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The Abstract
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> Edited by Torie Ludwin, Arnold Ventures (AV)
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As with many pandemic-era programs that began with the best intentions, the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) has become a magnet for fraud. The refundable credit was originally designed to encourage employers to keep employees on the payroll during the pandemic. Unfortunately, it has turned into a free-for-all for scammers.
The IRS has indicated that as many as 90 percent of ERC claims show an “ unacceptable level of risk” of being fraudulent. The agency has already initiated hundreds of criminal cases involving nearly $7 billion in fraud, with more underway.
A new, bipartisan bill, introduced in both the House and the Senate, aims to repeal the ERC — and it is gaining significant support.
Arnold Ventures strongly backs the legislation, urging Congress to act before it's too late. Andrew Moylan, VP of public finance, highlighted the importance of ending ERC, which would save more than $78 billion and stop a "disgraceful cottage industry" exploiting taxpayers.
The new ERC repeal bill is the second piece of bipartisan legislation to shut down the beleaguered credit, the other being an AV-supported package involving changes to the Child Tax Credit and business provisions. With these two vehicles in play, there is growing optimism that an ERC fix could gain traction as 2024 comes to a close.
Read AV’s statement on the Employee Retention Tax Credit Repeal Act>
Read Andrew Moylan’s Wall Street Journal op-ed on the ERC from earlier this year> (free link)
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Q&A on Research Into the
IGNITE Jail Education Program
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(Crystal Yang, Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Photo: Jessica Scranton)
With support from Arnold Ventures, Crystal Yang, the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and her colleagues are conducting a rigorous study of the Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education ( IGNITE) program.
IGNITE provides education to incarcerated people and works to drive broader cultural change within a jail. The researchers’ early findings show powerful effects on misconduct and recidivism, and soon they will evaluate a national expansion of the program.
Read our Q&A with Crystal Yang>
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Laura and John Arnold Among the 30 Most Powerful Philanthropy Couples
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Criminal Justice
- In an op-ed for the San Antonio Express-News, Andy Potter and Matthew Charles from the Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign write that extreme heat is exacerbating the crisis in Texas prisons, putting both incarcerated people and staff at risk.
- In an op-ed for Common Dreams, Insha Rahman and Amanda Pyron reflect on the 1-year anniversary of the Pretrial Fairness Act in Illinois, writing that the emerging evidence suggests “it both reduced the number of people in jail pending trial and made the legal system more fair and just — at no cost to our safety.”
- Reporting in Filter suggests that to deal with the understaffing crisis, corrections officers in Georgia may be deputizing incarcerated people to fulfill important functions, like securing cell doors and escorting people to medical facilities.
- Governing reports on the launch of the Real-Time Crime Index, a new tool from AH Datalytics that aims to increase understanding of crime trends, help policymakers craft more effective solutions, and hopefully improve public discourse around crime and criminal justice.
Health Care
- A new brief from KFF explains the role Social Security disability programs play in helping people access Medicaid and Medicare benefits by providing a monthly income that gives those unable to work on account of a disability a path to coverage.
- Through a series of open letters to Senate leadership, the Alliance for Fair Health Pricing is urging the advancement of legislation to address site-neutral payment reform.
- Currently, there are two bills before the Pennsylvania General Assembly that address hospital pricing: HB 2339 (facility fees and hospital price transparency) and HB 2344 (hospital consolidation). Both aim to address the rising trend of hospital mergers in Pennsylvania, which has led to increased "facility fees" that contribute to higher medical bills.
Higher Education
- Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) authored an op-ed in The Washington Times promoting the College Cost Reduction Act, which aims to improve the student loan process and lower college costs.
- While public sentiment of for-profit colleges is low overall, Black and Latino Americans see those institutions more favorably compared to White Americans. Increased transparency of outcomes, New America argues, would help reduce these racial discrepancies.
- Higher Ed Dive reports on Student Defense's lawsuit against the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), asserting UMGC violated the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA). The lawsuit will help maintain pressure on the Department to rescind the bundled services guidance.
- A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report outlines the Department of Education’s struggles with FAFSA implementation.
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