2025 U.S. Poverty Laser Talks
Medicaid
Engage: Congress is advancing a plan that will cut Medicaid, taking health care away from millions of Americans.
Problem: Under the guise of combating “waste, fraud, and abuse,” Congress is preparing to limit federal funding for Medicaid. Pushing billions in spending on to states will force them to drastically cut benefits and services or end their program altogether.
Inform: Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, supporting the health of over 80 million people, including those enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Medicaid covers 40 percent of births in the U.S. It improves health outcomes and reduces unpaid emergency room visits. For many seniors, it is the only way to afford long-term nursing home care. Cuts to Medicaid will harm the health of millions.
Rushing into sweeping cuts hurt families and increase health care costs. Real solutions should strengthen Medicaid, not undermine it.
Call to Action: Congress must stand with low-wage workers, seniors, and children, and reject any plan to cut Medicaid. Cutting an essential program to fund tax breaks for billionaires is not fiscal responsibility, it is cruelty. I urge you to reject any reconciliation bill that includes cuts to Medicaid. What are you doing to protect Medicaid?
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Engage: Congress is considering the biggest cuts to nutrition assistance in our country’s history. An estimated 11 million people will lose all or part of their SNAP benefits under the House reconciliation bill.
Problem: If this bill becomes law, 4 million children and 500,000 seniors and adults with disabilities could lose access to vital food assistance. Worse yet, the savings from these devastating cuts will be used to fund tax breaks for the wealthy.
Inform: SNAP provides direct food assistance to nearly 40 million Americans per month. Most recipients are working families with children, elderly persons, and people with disabilities. SNAP participation is highest in rural counties. The House reconciliation bill will force states to pay up to 25 percent of SNAP costs. This will decimate state budgets and lead to huge reductions in benefits and eligibility. Furthermore, burdensome work reporting requirements newly imposed on parents will mean that kids will go hungry if a parent loses their job.
Call to Action: Congress must put families first, not billionaires. Please vote NO on any legislation that cuts SNAP benefits, including plans that shift SNAP costs onto states or imposes bureaucratic and ineffective work reporting requirements.
Engage: The Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are vital supports for millions of families and workers. But millions more experiencing poverty are left out.
Problem: Currently, seventeen million children receive only a partial CTC because their parents earn too little. And the EITC is only available to those aged 25 to 64 and is limited for those without any dependents.
Inform: In 2025, Congress has an opportunity to close these gaps in the CTC and EITC. First, Congress should ensure that all eligible families receive the full CTC. Right now, a family with four children earning $25,000 per year only receives a $3,375 credit, while a similar family making $400,000 receives $8,000. And low-wage workers without dependents receive at most $600 from the EITC. They are then taxed into poverty. We should increase their EITC and expand the credit to younger workers and seniors.
Call to Action: Investing in our families and workforce is the best way to achieve our shared goal of healthy and prosperous communities. In any tax legislation this year, will you support expanding the CTC and EITC to more hardworking families and people with low incomes? In addition, will you work to ensure vital programs like Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, SNAP and WIC are not cut to finance tax cuts?
Renter Tax Credit (RTC)
Engage: The tax code provides billions in tax subsidies to homeowners, developers, businesses, and landlords. But there is almost nothing for the nearly 44 million renters.
Problem: In 2022, 22.4 million renter households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities. 12.1 million people spent more than 50 percent. Existing programs do not meet the needs of most rent-burdened households.
Inform: Current housing tax policy provides generous benefits to wealthy people and corporations. A refundable renter tax credit (RTC) could help correct this imbalance. The credit would support rent-burdened households with low incomes and be paid monthly. The RTC would cover rent expenses above 30 percent of income up to the average local market rent. Capping these out-of-pocket rent and utilities expenses will ensure renters can afford a safe place to live. It would help stabilize housing, lower evictions, and reduce homelessness. [share how a monthly RTC would help you]
Call to Action: An RTC is an important step towards fixing the inequities in our tax system and addressing the affordable housing crisis. Will you support using the tax code to target relief to renters via a renter tax credit? Are you open to looking at specific policies that would use the tax code in this way?