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Joint Economic Committee Democrats

Reports & Issue Briefs

May 15 2025

State-by-State Data – 13.7 Million People Would Lose Health Insurance From Medicaid, ACA Cuts

The Joint Economic Committee – Minority calculated new state-by-state data on the number of people who would lose health insurance due to President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The Committee calculations are based on the latest numbers available, including from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO)’s initial analysis released on Sunday evening – which found that cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act would result in roughly 13.7 million people losing their health insurance by 2034.

Read the full report here

May 15 2025

Recent Clean Energy Programs Lower Costs for Families and Are Vital to U.S. Manufacturing, Jobs, and Energy Security

The Joint Economic Committee – Minority released a report today detailing the ways in which the energy tax cuts in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act help the United States outcompete China, while also lowering costs for families. As the report details, the law has spurred the creation of new jobs and manufacturing facilities here in the U.S., including at factories that produce materials critical to our national security. The report also includes new Committee calculations, which find that a typical household can save up to $1,080 in annual energy costs through the law.

Read the full report here.

Apr 14 2025

Medicaid – Especially Medicaid Expansion – Fuels Bipartisan Progress in Combating the Opioid Epidemic

The Joint Economic Committee – Minority today released a report with new data on Medicaid’s role in combating the opioid epidemic and fentanyl crisis. The report finds that about one million people receive the gold standard for opioid addiction treatment through Medicaid, and that more than 60 percent of these individuals are only eligible for Medicaid through Medicaid Expansion.

Dec 20 2024

Trump’s Tariff Plans Would Drive up Costs for Families and Shrink the Economy

Trump is proposing massive new tariffs—or taxes on imported goods—that will drive up costs for Americans while hurting the overall economy. Despite Trump’s claims that foreign countries pay for tariffs, evidence from Trump’s previous tariffs shows that it was actually domestic importers and American families who faced higher costs after they took effect. If Trump actually imposes his proposed tariffs, economists expect they would cost a middle-class household thousands of dollars per year, and result in billions of dollars in losses for the national economy.

Dec 19 2024

Update: The Economic Costs of a GOP Shutdown

A Republican-led government shutdown would have serious impacts on the U.S. economy. It would reduce economic output and harm consumer confidence as many important government functions would shut down due to lack of funds. Americans would face disruptions to important benefits, many private businesses would have to alter their operations, and federal workers across the country would be furloughed and go unpaid. Congress must act to prevent this avoidable harm to the U.S. economy.

Dec 17 2024

Diverging Trends: Prime-Age Women’s LFPR Continues to Rise, But Moms with Young Kids Are Feeling the Effects of the Child Care Funding Cliff

Throughout 2023, both policymakers and advocates warned that the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for women was about to drop. The main reason? Much of the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) child care funding was slated to expire in September 2023. This “child care funding cliff” was expected to put 3.2 million children at risk of losing child care, which would subsequently cause many women to drop out of the workforce to take care of their kids.

Instead, the LFPR for prime-age women (ages 25 to 54) continued to rise after the funds expired and reached a record high of 78.4% in August 2024. While at first glance this challenges the hypothesis around the funding cliff and women’s LFPR, a closer look at the data by the JEC Dems finds a more nuanced conclusion. Among all prime-age women, those whose youngest kid is under age five saw both the largest increase in LFPR while the child care funds were available, and the largest decrease once the funds expired.

Dec 16 2024

Climate Risks Present a Significant Threat to the U.S. Insurance and Housing Markets

Climate-exacerbated disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes, floods, drought, and excessive heat, are increasing risk and causing damage to homes across the country. Rising premiums and this issue of uninsurability could seriously disrupt the housing market and stress state-operated insurance programs, public services, and disaster relief.

Dec 13 2024

Progress Made in Infrastructure Funding for Native Communities is at Risk Under a Trump Presidency

While recent investments championed by JEC Chairman Martin Heinrich direct essential resources to Tribes for resilient infrastructure, the President-elect Trump will turn his back on the need for large-scale infrastructure, climate resilience, and equity. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and recent years’ appropriations made historic levels of funding available for energy, water, and internet infrastructure upgrades to Tribes and the Native Hawaiian Community. Much of that work is now at risk given President-elect Trump’s antagonistic approach to Indigenous affairs and federal protections of the environment during his prior administration, as well as his disregard for meaningful engagement with Native communities.