Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
Ohio’s new law delivers about $2 billion in property-tax relief starting in 2026, with breaks aimed at older homeowners.
Ohio homeowners are starting to see property-tax relief from a package state lawmakers have called the most sweeping in a century, with the savings measured...
Washington raised the income limits on its senior property-tax break, and about 30,000 more older homeowners may qualify.
Washington has changed how it decides which older homeowners qualify for a break on their property taxes, and the shift could pull tens of thousands...
Colorado seniors, surviving spouses and disabled residents can claim up to $1,154 from the state’s property-tax rebate.
Colorado is sitting on rebate money that thousands of older residents never collect, and a hard cutoff for one full year of it is now...
The FTC is mailing $2.7 million in refund checks to 62,893 Handy customers, who must cash them within 90 days.
The Federal Trade Commission has begun mailing more than $2.7 million to 62,893 people, closing out a case against the gig-work platform Handy Technologies. Each...
One-person households in the contiguous 48 states and D.C. can receive up to $298 monthly in SNAP through September
A one-person household can receive as much as $298 a month in SNAP through September 2026 in the contiguous 48 states and Washington, D.C. That...
Pennsylvania’s standard property-tax and rent rebate reaches $1,000, with applications open through December 31
Pennsylvania’s property-tax and rent rebate remains open through December 31, giving eligible residents six extra months to claim relief for taxes or rent paid in...
New Jersey’s Stay NJ benefit reaches $6,500 for some older homeowners in 2027
New Jersey’s $6,500 Stay NJ figure belongs to 2027, not to the checks moving in 2026. The distinction is more than calendar trivia: the state...
A veteran rated 100% disabled can receive $3,938.58 monthly with no dependents in 2026
The 2026 VA disability table pays $3,938.58 a month to a veteran rated 100% disabled with no dependents. That is the base rate for one...
Eligible veterans have until August 1 to apply for a $1,053.19 clothing allowance
The Department of Veterans Affairs set its 2026 clothing allowance at $1,053.19, with applications for this year’s payment due on or before August 1. The...
Illinois seniors earning up to $75,000 can freeze their home’s assessed value for 2026
Illinois has widened its senior assessment freeze enough to reach homeowners who earned too much to qualify last year. The statewide household-income ceiling jumps from...
Maine is mailing $300 inflation checks, and eligible couples get two
Maine’s new affordability payment is built around people, not tax returns. The state is mailing $300 paper checks beginning in late July, and a married...
New Jersey mailed $220 million in Senior Freeze checks to more than 188,000 residents
New Jersey has mailed the first major wave of 2025 Senior Freeze reimbursements: more than $220 million split among over 188,000 older and disabled residents....
A new Social Security 2100 bill would raise checks and tax income above $400,000
Social Security 2100 is back with an unusually direct bargain: expand benefits, then collect more revenue from affluent households to help pay for them. The...
A bipartisan bill would force Congress to confront a projected 22% Social Security retirement cut
Congress has spent years debating Social Security’s financing gap without choosing how to close it. The bipartisan PROMISE Act takes aim at that stalemate rather...
Maine is mailing $300 affordability checks this month to residents who filed a 2025 return and earn under the limit.
Hundreds of thousands of Maine residents will receive a one-time $300 check from the state this month, part of a relief program tied to the...
Airlines must now send an automatic cash refund when they cancel or badly delay a flight, and vouchers can’t be forced on you.
Air travelers in the United States who get stuck with a canceled flight or a major schedule change no longer have to chase down their...
SNAP theft victims can no longer get stolen benefits replaced after a program lapsed.
Families who rely on SNAP benefits and fall victim to electronic benefit theft lost their only federal safety net when Congress let the replacement program...
Nineteen states can now block soda, candy and desserts from food-stamp purchases.
Nineteen states now hold federal approval to block soda, candy and desserts from food-stamp purchases, turning what was once a uniform national benefit into a...
A House bill would add about $833 a month to disabled veterans’ aid-and-attendance pensions.
Roughly 8,000 severely disabled veterans stand to receive an extra $833 a month in aid-and-attendance payments after the House passed H.R. 6047 on a 235-to-179...
A federal program helps low-income seniors pay summer cooling bills, but most never apply.
Most low-income seniors eligible for federal help with summer cooling bills never receive it. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, lists older...