The Daily Money: Big changes ahead for your finances
The so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which is now law, is nearly 900 pages, chock full of provisions that could boost the finances of everyday Americans. But who has time to read it all?
Here are some of the bill's tax and spending highlights, and when they start and finish, if they do.
Child care credits are coming
Sarah Foster, 35, quit her job in the summer of 2024 after the stress of parenting and working full-time led to anxiety, depression, vascular disease and chronic pain. She said she was constantly cobbling together child-care plans.
Foster's husband is a physician, and she describes her family as middle- to upper-class. Still, she worried about their ability to cover child care for her two kids without dual incomes.
Several changes in the new tax-and-spending law target parents such as Foster. They include the biggest increases to child-care tax programs in a generation.
NYC mayor candidate: Let's tax the rich
In her unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris pledged to preserve most of Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, with at least one notable exception: She would have raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Now, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York is floating a similar proposal. Among other plans, Zohran Mamdani wants to raise income taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers by 2%.
Taxing the rich to raise revenue has worked before. Would it work now?
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About The Daily Money
Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.
Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.
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Forbes
8 minutes ago
- Forbes
New Surveys Contain Good & Bad News About How Americans View Higher Ed
Two new surveys highlight where Americans agree and disagree about higher education. Two recent surveys about how Americans view higher education contain some unexpected good news for the nation's colleges and universities combined with reasons for continuing concerns. The surveys — one conducted by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation and the other by the progressive think tank New America — show that Americans' overall confidence in higher education has increased recently, but that Republicans and Democrats continue to hold sharply divided opinions about some key matters even as they largely agree on others. The Lumina Foundation-Gallup survey was conducted by telephone June 2-26 with a sample of 1,402 U.S. adults, including an oversampling of Black and Hispanic Americans. New America's ninth annual Varying Degrees survey about Americans' perceptions of higher education, was conducted in March, with more than 1,600 adults polled. Here are ten take-aways from the two polls, starting with the good news. This year, 42% of those surveyed by Gallup said they had 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in higher education, a six percentage-point gain over the past two years. Similarly, those saying they had little or no confidence declined from 32% a year ago to 23% today. This gain in confidence represents the first time the Gallup survey has seen an increase in a decade, but confidence in higher education remains substantially below where it was in 2015, when a majority of Americans (57%) were confident about it. Confidence among college graduates was up six percentage points to 48% in the new Gallup poll; while for those without a four-year college degree, confidence increased by seven points to 40%. Confidence among Democrats gained five points (to 61%), and for independents and Republicans it was up six points each — to 41% and 26%, respectively. According to Gallup-Lumina, more Americans are confident today than a year ago in both four-year colleges (up 11 points, to 44%) and two-year colleges (up eight points, to 56%). However, partisan gaps are substantial on this matter; 66% of Democrats, 40% of independents and only 26% of Republicans are confident in four-year colleges. Political party gaps in confidence in two-year colleges are smaller than for four-year institutions because Republicans and independents are significantly more confident in two-year than four-year colleges, while Democrats now have similar confidence in each type of institution. Compared to last year, more people — 12%, compared to 5% — who are confident in higher education cited the innovations that flow from it as a reason. Among the Gallup-Lumina respondents, 14% agreed that 'U.S. colleges are some of the best in world,' double the percentage of a year ago, and 24% pointed to the fact that U.S. institutions provide good training, up from 19% a year ago. About three-quarters of U.S. adults agreed that higher education led to greater innovation and discovery in the Gallup-Lumina survey; 69% said it results in better jobs and career advancement; and 66% agreed that it promotes higher household incomes. More than half of these respondents also believed that higher education makes the population more knowledgeable, gives the U.S. a competitive edge over other countries, and results in greater entrepreneurship and business creation. New America's survey found similar results when it comes to the vision that Americans have for their colleges and universities. Nine in 10 Americans think that it's important for post-secondary education to train students for the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in their chosen fields and help them become informed citizens. Similar percentages endorsed the importance of colleges improving students' ability to write and communicate well and to think critically There were only small differences between Republicans and Democrats on the importance of college cultivating these abilities. Three in four Americans believe that education after high school offers a good return on investment for students, and 72% would recommend their children or close family members pursue at least some post-secondary education for a financially secure life. Republicans and Democrats showed minor differences in how they answered these two items. Now, for some of the findings that should cause concern for higher education leaders. In 2025, according to New America's survey, only about 40% of Americans think that higher education is fine as it is. Although that number has varied slightly the past few years, it did improve over last year, in line with the Gallup/Lumina findings. Still, most citizens, regardless of political party affiliation, perceive the need for higher education to make major changes in the way it operates. In addition, only about half believe colleges and universities are having a positive effect on the country. While a majority of Democrats (74%) believe that institutions are having a positive impact on the nation, only a minority of Republicans (39%) feel that way. Only about half of Americans think they can get an affordable high-quality college education, according to the New America survey. And here there is bipartisan concurrence, with 49% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans agreeing. The major reason cited for students not enrolling in college or completing their degrees was the cost of attendance, endorsed by 66% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans. Americans may agree that the cost of education is a problem, but New America found that they remain divided — as they have for some time — over who bears the larger responsibility for paying for it. About half of the public believes federal and state governments should be mainly responsible for funding post-secondary education, while 45% think students and their families should fund education. There is a big partisan gap on this question, however. Among Democrats, 71% believe the government should assume the main responsibility for college funding, while 64% of Republicans believe that students and their families should bear the bigger burden. When forced to choose who should fund higher education—government or students—the share of Americans choosing government has fallen from 67% in 2018 to 54% in 2025, a discouraging result for higher education officials seeking to build public support for larger government appropriations for their work. Nonetheless, 75% of Americans overall (91% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans) believe the federal government should spend more money to make college more affordable. According to the New America survey, more than half of Americans (57%) believe that colleges are more welcoming toward politically liberal views; a third think colleges equally welcome liberal and conservative views, and a mere 9% believe they are welcoming towards conservative views. Two-thirds of Republicans say colleges are more welcoming towards liberal views, while half of Democrats do so. Americans are also divided about whether they think that when exposing students to different ideas, colleges push their own viewpoints on students versus encouraging openness to diverse ideas. While 25% of Democrats believe colleges push their own views on students, 68% of Republicans think so. The modestly encouraging findings from the two surveys are noteworthy because they come at a time when colleges and universities have faced months of criticisms and attacks from the Trump administration. From federal cutbacks in research funding to criticisms of the curriculum, allegations of antisemitism, challenges to international students, and claims that they are indoctrinating students with 'wokeness,' institutions have faced a steady campaign of negative rhetoric and financial pressure from the administration. Although some of those critiques appear to resonate with portions of the public, the campaign may also be having something of a paradoxical effect. As Americans watch their colleges come under political attack, they may be beginning to rally to their support, discovering some common ground in recognizing the vital roles they play for individual well-being and the prosperity of the nation.
CNN
11 minutes ago
- CNN
UK plans to lower voting age to 16 in landmark electoral reform
The British government said on Thursday it planned to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections in a major overhaul of the country's democratic system. The government said the proposed changes, which are subject to parliament approvals, would align voting rights across the UK with Scotland and Wales, where younger voters already participate in devolved elections. 'We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy,' Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in a statement. Turnout at the 2024 general election was 59.7%, the lowest at a general election since 2001, according to a parliamentary report. According to the House of Commons library, research from countries that have lowered the voting age to 16 shows it has had no impact on election outcomes, and that 16-year-olds were more likely to vote than those first eligible at 18. Labour, whose popularity has fallen sharply in government after being elected by a landslide a year ago, had said it would lower the voting age if elected. The reforms would also expand acceptable voter ID to include UK-issued bank cards and digital formats of existing IDs, such as driving licences and Veteran Cards. To tackle foreign interference, the government said it also planned to tighten rules on political donations, including checks on contributions over £500 ($670) from unincorporated associations and closing loopholes used by shell companies.
CNN
11 minutes ago
- CNN
Mamdani's DC swing: House Democrats take notes and Bernie Sanders offers advice
Days after Eric Adams won the New York City mayoral primary four years ago, he was invited to Washington by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to speak to the House Democratic caucus, touted by the chair of the House Democrats' campaign arm as a model for campaigns around the country, and welcomed at Joe Biden's White House. Zohran Mamdani's trip to Washington after his own primary victory lasted about four hours. There were no meetings with senior Democratic leaders. The 33-year-old assemblyman and democratic socialist had breakfast Wednesday with Democratic members of Congress before a private strategy session with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a key endorser before his stunning primary victory. But party leaders and many swing-district lawmakers kept their distance from Mamdani, worried about his policy ideas and Republican plans to make him a national foil. Sanders urged his now-protégé to be firm in calling for Democratic leaders to rally behind him but also to more carefully address what he's said about Israel. First was a breakfast meeting arranged by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had also endorsed him before the June 24 primary. The conversation around the platters, according to multiple people in the room, involved roughly 40 House Democrats asking and taking notes about Mamdani's message of affordability. Mamdani joked at one point that in terms of getting support, he's gone 'from being the hunter to the hunted.' California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, still munching on a spinach pastry, was all smiles as she headed to her car. She said her big takeaway was about 'not being distracted by the culture wars Republicans inevitably want to stoke.' Most New York Democrats skipped the meeting, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has not endorsed Mamdani but plans to meet with him Friday in Brooklyn. Some members joked privately to CNN that their invitations must have gotten lost. Some blamed scheduling conflicts. A half-dozen political trackers — one carrying her fluffy brown dog as she held her phone up to take videos — hounded House Democrats on their way out about condoning the phrase 'globalize the intifada,' which Mamdani has moved to distance himself from even as he faces allegations that he hasn't sufficiently condemned antisemitism. But even as members like California Rep. Mark Takano walked out of seeing Mamdani by already embracing some of his far-left ideas, arguing, 'there's not a lot of difference between a government-run grocery store and some sort of co-op,' Rep. Tom Suozzi, who represents a swing district centered on suburban Long Island, was blunt in an interview with CNN. 'I'm a Democratic capitalist, I'm not a democratic socialist — and I think that Mamdani's philosophy of raising taxes … would make New York City less attractive than it is right now,' he said. Asked why she wasn't standing with Mamdani or offering him up to campaign around the country the way her predecessor did with Adams four years ago, the House Democrats' campaign chair, Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene, said in a statement that voters in swing districts want 'local leaders' talking about lowering costs and pushing back on Republicans. 'Voters in places like Arizona and Iowa aren't thinking about who the mayor of New York City may be,' DelBene said. Perhaps Mamdani's biggest meeting of the day was on the Senate side of Capitol Hill – not with Chuck Schumer, the minority leader and senior senator from Brooklyn, or with Kirsten Gillibrand, the chair of the Senate Democrats' campaign arm and the state's junior senator. Neither has met with him. Both have pushed off talk about endorsing him. Sanders, a Brooklyn native, was eager to welcome Mamdani for their first meeting after several phone calls, including a congratulatory one after his primary win. The closest that they've come in person before was at Sanders' October 2019 rally in Queens marking his comeback after a heart attack, which Mamdani used as an early organizing opportunity for his first assembly campaign. A person familiar with their conversation, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed some of Sanders' advice to Mamdani. The eagerness of some wealthy opponents to his candidacy to attack his campaign via super PACs and independent expenditures, Sanders told him, was a topic worth keeping attention on. Call out the oligarchs, the senator said, but also be prepared not to unilaterally disarm via his own PAC. As for the other Democrats who've been holding out, Sanders said, there should be no supplication, even to Jeffries and Schumer. They should be supporting him, Sanders said, since he's the Democratic nominee. According to the person familiar with his comments, Sanders noted he did the same when he lost the Democratic presidential primaries to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Sanders, who is Jewish, urged Mamdani to be cautious about how he approaches talking about Israel. Both are critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's handling of its war in Gaza. Ahead of the trip, Mamdani told business leaders in New York that he would discourage the use of the phrase 'globalize the intifada.' Mamdani, who has not used the phrase himself, has said he believes the phrase to be a rallying cry for Palestinian human rights and refused to condemn its use when asked during his primary campaign. According to the person familiar with their conversation, Sanders told Mamdani he had to do a better job explaining that his criticism is not antisemitic and to not let himself seem like he's minimizing the fear Jews in New York and elsewhere feel from the threat of hate against them. Afterward, they talked outside for photos showing them with big laughing smiles. Sanders posted them and Mamdani quickly reshared them. 'Bernie may be the great Senator from Vermont,' Mamdani wrote. 'But he's Brooklyn through and through.' A Jeffries spokesman declined comment on why the House Democratic leader hadn't extended the same kind of invitation to speak to the whole caucus that Adams received four years ago. The two still don't know each other much, and Jeffries has been holding off in saying much about him until they meet. Asked how the candidate felt about not getting an invitation, a spokesperson for Mamdani pointed to comments earlier this week saying that he's looking forward to their Friday meeting and that they had already connected about working together to tackle what he called the 'twin crises' in the city of fighting for affordability and standing up for immigrants' rights. Several House Democrats pointed out that it wasn't as if their embrace four years ago of Adams worked out so well. Adams is now seeking reelection as an independent after dropping out of the Democratic primary. He faced a corruption indictment that the Trump administration dropped in its first months. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the Washington state congresswoman and former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, had her own private meeting with Mamdani on Wednesday. They talked about help campaigning and some policy issues. What struck Jayapal, she said later, was how the younger staffers in her office and in the hallways responded to seeing him, how many came up to meet him or take a photo. 'Obviously everyone has to go through their own processes, but people have to recognize what an incredible campaign he ran and what an incredible campaigner he is,' she told CNN. 'And I hope everyone gets on board quickly.' Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the only Republican member of Congress from New York City, was also happy Mamdani was in the capital. She argued Democrats going anywhere near him was a tell about their own fears. 'The radical left and the socialist wing of the Democratic Party is moving everybody to the left, and these folks who are supposedly centrists are afraid of their shadow so they're just going along for self-preservation,' she said.
