Background on Welfare & Poverty

Welfare/Poverty topics in the 2020 election cycle:

EITC update

• Earned Income Tax Credit: The EITC, a tax credit, is better than a tax deduction in that the credit is a direct reduction in the amount of tax owed. The maximum amounts for 2020 are:
  • $6,660 with three or more qualifying children
  • $5,920 with two qualifying children
  • $3,584 with one qualifying child
  • $538 with no qualifying children
  • You cannot earn over a certain amount of investment income for the year. For 2020 the amount is $3,650.
• PRO-EITC: In 2018, the EITC lifted about 5.6 million people out of poverty, including about 3 million children. The number of poor children would have been more than one-quarter higher without the EITC. The credit reduced the severity of poverty for another 16.5 million people, including 6.1 million children.

• TRUMP: Apply welfare-to-work to 76 other welfare programs (Dec 2011)
• BIDEN: Americans don't want handouts, just to be given a chance (Sep 2014)
• PENCE: Faith-based community gives us hope for new opportunities (Jul 2013)
• HARRIS: Massively expand the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) (Jul 2019)
• 2016 Libertarian V.P. nominee Bill WELD: Greatly increase the earned income tax credit (Sep 2019)
• NEWS: Latest statements on Faith-Based Organizations from presidential candidates and political pundits

Red-lining

• Fair Housing Act outlaws Redlining: Redlining is the practice of denying a creditworthy applicant a loan for housing in a certain neighborhood even though the applicant may otherwise be eligible for the loan. Redlining on a racial basis has been held by the courts to be an illegal practice. (Federal Reserve) [Integrating communities has been a contentious issue. Democrats want Federal law to require towns to create affordable housing replacing exclusionary zoning laws. Republicans oppose such Federal action as interfering with local choice. --Ed.]
• ANTI-Redlining: The Fair Housing Act says communities that receive federal funds for affordable housing must "affirmatively further" fair housing. The Obama administration tackled this issue by creating a new rule that leveraged the growing amount of racial disparity data. This helped communities see invisible trends to set and meet fair housing goals, while also giving the feds a way to enforce the law. (Barack Obama on Vox)
• PRO-Local Control: [Affordable housing regulation] has irked Republicans, who say this is essentially the federal [government] meddling in local zoning issues. Some, including Trump's pick for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Ben Carson, go further and call this "social engineering." (Vox)

• TRUMP: Sought to exclude welfare recipients from his residences (Sep 2015)
• BIDEN: Equalize home tax rates for red-lined minority neighborhoods (Oct 2020)
• PENCE: Voted NO on providing $70 million for Section 8 Housing vouchers (Jun 2006)
• HARRIS: Subsidies for Affordable Housing renters and homeowners (Jul 2019)
• Green Party nominee Howie HAWKINS: Reintegrate urban amenities, like walkable mixed-use cities (May 2019)

Update on food stamps

• SNAP: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was formerly known as "Food Stamps." Democrats support it as part of the social safety net; Republicans favor restrictions on eligibility such as mandating a work requirement. President Trump proudly cites cutting 7 million people from SNAP. The cost per recipient has held steady; a slight cut because to keep u inflation (cumulative 10% over the 5 years shown) the 2019 total would be $1,730 per recipient. (OTI)

  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation and Costs (USDA)
  Year	Participation (recipients)	Total Cost	Cost per recipient
  2019	35.7 million	$60.4 billion	$1,692
  2018	40.8 million	$65.4 billion	$1,603
  2017	42.3 million	$68.2 billion	$1,612
  2016	44.2 million	$70.9 billion	$1,604
  2015	45.8 million	$73.9 billion	$1,613

• ANTI-SNAP: The Department of Agriculture is appealing a court ruling that blocked the Trump administration from imposing additional work requirements to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on poor adults without children. Secretary Sonny Perdue argued that the program was meant to provide "assistance through difficult times, not a way of life." (CBS)
• PRO-SNAP: "The food banks are overwhelmed [by the pandemic], and we have to have a significant increase in SNAP," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "In addition to putting money in people's pockets, direct payments, unemployment insurance, some other tax credits, etc., we really also need to put food on the table."

• TRUMP: 7M people off welfare and food stamps (Feb 2020)
• BIDEN: Voted YES on eliminating block grants for food stamps (Jul 1996)
• PENCE: Voted YES on promoting work and marriage among TANF recipients (Feb 2003)
• Constitution Party nominee Don BLANKENSHIP: Welfare provisions misdirected & morally destructive (May 2020)

Homelessness

• Trends in homelessness: Compared to the previous year, homelessness increased by 3% in the 2019 Point-in-Time Count. This marked the third straight year of national-level increases. Despite this negative movement, the long-term trend has been downward. Overall homelessness has decreased by 12% since 2007, the year nation-wide data collection began.

  Year /	Number of homeless
  2019	567,715
  2018	552,830
  2017	550,996
  2016	549,928
  2015	564,708
  2014	576,450

• TRUMP: Food stamps should be temporary; not a decade on the dole (Dec 2011)
• BIDEN: It's not "culture of dependency"; it's acquiring skills (Sep 2012)
• HARRIS: Use the tax code to alleviate homelessness (Oct 2019)
• Libertarian nominee Jo JORGENSEN: Government anti-poverty programs don't work (Jul 2020)

2014-16 Election Welfare Issues

• Block grants: “Block grants” refer to transferring unallocated federal funding to the state government, as a means for the state to decide on the content of poverty programs while the federal government decides only the funding amount. Calling for “block grants” is the same as calling for “devolution to the states”; conservatives suggest doing so for many social programs.

• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): This wage subsidy is highly regarded--among Democrats and Republican alike--in part because it encourages work. The benefit rises with earnings until it reaches a plateau, then gradually phases out as earnings continue to rise. The EITC lifted over 6 million Americans out of poverty in 2012. About half of them were children.

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): People in need are eligible for up to 60 months of federal assistance, but must find a job within 24 months. TANF replaced the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in 1996, as part of President Bill Clinton's wekfare reform. AFDC potentially lasted indefinitely; TANF is temporary.

2012 Election Welfare Issues

• Faith-Based Welfare: President Bush initiated the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships to institute his Charitable Choice proposal. Churches are tax-exempt, and donations to churches and other charities are tax-deductible; Pres. Bush's policy was intended to encourage churches to perform more social services. Proponents focus on removing restrictions on religious organizations' activities, so that churches can bid on government block grants for performing welfare services. Opponents claim that lessens restrictions on separation of church and state.

• Separation of church and state: The US Constitution does not mandate "separation of church and state." That phrase comes from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson while President, in 1802. The Constitution's "Establishment Clause" says that the US will have no state church (known as an "established religion"), which has been interpreted to mean the federal government cannot fund one church over another.

Welfare-to-Work

• The welfare reform bill, signed by President Clinton in 1996, ended the federal entitlement to welfare, imposed strict work requirements on recipients, and set a five-year lifetime limit for aid.
• In 1995, 88% of poor children received food stamps. By 1998 the figure had dropped to 70%.
• The welfare load currently stands at about 2 million recipients, which has dropped by about 1/3 since the welfare reform bill was enacted.

Faith-Based Organizations

• As welfare decreases, churches and other faith-based organizations (FBOs) pick up the slack.
• Churches are tax-exempt, and donations to churches and other charities are tax-deductible, so federal activity focuses on tax reform to encourage donations, by increasing deductibility on federal and state income taxes.
• Other recent Congressional bills focus on removing restrictions on religious organizations' activities, so that churches can bid on government block grants for performing welfare services.
• The lessening of restrictions on separation of church and state for this purpose is known as Charitable Choice.