urban institute nonprofit social and economic policy research

Testimony

Viewing 1-10 of 183. Most recent listed first.Next Page >>

Tax Issues Related to Small Business Job Creation (Testimony)
Eric Toder

Eric Toder testified before the Senate Committee on Finance on how recently proposed incentives for small business may help economic recovery. These incentives are only a small component of broader policies to accelerate recovery from the deep recession we have experienced in the past two years and reduce unemployment.

Publication Date: February 23, 2010Availability: HTML | PDF

Hearing on "Halfway Home to the District: The Role of Halfway Houses in Reducing Crime and Recidivism in the Nation's Capital" (Testimony)
Nancy G. La Vigne

This congressional testimony summarizes research on the utility of halfway houses in facilitating the successful reentry of former prisoners, emphasizing that not all halfway houses are effective in preventing recidivism. Halfway houses that work have qualified staff who use such evidence-based practices as needs assessments and tailored, wraparound services. Halfway houses are most effective for medium- and high-risk prisoners. However, they can actually be detrimental for low-risk prisoners, who would fair better by simply returning directly to their families and communities. This research suggests that the District of Columbia's halfway houses should be reserved for higher-risk returning prisoners.

Publication Date: February 03, 2010Availability: HTML | PDF

Choosing the Nation's Fiscal Future (Testimony)
Rudolph G. Penner

Today's federal budget policies are unsustainable. Three programs - Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid - constitute more than 40 percent of spending other than interest in a normal year and all are growing faster than the economy and tax revenues. At the same time, Congress has kept the overall tax burden remarkably constant as a share of gross domestic product for most of the past 50 years. The combination of these factors leads to a growing deficit. This testimony, by a former Congressional Budget Office director, discusses four policy packages that would return the United States to a sustainable budget.

Publication Date: February 11, 2010Availability: HTML | PDF

The First Line of Defense: Reducing Recidivism at the Local Level (Testimony)
Amy L. Solomon

The traditional approach to incarceration is to keep inmates locked up—away from society—to keep us safe. With little treatment and transition planning, most individuals are released with the same problems that got them locked up in the first place. In the past decade, we have realized that almost everyone who is incarcerated will eventually return home; this is especially true of the jail population. The big question: how do we incarcerate and release individuals in a way that makes them less likely to reoffend and more likely to work, support their families, pay taxes, and be productive members of society?

Publication Date: November 05, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

Ameliorating the Plight of Homeless Veterans (Testimony)
Mary K. Cunningham

Testimony from Mary Cunningham on H.R. 3073 for the United States House of Representatives, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. H.R. 3073 would create a homelessness prevention program for low-income veterans.

Publication Date: October 13, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

The High Cost of Small Business Health Insurance: Limited Options, Limited Coverage (Testimony)
Linda J. Blumberg

Small employers and their workers face an assortment of barriers to obtaining health insurance coverage. These include high administrative costs, limited ability to spread health care risk, and a low-wage workforce. These issues have led to low rates of coverage offers by small employers and high rates of uninsurance among their workers. An insurance exchange, such as the one proposed in H.R. 3200, would spread health care risk and reduce administrative costs. The financial assistance provided to the low-income under the bill would benefit many small-firm workers. As such, the bill would significantly increase coverage among workers of small employers.

Publication Date: October 20, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

The Local Role of the United States Parole Commission (USPC) (Testimony)
Jesse Jannetta

Testimony delivered to the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, hearing on "The Local Role of the United States Parole Commission (USPC): Increasing Public Safety, Reducing Recidivism, and Using Alternatives to Re-incarceration in the District of Columbia." The testimony summarizes work by UI synthesizing extant research and expert consensus regarding what constitutes effective parole supervision to reduce recidivism. Changes currently underway in the parole field and factors to consider in implementing the practices discussed are also presented.

Publication Date: September 22, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

Testimony on Income and Poverty in the United States: 2008 (Testimony)
Harry Holzer

Between 2007 and 2008, real incomes fell and poverty rose in the United States, Institute Fellow Harry Holzer testified before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Even if the recession ends this year, rising unemployment will mean that real income keeps falling while poverty increases for a few more years — and almost certainly by much more than occurred between 2007 and 2008. It will likely take several years beyond 2010 before real income and poverty fully recover from the effects of the downturn.

Publication Date: September 10, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

Academic Perspectives on the Future of Public Housing (Testimony)
Susan J. Popkin

Many policy makers and scholars regard the HOPE VI Program as one of the nation's most successful urban redevelopment programs (c.f. Katz 2009; Cisneros 2009). But despite its very real accomplishments, the HOPE VI program's record in meeting the needs of the original residents who endured the worst consequences of the failures of public housing is mixed. With its proposed "Choice Neighborhoods" initiative, the Obama administration has the opportunity to build on the experiences of nearly two decades of experience with HOPE VI. Incorporating intensive case management and permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable into Choice Neighborhoods and any other comprehensive redevelopment efforts is one way to ensure that these initiatives truly meet the needs of all public housing families.

Publication Date: July 29, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

Revitalizing Social Security: Effectively Targeting Benefit Enhancements for Low Lifetime Earners and the Oldest Old (Testimony)
Melissa Favreault

I argue that Social Security benefits for long-term, low-wage workers are modest and need to be increased. There are many ways to bolster benefits for low-income retirees, each with strengths and weaknesses, so technical details of each proposal will determine its effectiveness. Any Social Security reform package will include multiple provisions that interact with one another. Certain provisions to help low-earners may be more or less desirable depending on a package's other components. Finally, some low-income older and disabled Americans are beyond Social Security's reach. To help them, Congress should consider expanding the Supplemental Security Income program.

Publication Date: June 17, 2009Availability: HTML | PDF

 Next Page >>