EMPath calls on MA delegation to call out harm that will result from debt ceiling agreement

On May 28, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released the legislative text of the agreement to lift the debt ceiling. The agreement creates more stringent work requirements for cash assistance programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – despite ample evidence that work requirements are ineffective and serve only to deny support to those who need it most. The agreement also includes a two-year freeze on spending for important domestic programs like housing assistance, which could result in tens of thousands of families losing rental assistance.

In response, Kim Janey, former Mayor of Boston and president & CEO of Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) – a national nonprofit, based in Boston, dedicated to dramatically improving the lives of people living in poverty – issued the below statement:

“While the final debt ceiling agreement is an improvement over the original proposal and prevents a catastrophic default, it will still bring significant harm to low-income families and individuals across the country, sending them deeper into poverty. As an organization that directly supports over 1,300 individuals in Massachusetts through housing-based and other economic mobility programs, we continuously hear from families how critical programs like SNAP, TANF, and housing assistance are for everyday survival.

“The debt ceiling agreement cuts the very programs that are most critical to the health and well-being of our communities and the families we support – housing assistance, child care, and job training, among others.

“The inclusion of archaic, ineffective, and discriminatory work requirements for TANF and SNAP would cut off critical support to families and individuals who are struggling the most. Work requirements are rooted in racism and suggest that families, predominantly families of color, are undeserving of basic needs supports unless they can work. The proposal ignores the reality of many parents and individuals: those who are living with a disability and cannot work; those who are between work because they cannot find child care or are caring for a parent or family member; those who have a child in crisis or a child with a disability; those dealing with their own health challenges. We all deserve to have food to eat, a safe, affordable home, and enough resources to support our families, no matter our life circumstances.

“In addition, this agreement was reached in exchange for a two-year freeze, effectively cuts with inflation and interest rate increases, on spending for important domestic programs like housing. As a result, we could see increased housing insecurity, family homelessness, and higher rates of poverty.

“A housing crisis and staggering levels of inflation are already straining everyday working people but hitting those with the fewest resources hardest. Meanwhile, other critical supports like the expanded Child Tax Credit have ended. Now is the time to increase funding for critical programs and ensure more people can access these resources – not to turn our backs on families through work requirements and budget cuts.

“Congress and the Biden Administration must preserve basic needs programs and prioritize families who are struggling the most. We urge the Massachusetts delegation to call out the harm this agreement will have on individuals and families across our state and country as they depend on these critical programs for survival.”

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Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) is a nearly 200-year-old organization that dramatically improves the lives of people living in poverty. Because creating economic opportunity is multifaceted, EMPath's approach is too. EMPath offers a unique combination of direct services; a learning network of human services organizations; and research and advocacy for what works. This “virtuous circle” allows each part of the organization’s work to inform what it knows, does, and shares with others to seed systemic change. To learn more, visit empathways.org.