Congress Held Hearing Budget Outlook – Reading Between the Lines for I/DD Implications

ANCOR is sharing this video link to a hearing by the House Committee on Budget on an informational basis. The hearing is on the federal updated budget and economic outlook, on which the Congressional Budget Office just released its annual report. This is relevant to I/DD providers because Budget Committee Chair Jon Yarmuth (D-KY) has used the release of the report to bring attention to the federal deficit. In response to the report release, he issued the following statement on January 28:

 “With our economy in a period of strong growth, history shows our nation’s fiscal health should be strong as well. Instead, the budget baseline released by CBO today makes clear that the Republicans’ massive tax giveaway to millionaires and big corporations is inflicting serious damage on our budget outlook. We are facing trillion-dollar deficits and an increasingly bleak fiscal future. House Democrats are committed to addressing our growing deficits, and doing it in a fair and responsible way.”

While that statement suggests that House-driven deficit discussions in the 116^th Congress might focus on taxes rather than entitlements, ANCOR will monitor this big-picture discussion. Our interest stems from the fact that in the past, some deficit-reduction proposals carried implications for the safety net and Medicaid. While there is no specific proposal to reduce the deficit at this time, the statement suggests that the deficit is weighing on the minds of members of Congress. ANCOR will let members know of developments of interest.