{"id":2159871,"date":"2024-01-26T07:39:03","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T12:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-agree-to-help-democrats-grow-the-welfare-state-and-shrink-the-workforce\/"},"modified":"2024-01-26T07:44:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T12:44:04","slug":"house-republicans-agree-to-help-democrats-grow-the-welfare-state-and-shrink-the-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-agree-to-help-democrats-grow-the-welfare-state-and-shrink-the-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"House Republicans to Assist Democrats in Expanding Welfare, Reducing Workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-republicans-agree-to-help-democrats-grow-the-welfare-state-and-shrink-the-workforce%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2159871&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>In the debt ceiling agreement last spring, House Republicans passed legislation making modest changes to work requirements for certain government programs. Less than\u2064 12 months later,\u200c another congressional agreement could effectively undo that progress.<\/p>\n<p>Congressional leaders recently\u200c announced \u200ban agreement on a tax package, the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/19\/washington-uniparty-plans-more-welfare-spending-under-misnamed-child-tax-credit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rumors of which<\/a> had\u2063 been circulating for several weeks. \u200bThe House \u2063Ways and Means \u2062Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/waysandmeans.house.gov\/event\/markup-of-h-r-7024-the-tax-relief-for-american-families-and-workers-act-of-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed the agreement<\/a> \u200d shortly thereafter. In so doing, committee members took another step toward expanding the welfare state, one that will lead \u200cto more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">low-income families<\/a> \u2064on the government rolls than in work.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Child Subsidy Changes<\/h2>\n<p>As \u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/19\/washington-uniparty-plans-more-welfare-spending-under-misnamed-child-tax-credit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previously noted<\/a>, the tax agreement made changes to a child subsidy program supported by Democrats in exchange for business tax provisions\u200d favored by Republicans. The following are among the noteworthy changes to the child subsidy program included in <a href=\"https:\/\/gop-waysandmeans.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AINS-to-H.R.-7024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Refundability:<\/strong> The \u200clegislation increases the \u200dportion of the subsidy considered refundable \u2014 that is, the amount that households can receive as a cash payment over and above\u2062 any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/61-of-americans-paid-no-income-tax-in-2020-report\/\" title=\"61% Of Americans Paid No Income Tax In 2020: Report\">income tax liability<\/a> they have. \u200dUnder current\u200b law, $1,600 of the \u2063$2,000 subsidy is \u2062refundable, but the\u2064 legislation would \u200bincrease that threshold to the full $2,000 in 2025. While \u200dthis provision, along with\u2062 the others discussed below, will technically expire in 2025, Democrats\u200b will likely move to extend all of\u2062 them as part of consideration of the Trump tax plan, major portions of which will also\u2064 expire next year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inflation:<\/strong> \u200cThe legislation indexes the $2,000 subsidy\u200d program to inflation, \u200bresulting in automatic \u2064increases in subsidy amounts every year. While this bill will not immediately increase the subsidy to \u200dthe $3,600 amount Democrats included \u2063in their 2021 \u201cstimulus\u201d legislation,\u2062 the inflation indexing means that this portion of the \u200dwelfare state will now\u200d increase\u2062 automatically.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Phase-In:<\/strong> The legislation adjusts the structure of the subsidy, such that families \u200dcan\u200d qualify for the full $2,000 subsidy with much lower earnings. For instance, The Wall Street Journal, citing\u2062 research from the \u200cFoundation for Government Accountability, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/congress-tax-deal-child-tax-credit-american-enterprise-institute-report-work-income-gop-f7445699?mod=editorials_article_pos8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> that \u201ca parent with three children could qualify for $4,800 \u2064in\u2064 [subsidies] with roughly $13,000 in earnings \u2014 instead of the $34,500 needed now.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Earnings Test:<\/strong> The bill changes the requirement that parents earn at least $2,500 per year to qualify for the subsidy to an earnings requirement of $2,500 every other year. The 2020\u200d CARES Act allowed subsidy recipients to qualify based \u2063on \u2062their 2019 earnings \u2014 a policy that made some sense at the time, given the waves of \u2063unemployment resulting from Covid lockdowns. This bill would represent the first time Republicans would sign off on \u200clegislation weakening the annual earnings requirement, outside of emergency circumstances like the Covid pandemic or natural disasters (e.g., \u2063Hurricane Katrina).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Parents Leaving the Workforce<\/h2>\n<p>A recent American Enterprise Institute <a href=\"https:\/\/cosm.aei.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/The-Work-Incentive-and-Employment-Effects-of-Eliminating-the-Child-Tax-Credits-Annual-Income-Requirement-2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paper<\/a> looked \u2062to quantify the effects of the last change\u2062 discussed above on labor markets. As with the changes to the subsidy phase-in, the revised\/weakened earnings test \u2063would have twin effects. \u2064For parents \u200cwho do not work at all, the change would give them additional incentive to engage in at \u200bleast\u200b some work, because they\u2062 could double the amount of subsidy they receive by simply \u200dworking for a short period every two\u200d years.<\/p>\n<p>But overall,\u2064 the AEI scholars found that the earnings test \u2062change alone would \u200ccause employment to fall by a net of about 153,000 every year. And the\u2062 actual \u200ceffect would likely exceed the paper\u2019s estimates since the AEI scholars conservatively assumed that the behavior\u2063 of married households where both parents work \u2064would not change at all.<\/p>\n<p>While the AEI \u200dscholars did not model the ramifications of the changes to the subsidy phase-in, it would likely have a similar effect \u2014 reducing the incentive\u2062 to work additional hours for households with all but the smallest incomes. These two changes, along with the others included in the agreement, would move the\u200b child subsidy\u200d closer to a universal \u2064basic income\u200d model \u2014 what \u2062Democrats achieved\u200b (albeit temporarily) in the 2021 \u201cstimulus\u201d measure that helped stoke the inflation families <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/19\/falling-household-income-numbers-show-how-bidenflation-has-hit-americans-wallets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">continue to \u2064struggle with\u200c today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>A \u200dBad Deal<\/h2>\n<p>In exchange for this expansion of the welfare state, what did Republicans \u2063achieve? \u2064The extension \u2062of some corporate tax\u200d breaks \u2014 some of them\u2062 retroactively.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, tax reductions can stimulate economic growth, at some times and in some instances. But there are no two ways about it: Granting retroactive tax breaks for decisions companies<em> have already made<\/em> amounts to little more than corporate welfare \u2014 and the type of corruption that explains why most citizens \u2063hold Washington in such low esteem.<\/p>\n<p>Trading corporate welfare for actual welfare expansions\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/19\/washington-uniparty-plans-more-welfare-spending-under-misnamed-child-tax-credit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">typifies the attitude<\/a> of the Beltway \u201cuniparty.\u201d\u200d But it doesn\u2019t help taxpayers, and ultimately it \u2064won\u2019t help poor families\u2064 either,\u200d who deserve better policies\u200d that reward the dignity and \u200cdiligence of work.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How does the change in earnings requirement in the \u2064child subsidy program contribute to a decrease in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-we-have-to-consider-rising-inflation-rates-when-doing-stimulus-package\/\" title=\"Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: \u2018We Have To Consider\u2019 Rising Inflation Rates When Doing Stimulus Package\">labor force participation<\/a> among parents?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Decrease.\u200b The paper estimates\u2062 that \u200capproximately 451,000 to 613,000 parents\u200d would leave the workforce as a result of the change in the earnings\u200b requirement. This\u200d translates\u2063 to a decline in labor force participation \u200dof 5.8% to 7.9% among parents with children aged 6 to 17.<\/p>\n<p>The authors of the \u200cpaper \u200cargue that the change in the earnings requirement creates a disincentive \u2063for \u200bwork. By \u2063allowing parents to qualify for the full subsidy with lower\u2063 earnings and reducing the need for consistent annual earnings,\u2063 the bill effectively \u2064reduces \u200dthe\u200d motivation for parents to \u2063work consistently. They suggest that this could\u2063 lead to a decrease \u2063in productivity and a reliance on government \u200bsubsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, \u200dthe \u2063paper highlights the \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thousands-of-marginalized-students-are-missing-from-virtual-learning\/\" title=\"\u2018Thousands\u2019 Of Marginalized Students Are Missing From Virtual Learning\">potential long-term consequences<\/a> of parents\u200d leaving the \u2063workforce. \u200cBy choosing to rely on government \u200dsubsidies rather than working, parents may lose \u2064valuable skills and\u2064 experience, making it more\u200c difficult for them to re-enter \u200bthe workforce in the future. \u200cThis could have \u2064lasting effects \u200con\u2063 their financial \u200bstability and overall economic well-being.<\/p>\n<p>The authors also point out that this change in the \u200dchild subsidy program goes against the original intent of\u2064 welfare programs. These programs were initially designed \u200bto provide temporary assistance \u200bto families in need, with the goal of\u2064 helping them become self-sufficient. \u2062However, the \u200cchanges in the legislation undermine this goal by increasing dependence\u2064 on government support.<\/p>\n<p>Conclusion<\/p>\n<p>The recent agreement \u2062on the tax package, specifically the\u200d changes to the child subsidy program, has raised \u200bconcerns among conservatives. The increase in refundability, indexing to inflation, and relaxation of\u200c earnings \u2064requirements could lead to more \u200blow-income families relying on government \u2062subsidies instead of working.\u200c The potential consequences \u200binclude decreased labor force participation, reduced \u2063productivity,\u2062 and\u200b long-term dependence on government \u2062support.<\/p>\n<p>As this legislation moves forward, it is crucial to consider the unintended consequences and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-suggests-pregnant-women-vaccinated-for-covid-19-may-pass-on-antibodies-to-infants\/\" title=\"Study Suggests Pregnant Women Vaccinated For COVID-19 May Pass On Antibodies To Infants\">long-term effects<\/a> \u200bon the economy. Balancing the need for \u200dassistance with the promotion of self-sufficiency should be a priority. It is essential to ensure that government programs effectively support those in need while also \u200bencouraging work and economic growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republicans passed legislation last spring, making slight changes to work requirements for specific government programs. However, less than a year later, a new congressional agreement could potentially reverse that progress. Recently, congressional leaders confirmed rumors of an upcoming tax package, which had been circulating for weeks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2159872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2159871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2159872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2159871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2159871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2159871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}