Federal Budget

Fiscal Year 2013 Budget

Federal Budget

President Obama's Fiscal Year 2013 budget will provide a detailed blueprint of the Administration's priorities and will set the stage for this year's critical debates about spending and tax policies. The National Women's Law Center will be analyzing the budget when it is released on February 13th to determine how it would impact specific programs and tax policies that are especially important to women and their families.

Please check back here for updated resources, facts, and information about President Obama's FY 2013 budget—and, in the weeks to come, for comparisons to other budget proposals.

To see the three most recent previous years' budget analyses, please look to the right.

Previous Analyses

Highlights

Fact Sheet | House Balanced Budget Amendment (H.J. Res. 2): Rewriting the Constitution to Raid the Social Security Trust Fund

November 16, 2011

The balanced budget amendment (H.J. Res. 2) would amend the Constitution to require that federal spending in any fiscal year not exceed revenues collected in that fiscal year unless three-fifths of members in each chamber of Congress agree to additional spending. Along with forcing the federal government to take steps that would weaken the economy during a recession, H.J. Res. 2 could force cuts to the Social Security benefits, even when Social Security has ample reserves.

 Read more...

Reports & Toolkits | Protecting Programs for Low-Income People in Deficit Reduction Plans Is Vital to Women and Their Families

August 23, 2011

Women and their families should not bear the brunt of deficit reduction.  Any agreement on deficit reduction must neither cut low-income assistance programs directly nor subject these programs to future cuts under automatic enforcement mechanisms.  Increased revenues from those with the greatest ability to pay must be a major part of any deficit reduction plan.  Maintaining and strengthening programs like those described in this report protects the most vulnerable today and expands opportunity for a stronger shared future. 

 Read more...

Fact Sheet | State-by-State Fact Sheets for Super-Committee Advocacy

August 19, 2011

These 51 fact sheets provide state-specific information to help advocates demonstrate why any plan the congressional "super-committee" devises for deficit reduction must protect programs vital to the wellbeing of women and families; make millionaires and corporations pay their fair share; and create jobs for women and men.

 Read more...

Fact Sheet | Employment Crisis Worsens for Black Women during the Recovery

August 3, 2011

This analysis shows that black women lost more jobs in the first two years of the recovery than they did in the recession, even as men overall and black men gained jobs. 

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More Resources

Fact Sheet | New Census report supports NWLC’s findings that proposed Social Security cuts would especially hurt elderly women

November 18, 2011

Women are three-quarters of the very elderly (individuals 90 and older) and very elderly women are more economically insecure and more likely to have a disability than very elderly men. These facts show that changing the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) from its current index to  the “chained CPI” will result in significant cuts to Social Security benefits that deepen over the years and dramatically increase economic insecurity among the elderly—especially women.

 Read more...

Fact Sheet | House Balanced Budget Amendment (H.J. Res. 2): Rewriting the Constitution to Raid the Social Security Trust Fund

November 16, 2011

The balanced budget amendment (H.J. Res. 2) would amend the Constitution to require that federal spending in any fiscal year not exceed revenues collected in that fiscal year unless three-fifths of members in each chamber of Congress agree to additional spending. Along with forcing the federal government to take steps that would weaken the economy during a recession, H.J. Res. 2 could force cuts to the Social Security benefits, even when Social Security has ample reserves.

 Read more...

Coalition Action Materials | National Women’s Law Center Opposes Balanced Budget Amendment, H.J. Res. 2

November 14, 2011

The National Women's Law Center sent a letter to the House of Representatives opposing the balanced budget amendment (H.J. Res. 2). Compliance with a balanced budget requirement would likely require major cuts to vital programs, including Social Security, and would dangerously weaken the federal government’s ability to respond to recessions, emergencies, and new challenges.

 Read more...

Legal Briefs & Testimony | Exemption of Child Support Enforcement Under Sequester

October 14, 2011

The National Women's Law Center’s legal memo to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) explains that child support enforcement is explicitly exempt from automatic cuts (“sequester”) under the Budget Control Act of 2011 as a program serving low-income people.

 Read more...

Reports & Toolkits | Protecting Programs for Low-Income People in Deficit Reduction Plans Is Vital to Women and Their Families

August 23, 2011

Women and their families should not bear the brunt of deficit reduction.  Any agreement on deficit reduction must neither cut low-income assistance programs directly nor subject these programs to future cuts under automatic enforcement mechanisms.  Increased revenues from those with the greatest ability to pay must be a major part of any deficit reduction plan.  Maintaining and strengthening programs like those described in this report protects the most vulnerable today and expands opportunity for a stronger shared future. 

 Read more...