Womenstake

House Health Reform Bill Delivers on Equal Tax Treatment for Domestic Partner Health Benefits

by Brigette Courtot, Policy Analyst,
National Women's Law Center

A while ago I blogged about my frustration over the inequitable tax treatment of health benefits for domestic partners.  To recap, job-based health benefits are generally tax-free, so that the health insurance that employers offer to their workers’ family members (i.e. spouses and dependent children) doesn’t count as taxable income.  In contrast, if an employee gets coverage for a domestic partner through his/her job, the cost of the domestic partner’s health insurance is considered taxable income. Because of this unfair tax treatment, workers receiving domestic partner health benefits pay an average of $1,069 more per year in federal taxes than their married peers.

The health reform bill that the House of Representatives passed on Saturday night includes a commendable provision that would eliminate this inequity in the tax code and make domestic partner health benefits tax-free.  Hopefully the tax equity provision will remain in the combined legislation when the House and Senate bills are merged during the process known as “conference.” (The Senate has yet to unveil the final version of its health care bill, but current versions do not include the provision.) It’s just one of the many ways that the House bill improves access to affordable health insurance.  As noted by the Human Rights Campaign—which is working on this and many other issues related to health reform’s effect on the LGBT population—if the unfair tax penalty is eliminated, “more people will be able to afford employer-provided coverage for their families, and more companies will be able to offer these important benefits.”

NWLC Weighs in on Department of Education Distribution of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funding

by Kolbe Franklin, Program Associate,
National Women’s Law Center

The U.S. Department of Education has recently issued a series of proposed application guidelines for distribution to states of its ARRA funding, including the State Fiscal Stabilization funds, the Race to the Top funds, and the Investing in Innovation (also known as i3) funds. The Center is commenting on these proposed guidelines, encouraging the Department to make clear that programs addressing the needs of girls particularly at risk of dropping out are eligible for such funds, and that state data collection and reporting requirements should include data on students’ gender (in addition to race/ethnicity and other categories), and pregnant or parenting status.

Anti-Tax, Anti-Government Referenda Go Down to Defeat

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Times are tough –- and paying taxes is never very popular. So it’s particularly notable that the two referenda sponsored by anti-tax activists to limit state and local taxes and spending were soundly defeated in Maine and Washington State. Local business leaders joined advocates in educating voters about the impact the referenda would have on the education, health care, transportation, public safety, and other services their state and local tax dollars support –- and large majorities voted to protect those services.

Tea baggers may make noise and headlines. But the results in Maine and Washington -- and in the 20 other states that have rejected similar spending limits since 2004, tell a different story about what the public really values. We hope the media will start paying attention.

Free Training on Tax Credits for Working Families

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security, 
National Women's Law Center 

Did you know that federal tax credits for families have been expanded and are now more valuable than ever? We're not talking about a few dollars more for families, we're talking about potentially thousands of dollars.

But unfortunately, millions of families don’t even know to ask for the credits they are eligible for.

That’s why your help is needed to spread the word. And to give you the information and tools you need, we are offering two free webinar trainings. In these free trainings, you'll learn about family tax credits and get access to free easy to use resources.

Register today for these important training webinars:

Part I — Tax Credits: What Working Families Need to Know
Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (1 hour)

Get the facts about how tax credits can give working families a leg up, and learn how to help spread the word.

Part II - Tax Credits Outreach: Tips and Tools for Service Providers and Advocates
Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (1 hour)

You can make a big difference for families by making sure families get the information they need.  Learn about simple outreach activities that can make a major impact, often building on other networks and campaigns that can make a big difference for working families. This webinar will help you:

• Get free outreach materials;
• Connect with local materials;
• Find free tax preparation services in your community; and
• Learn some successful techniques for spreading the word about tax credits.

Register today! These online sessions are free to participants, but registration is required.

Although we recommend that you register for both sessions so you can get the most out of the series, if you have time constraints, you can sign up separately for either the Nov. 10 webinar. 

These webinars are part of the National Women's Law Center's Citi Education Series on Family Economic Security and the Tax Credits Outreach Campaign.

We Can Afford to Make Quality Health Care Affordable for All

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security, 
National Women's Law Center 

While the proposal being debated by the Senate Finance Committee represents an important step toward enacting health reform this year, it fails to provide adequate supports to make comprehensive coverage available to those who need it most. Some policy makers have raised cost concerns as the reason for scaling back assistance.  But we can make quality health care affordable for all -- without increasing the deficit –- if lawmakers are willing to consider additional options for raising revenue.

Over the past few months, we’ve analyzed several options for financing health care reform and improving tax fairness at the same time. Today, Citizens for Tax Justice released a new report analyzing the state-by-state impact of six progressive options for financing health care reform. They include two options for limiting the value of itemized deductions for the very wealthy; two options for reforming the Medicare tax, which currently exempts investment income entirely; and two options for a surcharge on the very wealthy.  These options could raise up to $458 billion over the next ten years and a large majority of the revenues would come from the top five percent of taxpayers, who disproportionately benefited from the Bush tax cuts.  

As President Obama observed in his speech to Congress on September 9, his health care plan would cost less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few that were enacted during the Bush Administration. We can afford a health care reform plan that adequately addresses women’s needs -- it’s a matter of priorities. 

Economic Data on Women Show More Than Meets the Eye

by Valerie Norton, Public Policy Fellow, 
National Women's Law Center 

Here at the National Women’s Law Center, we make a point of looking deeper than the economic headlines because they may not capture the whole story. Last week, we wrote about how, while it was encouraging that the rate at which jobs were being lost declined, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data also showed that economic hardship was not improving for women who head families or for the long-term unemployed.  Both groups – already particularly vulnerable – have yet to see the signs of recovery and are continuing to experience job loss and economic insecurity.

Recent Labor Department data tells a similar two-pronged tale. Although the number of people filing continuing unemployment insurance claims declined by 141,000 from the previous week, the number of people filing claims for first-time unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 from the previous week. Despite the overall decline, the increase in initial claims indicates that we are not yet out of the woods: the recession continues to cause economic hardship for which unemployment insurance provides an indispensable safety net for struggling families. 

The increase in first-time claims could reflect the significant role the Recovery Act has had in encouraging states to eliminate barriers and eligibility obstacles confronted by many low-income workers, particularly women. But the unemployment insurance extensions provided by the Recovery Act don’t last forever, and the decline could just as well be a result of people exhausting their benefits and falling off the rolls. According to an analysis from the National Employment Law Project, over 500,000 workers will exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of September, increasing to 1.5 million by the end of the year.

Taken all together, recent job loss and unemployment insurance data highlight the need for continued Congressional action to provide additional weeks of unemployment benefits to help those who have yet to see the signs of economic recovery in their own lives and who remain particularly vulnerable.

DC Council Takes Steps to Protect Poor Families

by Amy Rosenthal, Outreach Intern, 
National Women's Law Center 

I attended a rally earlier this week outside the DC mayor’s office to protest Mayor Fenty’s proposal to cut Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a critical safety net for poor women and children, and other vital services, including low-income housing and food assistance. It was exciting to find out today that the DC City Council rejected the proposal to cut or eliminate TANF benefits for families that failed to meet work requirements and mitigated the proposed cuts to a number of other services for poor families.       

In a recession everyone suffers. And the city’s budget shortfall is real. But it is important to keep the most vulnerable individuals in mind when the city decides to take action. Individuals should not be tossed aside simply by crossing out numbers on a balance sheet.

I found the response to news of the Mayor’s proposed budget cuts encouraging. People are struggling to get by – but they are willing to do what it takes to be heard. Our partners responded to the alert we sent from the National Women’s Law Center. A petition that had circulated only since Monday had reached 1,700 signatures by the rally, and a wide range of participants turned out for the rally in full force. “It’s time to provide a voice for those who cannot speak,” a person behind me shouted. I am pleased that the DC Council decided to listen. 

A Challenge to States: Building Strong Early Learning Systems

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst,
and Amalia Reiss, Intern,
National Women’s Law Center 

The President and Congress are demonstrating their commitment to early care and education by issuing an important challenge to states: Develop strong, high-quality early learning systems that help ensure children enter school ready to succeed. States that accept the challenge will receive new resources and support to meet this goal, which is essential for our children and our nation. 

An Early Learning Challenge Fund, first discussed by President Obama during the campaign and included in his budget proposal earlier in the year, has now been fleshed out in legislation introduced by Representative George Miller (D-CA) on July 15. The Early Learning Challenge Fund, which is proposed as part of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221), would provide $1 billion a year over 10 years to states that agree to work toward a comprehensive strategy for improving the quality of their early learning programs, particularly those serving disadvantaged children.

The initiative would make two types of grants available to states: Quality Pathways Grants for states that already have made significant progress toward establishing systems for improving the quality of early learning settings and that can serve as models for other states, and Development Grants for states that have some elements of a strategy to promote early learning but need an extra boost to achieve a truly systemic approach. States would be able to use the grants for several key components of a high-quality early learning system, including initiatives to boost the education and compensation of the early learning workforce, a system for rating the quality of early learning programs and helping them achieve progressively higher levels of quality, parent outreach and engagement, and coordination with other services for children and families—many of the same key components addressed in the Center’s Child Care Agenda.  

The Importance of Social Security

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security, 
National Women's Law Center 

Today I testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging about Social Security. It was a welcome change from the past few years, when I testified at hearings that focused on plans to privatize Social Security and cut benefits. Today, I had an opportunity to discuss ways to strengthen and improve Social Security -- the foundation of older women’s economic security, and the effective way to increase retirement security for all Americans facing an environment of heightened economic risk.

It won’t take an extreme makeover to improve Social Security for women and economically vulnerable Americans. I presented some proposals, such as improving widow(er)s’ benefits and benefits for low lifetime earners and caregivers and modernizing Supplemental Security Income. I emphasized that these changes are especially critical for women, who face a higher threat of poverty in old age than men.

I also reminded the committee that Social Security is not just a retirement program --- it’s a family insurance program. Social Security provides disability and life insurance benefits to workers and their families, including children – over 1 million of whom are lifted out of poverty by this program. Read my complete testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. 

To help better prepare women for retirement, the National Women’s Law Center is hosting a webinar series for service providers, advocates, and individuals. The first webinar, Planning for the Future: What Women Need to Know About Social Security, will take place on Tuesday, June 23 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. This online workshop is free to participants, but registration is required. Stay tuned for more information on the rest of the series.

Register Today: Webinar on Taxes for the Common Good

The debate is heating up on health care reform and other critical priorities for women and families. One of the challenges we face is finding ways to pay for these vital investments so we need to understand how responsible and fair tax policies can help provide the revenues we need.

To make sure you know about ways we can improve tax fairness and how you can be a voice for the common good, I’m helping to lead a free webinar hosted by the Coalition for Human Needs on Thursday, June 11, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Register today.

This webinar, Taxes for the Common Good: What You Need to Know, will give examples of fair tax policies and help you answer the special interests.

Presenters:

• Joan Entmacher, National Women's Law Center
• Alison Goldberg, Wealth for the Common Good
• Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

Once you register for this webinar you will receive log in instructions and explanatory materials by email.