Americans deserve local, state, and federal governments that efficiently and reliably respond to the needs of their communities. This includes providing the safety net programs that are vital for many Americans, helping families make ends meet and delivering long-term positive impacts on their health and economic well-being. Unfortunately, many Americans do not receive some or all of the benefits they qualify for, and an estimated $140 billion in federal benefits goes unclaimed each year. Policy innovations and investments in technology are helping state and federal policymakers create a more accessible and efficient social safety net. These innovations save both families and the government time and money, while making sure that people get the benefits they qualify for.

The United States does not have a spending problem; it has a revenue problem. Republican tax cuts for the wealthy have reduced revenues and driven up the national debt. Despite this reality, Republicans want to further cut important social programs, harming millions of Americans while doing little to correct the country’s fiscal balance.

The United States should reduce the deficit, but not on the backs of working people. The deficit can and should be reduced by closing tax loopholes for the wealthiest of the wealthy and going after tax cheats among the wealthiest of individuals and big corporations—a move that requires maintaining funding for the Internal Revenue Service. Next year, there is also a crucial opportunity for Congress to put the country’s fiscal path back on track by letting key provisions of the 2017 Republican tax package expire.

Big companies have used their market dominance to rake in profits by raising prices on families. These price hikes have played a detrimental role in driving inflation and resulted in persistently higher prices for American families. This has been especially clear with the price of food, where industry consolidation in sectors like meat production gave corporations more extreme pricing dominance and major returns in profits. Some companies have also reduced the size of essentials like food and household paper products without lowering prices, shorting families while pushing up profits.