Competing budgets; competing priorities

This week, the U.S. House and Senate voted upon each chamber’s respective majority budget resolution for fiscal year 2014. While the House budget passed in the House and the Senate budget is expected to pass in its own chamber in the next day or so, neither of these competing plans has much chance of being enacted or funded through the actual appropriations process. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has also released its own, “Back to Work Budget,” which is even less likely to be enacted, which picked-up only 84 votes in the House.

Sequester: Sounds like ‘disaster’

Fill Chicago’s Soldier Field stadium with people. Or perhaps fill New York’s Madison Square Garden to capacity, do it again, and then a third time.

Either way, you’ll get a total of about 60,000 people. That’s a very rough idea of the number of tax filers who could be affected by cutting more than 5 percent from the federal grant supporting Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), the kind of dangerous cut envisioned by the beginning of the “sequestration” process in Washington, D.C.

Balance Can Save Struggling Families & Our Nation From the “Fiscal Cliff”

With elections behind us, our national leaders are returning to Washington for this Congress’ final weeks of session, and must come together on a plan to avoid the dangers of the so-called “fiscal cliff.”  But what is that cliff, and what does it signify for Americans in need?

The cliff refers to two things, and their combined effects:

August Recess Congressional Outreach – Full Steam Ahead!

We at NCTC can’t believe it’s already August, either. While this summer has been flying past, we’ve been gearing-up our advocates, preparing them to meet with their elected officials while they are in their home districts during the August recess. If you’re not already part of those important plans, we strongly encourage you to join us.

There’s a lot at stake for working families right now. This December will mean expiring tax provisions – ranging from the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, to more recent improvements in the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, to the very existence of the American Opportunity Tax Credit  – unless Congress works to extend them.

Another Puzzle Piece in Place for VITA Funding

While next year’s budget is far from set, some qualified good news for VITA emerged from recent U.S. Senate discussions.

Federal VITA grant funding shouldn’t fall below its current level of $12 million, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s “mark-up” for financial services and general government dollars in Fiscal Year 2013.

“The Committee recognizes that the applications for these grants far exceed the available resources,” the panel’s report acknowledges. Moreover, programs’ state and local resources have been slashed even as the number of grantees dividing the federal grant grows – further constricting support for free tax preparation services for low- and middle-income, working families.