The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements, Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy. October 10, 2012 The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant provides federal grants to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Indian tribes, and the territories for a wide… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
CRS – Unemployment: Issues in the 112th Congress
Unemployment: Issues in the 112th Congress, Jane G. Gravelle, Thomas L. Hungerford, Linda Levine. October 5, 2012 “This report considers three policy issues: whether to take additional measures to increase jobs, what measures might be most effective, and how job creation proposals should be financed. Most proposals discussed as part of a potential additional macroeconomic… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve and FDIC release resolution plans, also known as living wills
News release includes links to public section resolution plan bank documents: “The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council for supervision by the Federal Reserve submit resolution plans annually… Continue Reading
CRS – Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance: Policy Overview and Trends
Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance: Policy Overview and Trends, by Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy. September 27, 2012 “The extent to which residents of the United States who are not U.S. citizens should be eligible for federally funded public aid has been a contentious issue for more than a decade. This issue… Continue Reading
CA Governor Provides Cost Savings for College Students, Sign Digital Textbook Legislation
News release: “The use of 21st century technology to bring significant savings in textbook costs for California college students will be made possible under two measures the Governor signed into law today. The companion bills by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, SB 1052 and SB 1053, will establish development of open source digital textbooks… Continue Reading
Payments of Penalties for Being Uninsured Under the Affordable Care Act
Payments of Penalties for Being Uninsured Under the Affordable Care Act, September 2012 “Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (comprising Public Law 111-148 and the health care provisions of P.L. 111-152) requires most legal residents of the United States to either obtain health insurance or pay a penalty tax. That penalty will be the… Continue Reading
Congress.gov: The New Home for Legislative Information
“Congress.gov makes federal United States legislative information freely available to the public. Launched Sept. 19, 2012, this version of the site is an initial beta release of Congress.gov, created as a successor to THOMAS.gov, the current public site for legislative information. The Congress.gov beta site contains legislation from the 107th Congress (2001) to the present,… Continue Reading
CRS – Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945
Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945. Thomas L. Hungerford, Specialist in Public Finance, September 14, 2012 “Income tax rates have been at the center of recent policy debates over taxes. Some policymakers have argued that raising tax rates, especially on higher income taxpayers, to increase tax revenues… Continue Reading
Whistleblower Protections Under Federal Law: An Overview
Whistleblower Protections Under Federal Law: An Overview. Jon O. Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney and L. Paige Whitaker, Legislative Attorney, September 13, 2012 “Legal protections for employees who report illegal misconduct by their employers have increased dramatically since the late 1970s when such protections were first adopted for federal employees in the Civil Service Reform Act of… Continue Reading
Pensions and Retirement State Legislation Database
Pensions and Retirement State Legislation Database – “Current legislation on pensions and retirement is available in a searchable database. You can search 2012 pensions and retirement bills by topic, primary author, state, bill number, status or keyword. The database is updated every two weeks.” [Via Pew and the National Conference of State Legislatures] Continue Reading
CRS – The National Labor Relations Act: Background and Selected Topics
The National Labor Relations Act: Background and Selected Topics, Jon O. Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney, September 7, 2012 “The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act) recognizes the right of employees to engage in collective bargaining through representatives of their own choosing. By encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining, the Act attempts to… Continue Reading
New CDC Report – Drop in Number of Uninsured Young Adults
Matthew Broaddus, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities “On September 12, the Census Bureau will release estimates of the number of Americans with and without health insurance coverage in 2011, based on its annual Current Population Survey. Other survey data and historical trends provide clues as to what the Census data are likely to show.… Continue Reading
