The Lake Champlain Chamber will host its next virtual Legislative Breakfast, sponsored by New England Federal Credit Union, on February 14, 2022. The Chamber will be joined by guest panelists Leap Fund Founder & CEO, Karen Schoellkopf and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Executive Vice President & Director of Research, Dr. David Altig to discuss how benefits cliffs can be addressed with business-and state-level policy changes.
What is a benefits cliff?
Benefits cliff is a term to describe when a person receives public benefits from the government or earns a raise, and then discovers that they make too much money to receive the benefits, yet they are not making enough money to sustain themselves and their household. Even experts and people working in the system can’t fully see how benefits and income work together across the dozens of programs and countless tax instruments. The impact is an employee being worse off for choices that should better their financial situation or employees not making those choices in fear of losing assistance. You can read more about this in the recent New York Times article.
About the expert panel
Dr. Altig oversees the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Research Division, which includes their team of economists and Community and Economic Development function, as well as the Regional Economic Information Network. In this role, Dr. Altig manages the Bank’s research and engagement portfolio on benefits cliffs.
Karen Schoellkopf, who founded the Leap Fund during a fellowship with Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood in 2018, is “creating products that empower optimism, financial and career growth, future planning, and security for working families that need it most.” The organization’s offerings include a benefits cliff coaching program that provides individualized cliff predictions, as well as tools to educate employers. Schoellkopf presented Leap Fund’s work on benefit cliffs to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Rules in 2021.
The Lake Champlain Chamber looks forward to leaning into the complexity of Vermont’s benefits and assistance to best serve Vermonters. When employees have the transparency and opportunity to know the collective impact of public policy, they have clearer paths to personal advancement, benefiting all Vermonters.”
More about Lake Champlain Chamber’s Legislative Breakfast Series:
The Series is a flagship component of the Chamber’s Advocacy program, which represents over 1,000 members at the local, state, and federal level. In addition to tracking legislation and informing the region’s business community on potential impacts, the advocacy team aims to provide direct access to our state’s lawmakers.
Register for the upcoming Legislative Breakfast