General News | Jesuit Social Research Institute

State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools

News Intro Text

[Institute on Tax and Economic Policy, September 15, 2016]

News Item Content

The share of Americans living in poverty has decreased, yet remains high, according to data released this month   by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2015, the national poverty rate fell from 14.8 to 13.5 percent.[1]  However, the poverty rate remains somewhat higher than it was in 2007, before the Great Recession, indicating that recent economic gains have not yet reached all households and that there is much room for improvement. The 2015 measure translates to over 43 million – around 1 in 7 – Americans living in poverty.  No state experienced an increase in poverty while the rate fell in 23 states.[2]
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) released alongside the official poverty measure, demonstrates that tax codes can be used as an effective poverty-fighting tool.  At 14.3 percent it is higher than the official poverty rate, however, it is lower than it would have been in the absence of two federal credits –  the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit.  In 2015, the combined impact of the two credits decreased the SPM rate from 17.2 to 14.3 percent, lifting 9.2 million people – 4.8 million of whom are children– out of poverty.[3]
Astonishingly, tax policies in virtually every state make it harder for living in poverty to make ends meet.  When all the taxes imposed by state and local governments are taken into account, every state imposes higher effective tax rates on poor families than on the richest taxpayers.
Despite this unlevel playing field states create for their poorest residents through existing policies, many state policymakers have proposed (and in some cases enacted) tax increases on the poor under the guise of “tax reform,” often to finance tax cuts for their wealthiest residents and profitable corporations.
State and local tax systems typically make things harder for families living in poverty. A 2015 ITEP report, <a href="http://www.itep.org/whopays/">Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States</a>, found that the poorest twenty percent of Americans paid on average 10.9 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes. Middle-income taxpayers didn’t fare much better, paying an average of 9.4 percent of their incomes toward those taxes. But when it comes to the wealthiest one percent, ITEP found they paid an average of just 5.4 percent of their incomes in state and local taxes.
Nearly every state and local tax system takes a much greater share of income from middle- and low-income families than from the wealthy. This “soak the poor” strategy from a budgeting perspective does not yield much revenue compared to modest taxes on the rich. It also pushes low-income families further into poverty and increases the likelihood that they will need to rely on safety net programs.
There is a better approach. Just as state and local tax policies can push individuals and families further into poverty, there are tax policy tools available that can help them move out of poverty. In most states, a true remedy to improve state tax fairness would require comprehensive tax reform. Short of this, lawmakers should use their states’ tax systems as a means of providing affordable, effective and targeted assistance to people living in or close to poverty in their states. Through the use of tax policy tools, state lawmakers can take steps to improve the standard of living for low-income residents. Similar to the way in which the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps families put food on the table, thoughtful changes to state tax codes can help struggling families pay for necessities.
This report presents a comprehensive overview of anti-poverty tax policies, surveys tax policy decisions made in the states in 2016, and offers recommendations that every state should consider to help families rise out of poverty. States can jump-start their anti-poverty efforts by enacting one or more of four proven and effective tax strategies to reduce the share of taxes paid by low- and moderate-income families: state Earned Income Tax Credits, property tax circuit breakers, targeted low-income credits, and child-related tax credits.
<div>
<a href="http://itep.org/itep_reports/2016/09/state-tax-codes-as-poverty-fighting-tools-3.php#.V9wEGmXmu3U">MORE>></a></div>

Date

Thu, 09/15/2016 - 20:00

Read more about State Tax Codes as Poverty Fighting Tools

The striking difference between states that expanded Medicaid and the ones that didn’t

News Intro Text

[The Washington Post, September 13, 2016]

News Item Content

By <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/carolyn-johnson" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(25, 85, 165); font-family: FranklinITCProBold, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Carolyn Y. Johnson</a>
The number of Americans without health insurance <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/uninsurance-rate-drops-to-the-lowest-level-since-before-the-great-recession/2016/09/13/73ed3f64-7908-11e6-beac-57a4a412e93a_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(25, 85, 165); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;" target="_blank">declined to 9.1 percent last year</a>, according to federal data released Tuesday. A set of maps released by the Census Bureau suggests an obvious way to decrease the uninsured rate even more: expand Medicaid in the 19 states that haven't.
The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, originally called for an expansion of Medicaid eligibility to people who make up to 138 percent of the poverty level. The Supreme Court ruled that mandating the expansion was unconstitutional, allowing states to opt out. That has left a "coverage gap" in 19 states, where poor people are not eligible for Medicaid, but also do not qualify for the subsidies for private health insurance through the Obamacare marketplaces.
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/13/the-difference-between-states-that-expanded-medicaid-and-the-ones-that-didnt/">MORE>></a>

Date

Mon, 09/12/2016 - 20:00

Read more about The striking difference between states that expanded Medicaid and the ones that didn’t

Medicaid expansion works, and new Census numbers prove it

News Intro Text

[Alabama Arise, September 15, 2016]

News Item Content

<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Geneva, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat;"><a href="http://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/demo/tables/p60/257/tableA1.pdf" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 255);" target="_blank">New U.S. Census Bureau data show one in 10 Alabamians had no health insurance coverage in 2015</a>, an improvement from the state’s 13.6 percent uninsured rate in 2013, the last year before the Affordable Care Act took full effect. ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016, in response:
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Geneva, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat;">“Today’s good news about health coverage in Alabama would be even better if the state had expanded Medicaid. More Alabamians have coverage today than in 2013, and the Affordable Care Act deserves much of the credit for those gains. Nearly 200,000 Alabamians have signed up for health insurance through the ACA marketplace. Many of them have coverage for the first time, and all of them now have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that a medical emergency won’t lead to financial ruin.
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Geneva, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat;">“But Alabama still has a long way to go to ensure that all of our neighbors have the coverage they need. Medicaid expansion would close the coverage gap for more than 300,000 uninsured working adults, college students and other folks in Alabama. That would mean a more productive workforce, thousands of new jobs and big state savings on mental health care and other services.
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Geneva, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat;">“We’re being left out. States like Kentucky and West Virginia that have expanded Medicaid have much lower uninsured rates than those that haven’t. They’re also enjoying the job creation and cost savings that come from injecting new federal money into their budgets and economies. It’s time for Alabama to expand Medicaid and reap those same benefits.”
<p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Geneva, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-image: none; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat repeat;"><a href="http://www.arisecitizens.org/index.php/media-room-topmenu-46/acpp-news-releases-topmenu-33/3491-medicaid-expansion-works-and-new-census-numbers-prove-it">MORE>></a>

Date

Wed, 09/14/2016 - 20:00

Read more about Medicaid expansion works, and new Census numbers prove it

Child Poverty in America 2015: National Analysis

News Intro Text

[Children's Defense Fund, September 13, 2016]

News Item Content

<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org">Children’s Defense Fund </a>
Poverty data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on September 13, 2016 reveal child poverty declined last year to 14.5 million poor children, one million fewer than in 2014, but still higher than before the recession began in 2007. The national child poverty rate declined from 21.1 percent in 2014 to 19.7 percent in 2015, a statistically significant decrease. Child poverty rates declined for White, Black, Hispanic and Asian children. Children of color are disproportionately poor and comprise nearly 70 percent of poor children in America. Children remain the poorest age group in the nation, and the 1 in 5 poor children continue to have the odds stacked against their success. 
Child Poverty 
There were 43.1 million poor people in America in 2015, and one in three were children. Nearly 20 percent of children were poor in 2015, compared to 12.4 percent of people ages 18-64 and 8.8 percent of people ages 65 and older. 
<ul>
<li>
  There were 14,509,000 children living in poverty in 2015. 
</li>
<li>
  The percent of children living in poverty was 19.7 percent in 2015, a 6.6 percent decrease from 21.1 
percent in 2014. 
</li>
<li>
  Poverty is defined as an annual income below $24,257 for an average family of four, meaning less 
than $2,021 a month, $466 a week, or $66.46 a day. 
Extreme Child Poverty 
In 2015, more than 6.5 million children – one in 11 – lived in extreme poverty, defined as an annual income of less than half the poverty level, or $12,129 for a family of four, which amounts to less than $1,011 a month, $233 a week, or $33 a day. 
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
  The number of children living in extreme poverty: 6,537,000 
</li>
<li>
  The percent of children living in extreme poverty: 8.9 percent, a 4.3 percent decrease from 9.3 percent in 2014. 
</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/data/child-poverty-in-america-2015.pdf">MORE>></a>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Date

Wed, 09/14/2016 - 20:00

Read more about Child Poverty in America 2015: National Analysis

Time to try new ways to boost state economy

News Intro Text

[Sun Herald, September 10, 2016]

News Item Content

By The Editorial Board, Sun Herald 
To say we are perplexed by last week’s state budget adjustment would be an understatement.
It was another accounting error. A $56.8 million accounting error. And further cuts in many state agency budgets.
That’s unsettling enough, but it was the second paragraph of his explanation that was the head-scratcher.
“It is important to remember that general fund spending has increased 26 percent, five times the rate of inflation, the last four years,” Gov. Phil Bryant said. “That kind of growth over such a short period of time is simply unsustainable.”
Don’t worry, though, he said, your state leaders are on the case.
That would be the same state leaders who have held the House and Senate and the governor’s mansion since 2011. Pardon our lack of optimism.
Bryant didn’t explain where that 26 percent increase in spending went. Legislative panels have been going over that budget line by line to find the leak.
There’s one we know. Medicaid spending. It’s devouring the state budget.
But here is the kicker. Medicaid spending is growing at a much slower pace, 3.4 percent, in states that expanded the health-care program for the poor under the Affordable Care Act than Mississippi’s 6.9 percent.
Mississippi leaders had hoped the state economy would start to grow and create enough extra revenue to erase the $56.8 million error by the end of the year. Clearly they’ve abandoned that hope.
And yet our leaders remain optimistic. They tell us we are on the path to prosperity.
Evidence suggests otherwise.
Last week, Loyola University’s Jesuit Social Research Institute in New Orleans offered its view of the State of Working Mississippi 2016. It does not paint a pretty picture.
“The state’s increasingly inequitable system of taxation places a disproportionate burden on low- and middle-income families, while tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals and corporations have left the state without adequate revenue for critical public services and infrastructure, including public schools and hospitals,” researchers Jeanie Donovan and William McCormick wrote in their executive summary.
“Mississippi also ranks low on measures of quality of life and education levels of the labor force, making it an unattractive state for new and growing businesses despite its generally business-friendly state tax system. Accordingly, if Mississippi is going to rebound economically the state must invest more in its current and future workforce and improve its public services and infrastructure. Without concerted policy changes, the economic struggles of the state and its workers will continue and grow worse.”
They have a prescription for reversing that course: Fully fund education, increase child-care assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, add money for needs-based college tuition assistance, expand Medicaid, raise minimum wage, grant a state Earned Income Tax Credit, reduce or eliminate the sales tax on groceries and increase state tax revenues without placing additional burdens on the poor.
These are not ideas Bryant is likely to find appealing. But given the state of the state’s economy, nothing should be off the table.
The editorial represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board. Opinions of columnists and cartoonists are their own.
Oringal article can be found <a href="http://www.sunherald.com/opinion/editorials/article100896922.html">HERE</a>

Date

Mon, 09/12/2016 - 20:00

Read more about Time to try new ways to boost state economy

Mississippi Edition: Friday, September 9

News Intro Text

[Mississippi Public Broadcasting, 09/09/16]

News Item Content

Mississippi still has 18,000 fewer jobs now than it did before the recession. That’s according to a new report called the State of Working Mississippi 2016. The report also found African Americans are particularly affected by economic challenges in Mississippi when they hit. Father Fred Kammer is director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University -- which published the report. He tells MPB's Evelina Burnett working families are finding it harder to find economic security.
<a href="http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/mississippiedition/mississippi-edition-monday-september-9th/">MORE>></a>

Date

Thu, 09/08/2016 - 20:00

Read more about Mississippi Edition: Friday, September 9

State of Working Mississippi reveals alarming statistics

News Intro Text

[WDAM, 09/08/16]

News Item Content

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) 
 
According to a <a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/JSRI160239_JSRI_StateWorkingMS_r20.pdf" target="_blank">new report by the Jesuit Social Research Institute of Loyola University in New Orleans</a>, African-American workers make nearly 30 percent less than whites in Mississippi. Around 100,000 working families in the state are without health care.
The disturbing findings in the report made public on Thursday outline wage disparities among class, gender, and race.
“Growing income inequality has left low and middle class workers in Mississippi without wage increases since the Great Recession," said Father Fred Kammer, director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute. "While the highest earning workers have enjoyed significant growth in wages."
Along with statistics showing the poor in Mississippi indeed getting poorer in recent years, the report also found significant disparities in wages along racial lines.
“In 2015, African-American workers earned a median hourly wage that was $4.65 per hour, or 28 percent less than white workers,” said lead researcher, Jeanie Donovan.
 
<a href="http://www.wdam.com//story/33050730/new-study-shows-alarming-trends-for-ms-workers#.V9MGID_vdiE.twitter">MORE>></a>

Date

Thu, 09/08/2016 - 20:00

Read more about State of Working Mississippi reveals alarming statistics

The State of Working Mississippi 2016

News Intro Text

The report examines current and historical data related to wages, labor force participation, job market, education, assets and poverty in Mississippi. It also includes proposed policy solutions related to the findings.

News Item Content

JSRI released <a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/JSRI160239_JSRI_StateWorkingMS_r20.pdf">the State of Working Mississippi 2016 </a>report to coincide with the recent Labor Day holiday. The report examines current and historical data related to wages, labor force participation, job market, education, assets and poverty in Mississippi. It also includes proposed policy solutions related to the findings.
A few key findings from the report include:
<ul>
<li>
In May 2016, Mississippi still had 18,400 jobs fewer than it had before the Great Recession.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
53,290 working Mississippi families live in poverty, or 18% of all working families in the state, making Mississippi the state with the highest rate of working poor families in the country.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
Mississippi workers in the lowest wage group (10th percentile) have experienced a 6.4% decrease in real wages since 1979, while those in the highest wage group (90th percentile) experienced a 24% increase in real wages.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
In 2015 the median wage in Mississippi was $14.49 per hour, which was still below the pre-Recession level of $14.67 per hour in 2007. On the other hand, wages for the highest earners (90th percentile) increased from $30.26 in 2007 to $32.10 in 2015.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
In 2014 Mississippi spent $8,263 per student in its public school system compared to the national average of $11,009 per student.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
In 2015 just 21.8% of Mississippians had a Bachelor’s degree compared to 32.5% nationwide.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
Nearly half (48%) of Mississippi private sector employees do not have employer-sponsored healthcare, 61% do not have an employer-sponsored pension, and 47% do not have any paid sick leave.</li>
</ul>
<div>
 </div>

Date

Wed, 09/07/2016 - 20:00

Read more about The State of Working Mississippi 2016

Are you in Mississippi and interested in economic justice?

News Intro Text

Join us this Thursday, September 8 for the release of "The State of Working Mississippi"

News Item Content

<h2>
Event Description</h2>
On the heels of Labor Day, JSRI releases State of Working Mississippi 2016 Report The Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) works to transform the Gulf South through action research, analysis, education, and advocacy on the core issues of poverty, race, and migration. On Thursday, Sept. 8, JSRI will release the 2016 State of Working Mississippi report, which is modeled after the Economic Policy Institute’s State of Working America series. The report examines current and historical data related to wages, labor force participation, job market, education, assets, and poverty in Mississippi and proposed policy solutions related to the findings.
Following the press conference, there will be a working lunch for advocates and community members to discuss report findings and recommendations. 
Television cameras and photographers are welcome. 
WHEN
Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (CDT)
WHERE
Steps Coalition - 610 Water Street, Biloxi, MS 39530 
<h2>
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jsri-releases-state-of-working-mississippi-2016-report-hosted-by-the-steps-coalition-tickets-27491980253">RSVP</a> today! </h2>

Date

Mon, 09/05/2016 - 20:00

Read more about Are you in Mississippi and interested in economic justice?

Are Our Schools Still Segregated?

News Intro Text

U.S. and Gulf South School Segregation

News Item Content

by Jeanie Donovan, M.P.A., M.P.H. and Fred Kammer, S.J., J.D.
Across the country, schools are opening and students returning to their classrooms.  Despite the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown versus Board of Education decision to desegregate schools “with all deliberate speed,” too many classrooms are still segregated.
School districts made significant progress toward desegregation after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but the trend has shifted back toward race-based school segregation. [1] Following court decisions in the late 1960s and 1970s that required Department of Education officials to oversee implementation of desegregation plans, the rate of black students attending majority-white schools increased dramatically from 1 percent in 1963 to 43 percent in 1983. [2]  After federal oversight phased out and schools were left to make “good faith efforts” to maintain integration, significant backsliding followed. In 2012, 74 percent of black students and 80 percent of Latino students attended schools that were 50 to 100 percent minority; and of these, more than 40 percent of black and Latino students attended schools that were 90 to 100 percent minority.  [3]
This re-segregation trend often concentrates minorities in schools with fewer resources that face challenges attracting and retaining quality teachers. [4]  A mounting body of evidence indicates that school segregation has negative impacts on short-term academic achievement of minority students and their success in later life. [5]  Integrated schools have a positive impact on all students through promoting awareness and mutual understanding and ensuring that they have the necessary tools to function in an increasingly multicultural society. [6]  Not taking intentional steps to ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend quality, integrated schools perpetuates injustice, allowing the mistakes of the past to haunt the future.
<a href="https://t.e2ma.net/message/fbx6k/vr8mje">MORE>></a>

Date

Tue, 08/30/2016 - 20:00

Read more about Are Our Schools Still Segregated?