wealth gap and how policies like the Rainy Day EITC could help families of color make ends meet (Vox).
  • The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Penn Wharton Budget Model are hosting a panel discussion about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s tax plans on September 16. Register here for this event.