Federal Poverty Programs

Official Poverty Line Results
  • Whether to raise or lower the official poverty line, a standard used in determining whether people should receive certain benefits
 National and By Party By Demographics
SNAP Benefits (aka ‘food stamps’) Results
  • Whether to increase SNAP benefits to individuals living alone
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to increase SNAP benefits to single mothers
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of cookies, cakes and doughnuts
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of candy
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of chips and snack crackers
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of ice cream
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of sweetened soda
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to provide discounts on fruit and vegetables bought with SNAP benefits
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to keep the current federal limit requiring less than $2,250 in savings to qualify for SNAP benefits
 National and By Party By Demographics
Medicaid Results
  • Whether to expand Medicaid (health insurance for people with low incomes), with federal help, into your state
 National and By Party By Demographics
The Minimum Wage Results
  • Whether to raise the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to index the minimum wage to inflation
 National and By Party By Demographics
Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) Results
  • Whether to increase the maximum EITC to provide more coverage to low wage workers without children
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to raise the maximum income that low wage workers without children can make and still be eligible for EITC
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to lower the age when workers without children can first get the Earned Income Tax Credit from 25 to 21
 National and By Party By Demographics
Public Housing Results
  • Whether to raise or lower the portion of income that public housing tenants pay for rent
 National and By Party By Demographics
Children Living in Poverty Results
  • Whether to make pre-kindergarten available to all 4-year-olds in low-income families and expanding the availability of early Head Start programs to more children three and under from low-income families
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to set up a commission to develop a plan to reduce child poverty
 National and By Party By Demographics
Federal Job Creation Programs Results
  • Whether to have a federal job creation program, at least if economic conditions get worse, in which states hire workers to repair and renovate public school buildings, requiring $50 billion/year and creating 650,000 jobs
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to have a federal job creation program, at least if economic conditions get worse, in which states and local governments hire workers for community projecs (e.g. land reclamation, improving energy efficiency, renovations), requiring $30 billion/year and creating 750,000 jobs
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to have a federal job creation program, at least if economic conditions get worse, in which the US Forest Service employs 16-25 year olds for conservation projects, requiring $250 million/year and creating 100,000 jobs
 National and By Party By Demographics
  • Whether to have a federal job creation program, at least if economic conditions get worse, in which Head Start and similar programs hire more child-care workers and teachers, requiring $3 billion/year and creating 100,000 jobs
 National and By Party By Demographics
Optional Block Grants to States Results
  • Whether to give states the option of receiving federal poverty program funds in the form of block grants for some programs which the states would then administer
 National and By Party By Demographics
Nonpayment of Wages Results
  • Whether to penalize government contractors guilty of nonpayment of wages by taking away their right to make bids on future government contracts
 National and By Party By Demographics
TRY POLICYMAKING SIMULATION:
Federal Poverty Programs