God grant me serenity To accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. -Reinhold Niebuhr PAF 101 Module 2, Lecture 3

Class Agenda Announcements Dale Carnegie Discussion of societal problems and policy trade offs EITC as an example Drivers of public policy

Extra Credit archive1.com/?u=d8d53372b0dabbe de84c0184c&id=3286ce75f7&e=84b 7c67230 Government and Nonprofit Jobs: Find & Apply Tuesday, February 16 6:30-7:30 p.m. 214 Hall of Languages

Extra Credit BLOOD DRIVE!!! Where: Schine Auditorium When: February 17 th, 2016 from 1pm to 9pm Contact: What I need: First and last name, , date of birth

Dale Carnegie Fireside Chat Featuring Sam

Competition Points As of 2/10/2016 Winners Losers Group #Points

Photocopy both the title page and the copyright page of the book you use. Exercise 2.3

Exercise 2.5 Census Data Students lost points for preventable mistakes Must use Quick Facts on census website TAs will be checking your data! If we catch you faking any data you’re a loser, and you will receive a ZERO for the entire paper.

How Completed Chart Should Look

Exercise real players that you may use later

Seven Societal Problem Areas Crime Education Environment Health Housing Jobs and Economic Development Poverty

The EITC Policy Dealing with Poverty “EITC, Earned Income Tax Credit, is a benefit for working people who have low to moderate income. A tax credit means more money in your pocket. It reduces the amount of tax you owe and may also give you a refund.” (IRS website)

Basic Facts The tax helps the “working poor,” those tax payers whose limited work hours and low wages keep them in the low-income tax bracket The refund depends on a tax payer’s: 1. Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), which is gross income minus specific deductions * that a tax payer is eligible to take 2. The number of (qualifying) children * Common examples of deductions are “alimony payments made to a former spouse, contributions to certain retirement accounts (such as a traditional IRA) and the deduction for tuition and fees.” (Turbotax website)

Basic Facts Status AGI must be less than… (Single) AGI must be less than… (Married, jointly filed) Maximum Credit Possible No Qualifying Children $ 14,820 $ 20,330 $ 503 One Child $ 39,131 $ 44,651 $ 3,359 Two Children $ 44,454 $ 49,974 $ 5,548 Three or more Children $ 47,747 $ 53,267 $ 6,242 EITC Eligibility based on AGI and Number of Children (Tax Filing for the Work Year 2014)

Basic Facts EITC is acquired when tax payers fill out regular tax returns and complete an additional seven lines of information Earnings do not include social welfare program, dividends, interest, and capital gains. Earnings do include wages earned from self-employment income and regular income Full or part time work

History 1975: EITC is proposed by Nixon but created and signed by President Ford in order to help alleviate the burdens of social security and Medicare taxes for low-income workers 1970s : The credit is made permanent, adjustments were made regarding categories, the percentage of credit, and those eligible for the credit 2013: Congress extended the 2009 American Taxpayer Recovery Act through 2017 The 2009 Act essentially extended the EITC and added the “third tier,” or level, to help families with more than two children

Impact In 2013, about 6.2 million people were lifted out of poverty, including about 3.2 million children. Studies suggest that the EITC “increase(s) aggregate hours worked.” (Beverly, 2002). “What research has shown, however, is that most EITC recipients only get the credit for two consecutive years or less. Many of them soon move up the income ladder and start paying taxes back into the system.” – The Washington Post The EITC reduced federal tax revenue by $59 billion in 2012 whereas the cost of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) was $80 billion (Hungerford, 2013).

Federal vs. State 24 states and the District of Columbia administered their own state EITCs (2014) When you apply for the Federal EITC, you are automatically enrolled for the State Federal refunds faster (about 2 weeks), and the State takes a little while longer States typically calculate EITCs as a fixed percentage of the federal credit o Percent of Federal Credit for NYS: 30%

Problem & Evidence Too few eligible citizens file for the EITC in Onondaga County Total Filers in Onondaga County in 2013: 211,656 Filers that are eligible for VITA services: 133,492 (63.07%) Eligible Filers that used VITA services: 7,249 (5.43%) Unknown Percent: Private sector filing & individual filing of the tax returns * Those who are eligible are files who reported an adjusted gross income of less than $53,000 **Data are based on 2013 tax return season Data are from the United Way, who received the data from the IRS

Value of EITC in Syracuse Value of Federal EITC : All County: $ 3,097,509 CA$H sites only:$ 2,576,685 Value of Fed & State EITC: All County:$4,130,012 CA$H sites only: $3,435,580 Average Refund per Filer: All County:$ 1,264 CA$H sites:$ 1,620 *2013 data

What We’ve Learned There problem may not be a serious as first thought. 80% take up rate may be a good as it gets

The Rule It takes 20% of effort to complete 80% of the problem It takes 80% of effort to achieve the last 20%

Five Drivers on Policy Topics Describe how each driver shapes the EITC public policy discussions Fear Greed Guilt Love

Thinking about drivers Drivers that Set the Agenda Fear Greed Guilt Love What’ the most important driver?

The Role of Drivers in Problem Solving Set priorities Moderation is the Key

Erin Carhart Syracuse University Class of 2014 Policy Studies Major National Campus Organizer for Planned Parenthood Remembrance Scholar Intern at Syracuse City Bureau of Research President of Students Advocating for Sexual Saftey (SASSE) Winner Do Gooder?

What Does Planned Parenthood Do? Source: Planned Parenthood Annual Report about-womens-health-services/

For next class Prospective Community Service is due 2/19 by 12:45pm  your TA Should be finished with all exercises in chapter 2 and 3 by Monday Module 2 due 12:45 on 2/26