President Obama’s final budget builds on a legacy of progress toward inclusive economic growth. It proposes a suite of policies that lay the groundwork for the success of women and families for years to come. Specifically the Fiscal Year 2017 budget:
- Makes major investments in child care and early education and funds new initiatives to reduce child hunger. It also expands access to the post-secondary education that is essential to success in a 21st century economy.
- Supports fair treatment for women in the workplace and improves job quality for all workers, including a higher minimum wage, paid leave and stronger unemployment insurance protections.
- Ensures that senseless cuts to programs that help low-income families—which were only temporarily halted by last year’s budget deal—will not return.
- Expands tax credits for low- and moderate-income workers while curbing tax breaks for very wealthy investors, corporations and large financial institutions.
- Builds on the achievements of the Affordable Care Act, extending incentives for the 19 states that have not yet expanded health coverage through Medicaid expansion and encouraging them to provide hard-working families in those states with the health coverage they need.
It is worth noting, however, that the budget is not without shortcomings. For example, it fails to lift the long-standing and harmful federal restrictions on abortion, including the Weldon Amendment and the Hyde Amendment, which denies insurance coverage of abortion for women who are enrolled in Medicaid except in the most extreme circumstances.