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By Bobby Kogan & Jessica Vela

In December 2017, then-President Donald Trump signed into law legislation that disproportionately cut taxes for wealthy individuals and large profitable corporations—colloquially known as the “Trump tax cuts.” While the corporate provisions of that bill were largely made permanent, the portions that affect individuals were mostly temporary and are set to expire at the end of 2025.

According to new estimates released today by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), permanently extending the expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts would cost $4 trillion over the next 10 years, $400 billion per year.* This includes $3.4 trillion from extending the expiring individual and estate tax provisions as well as $551 billion from extending business provisions.

Analysis by the Center for American Progress based on the CBO figures finds that extending the Trump tax cuts would, in 2024 dollars, cost $3.2 trillion over 10 years, $6.8 trillion over 20 years, and $10.3 trillion over 30 years. - CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

By Laura Kilbury & Allison McManus
In February 2023, the Biden administration released National Security Memorandum 18, otherwise known as the Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) policy. The CAT policy outlines the administration’s priorities for weapons transfers: to work with allies and partners to better protect human rights, bolster international security, and strengthen partnerships.

More than a year later, however, the administration’s application of the principles outlined in the CAT has been inconsistent. While the administration should endeavor to improve adherence, Congress should also codify principles from the CAT into law to help address deficiencies by giving lawmakers strengthened oversight tools and capabilities.

The Conventional Arms Transfer policy

The Biden administration’s CAT policy applies to all types of arms sales or transfers, such as direct commercial sales, foreign military sales, and retransfers. It includes a broad evaluation framework for policymakers to review arms transfers on a “case-by-case basis” these cases may include previously or newly authorized sales, and policymakers can review weapons’ transfers until the time of delivery.-- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

​By Cait Smith

On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a landmark rule updating Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits federally funded health programs and services from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. The new rule codifies nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQI+ people accessing health programs or activities that receive federal funds. Furthermore, it strengthens protections for other marginalized communities—including women, pregnant people, disabled people, people born outside of the United States, and those who don’t speak English as their primary language.

The rule was proposed by HHS in 2022, in part to update health care nondiscrimination protections to reflect the decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which confirmed that LGBTQI+ people should be protected from discrimination. The proposed rule underwent an extensive public comment and review period. Now, nearly two years later, the rule has been finalized, and it will go into effect 60 days after publication.
​ -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

By Nicole Rapfogel

More than 20 million people throughout the nation enrolled in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace coverage for the 2024 plan year, with 92 percent receiving financial assistance to lower the cost of that coverage. As a result, just under half of all ACA marketplace enrollees are paying $10 or less in monthly premiums.

This record level of enrollment was made possible by enhancements in the Inflation Reduction Act, which built on the Affordable Care Act and the American Rescue Plan Act to expand advanced premium tax credits (APTCs). APTCs offer financial assistance for consumers enrolling in individual health insurance coverage on the ACA marketplace. Eligibility for APTCs was previously capped at 400 percent of the federal poverty level. However, the expansions offered by the American Rescue Plan Act and Inflation Reduction Act protect all individuals and families with marketplace coverage who have annual household incomes at or above 400 percent of the federal poverty level from spending more than 8.5 percent of their household income on premiums for silver benchmark plans until the end of 2025. ​-- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

By Patrick Gaspard
The student protests against the war in Gaza are growing rapidly increasing in intensity and taking place against the background of extraordinary external pressures exerted on university administrators. Congressional hearings and threats from donors have placed the harsh glare of the spotlight on campus leaders while concentrating enormous power against student activists. This is an environment rife for the disregard of cherished rights and well-established traditions of dissent. It is also a moment when democratic values can be distorted by political opportunists and fall prey to the polemics of toxic actors.

Student protest movements often create confusion between issues of academic freedom and constitutional rights, particularly given the vastly different rules and cultures that govern public and private colleges and universities. This moment brings the added weight of antisemitism and Islamophobia as critical concerns. In this politically charged environment, there is an urgent need to establish a baseline to protect all students, faculty, and institutions of higher learning. That baseline might begin here: -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE

By Beth Almeida

Today’s “older women”—those who are ages 55 and older—began their careers with the benefit of landmark progressive achievements such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX in the Education Act amendments of 1972, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions affirming women’s rights to contraception in 1965 and abortion in 1973. These policy accomplishments enabled women’s participation in the U.S. labor force—the share of the population that is working or looking for work—to surge to historic highs in the decades that followed, from 43 percent in 1970 to 60 percent by the turn of the 21st century.

Today, more and more women in their 50s, 60s, and older continue to work later in life. More than 1 in 10 U.S. workers is a woman age 55 or older. But too often, older women workers find themselves dealing with the lifetime implications of the gender wage gap, trapped in low-wage occupations and facing an economically insecure retirement. In the coming years, an aging population and women’s increased educational attainment will mean that older women will become an increasingly important share of the U.S. labor force. -- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE