Medicaid, school meals, child tax credit all on the chopping block
As Congressional budget committees continue deliberations on what to slash and what to fund, the FY 2025 budget cuts under consideration call for trillions in cuts to mandatory programs, most of which would disproportionately harm children.
These cuts and policy changes would limit health care, nutrition programs and basic financial stability for millions of children and would impose detrimental policy changes in areas such as school vouchers and tax structures.
“Budgets are moral documents, reflecting our priorities as a nation,” said First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley. “When we decide where to allocate resources, we reveal what — and who — we truly value. Yet, the proposed federal budget cuts tell a disheartening story: our children, the most vulnerable and voiceless among us, are being left behind and targeted for cuts.”
First Focus on Children’s new analysis “What Proposed Federal Budget Cuts and Policy Changes Will Cost Children” dissects these misguided proposals, explains how they disproportionately harm children, and makes the case for a budget that values our youngest citizens. The issue brief also makes the affirmative case for a budget that truly values children. If we care about our nation’s future, we must stand against cuts to children’s programs and demand a budget that prioritizes the health, safety, and potential of every child.
Highlights include:
Medicaid: The House Budget Committee proposes up to $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Per capita caps are among the many methods being considered to achieve these cuts. If past is prologue, kids were disproportionately cut in the proposed 2017 cuts to Medicaid. Even if kids are spared at the federal level this time, such cuts would force states to either raise taxes, cut their budgets, and/or ration care to Medicaid enrollees, especially children. This would result in a reduction in benefits, services, and coverage, especially for babies, children with special and complex health care needs, and kids in the foster care system.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF): The TANF program is a federal block grant designed to provide financial assistance and support services to low-income families with children, who constitute nearly 70% of recipients. The real value of TANF has declined 49% since it launched in 1997, severely curtailing participants’ purchasing power. Current budget proposals seek even greater funding reductions and increased work requirements.
School meals and other food assistance to children: The House Budget Committee proposes up to $230 billion in cuts to nutrition programs. Recent proposals to cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and impose stricter eligibility requirements threaten to undermine these essential benefits, disproportionately harming children in the process. School meal programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), provide millions of low-income children with nutritious meals. Lawmakers propose new income verification requirements and stricter limits on which children can receive these meals.
Child Tax Credit and other child-friendly credits: Proposed changes would put new limits on availability, eliminate certain credits and delay refunds.
For details of proposed cuts that will harm children, see “What Proposed Federal Budget Cuts and Policy Changes Will Cost Children”.