Federal Budget

The federal budget reflects spending and revenue choices that affect all Americans. Each year, the President submits a budget that reflects the Administration's priorities. Congress works on its own budget blueprint. While the wealthiest individuals and corporations have benefited for years from tax cuts and tax loopholes, investments vital to women and their families have been shortchanged in the name of deficit reduction. We're working for a fair budget that raises the revenue needed to meet our shared priorities and expand opportunity for all.

Highlights

Fact Sheet | The Fall 2013 Fiscal Fights: A Political Drama with Real Consequences for Women and Families

September 12, 2013

This fact sheet details the important budget decisions Congress will face this fall.

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Reports & Toolkits | The High Price of Tax Loopholes

August 20, 2013

Americans for Tax Fairness and the National Women's Law Center co-authored a report outlining the high price of tax loopholes. The choice is clear: more tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, or more service cuts that hurt average Americans and fewer investments that offer opportunities for a better future.

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Fact Sheet | The Ryan House Budget FY 2014: Once Again, Gutting Vital Programs for Women and Families, Giving Trillions in Tax Cuts to Millionaires and Corporations

March 20, 2013

The budget for Fiscal Year 2014 introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), like his Fiscal Year 2013 budget, proposes deep funding cuts that would devastate programs especially important to women and their families: Medicaid, Medicare, child care, education, SNAP, and much more.

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Fact Sheet | The FY 2014 Murray Senate Budget: A Fairer Path Forward for Women and Families

March 18, 2013

The FY 2014 budget introduced by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA) presents a clear alternative to the plan proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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