Spending Cuts and Debt
Spending Cuts and Debt affect us all and dealing with these issues are important to our work in Congress.
Maintaining a Circle of Protection for Poor People in a Comprehensive Deficit Reduction Agreement
Any deficit reduction agreement should maintain a circle of protection around poor and vulnerable people, reducing federal deficits without increasing poverty. This principle has been honored in past deficit reduction agreements and articulated in recent bipartisan proposals, including the original Bowles-Simpson report. The work of the bipartisan Gang of Eight in the Senate is encouraging. We will actively support any proposal that tackles the U.S. deficit without hurting hungry and poor people.
The Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty: Metropolitan Trends in the 2000s
After a dramatic drop in the 1990s, concentrated poverty—the location of poor individuals in very poor neighborhoods—rose again in the 2000s, according to this report from The Brookings Institution. Elizabeth Kneebone and colleagues examine the trend, finding pronounced increases in the Midwest, South, and suburban areas. To read the full report, click HERE.
General Assistance Programs: Safety Net Weakening Despite Increased Need
This report discusses how General Assistance Programs have been weakened over the years, with a closer look at actions in 2011 state legislative sessions, and provides an overview of program policies across the 30 states with programs in 2011. The information in this report is based on Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' new national survey of General Assistance programs and provides the first comprehensive and published survey in 13 years." To read this report, click HERE.