Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

12 min read

VERIFIEDPRIMARY SOURCES
VERIFIED 2026-03-27
4 primary3 investigative10 secondary

think-tank liberal safety-net anti-poverty tax-policy medicaid SNAP EITC class-analysis

related: George Soros · Open Society Foundations · Democracy Alliance · AFL-CIO · Center for American Progress · Economic Policy Institute

Who They Are

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a progressive think tank founded in 1981 by Robert Greenstein, a former Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at the USDA under President Jimmy Carter. Greenstein created CBPP to provide an alternative analytical perspective on the Reagan administration’s social policy cuts — essentially, to defend the social safety net with data.

Headquartered at 1275 First St NE, Suite 1200, Washington, D.C., CBPP operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It reported $52.5 million in revenue and $48.6 million in expenses in fiscal year 2024, with total assets of $163.9 million as of the 2023 990 filing. The organization maintains approximately 200+ staff and is led by President Sharon Parrott, who succeeded Greenstein in January 2021.

CBPP’s stated mission is to advance federal and state policies that reduce poverty and inequality — with a focus on how budget and tax decisions affect low-income Americans. Its primary research areas include the federal budget, taxation, health policy (Medicaid/ACA), food assistance (SNAP), housing, income security, Social Security, and immigration.

What distinguishes CBPP from other liberal think tanks is its operational model: in 1993, it founded the State Priorities Partnership (SPP), a network of 40+ state-level policy organizations across the country that perform localized budget and tax analysis. CBPP claims that SPP groups have helped raise or protect roughly $40 billion in state revenue for social programs — making CBPP not just a research shop but a coordinating hub for progressive fiscal policy at the state level.

Board chair Kenneth Apfel is a former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration under Clinton and former Associate Director of OMB. The board includes Robert Reischauer (president emeritus of the Urban Institute), Maria Cancian (dean of Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy), and Ai-jen Poo (president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance) — a roster that bridges academia, the progressive nonprofit sector, and federal policy experience.

2025-2026 development: CBPP launched “Executive Action Watch,” a real-time tracker documenting the Trump administration’s executive actions affecting the federal budget, safety net programs, and federal workforce. The tracker has become the definitive analytical resource for opposition research on Trump’s spending cuts, documenting that Trump’s FY2026 budget proposed $167 billion (22%) in non-defense discretionary cuts, including a 57% cut to the National Science Foundation, 41% cut to NIH, and elimination of LIHEAP. CBPP documented that federal personnel cuts reached nearly 10% by November 2025 — well beyond the 6% proposed in the budget — and that the administration illegally withheld congressionally appropriated funds. The Executive Action Watch mirrors EPI’s Federal Policy Watch and Brennan Center’s voting EO tracker: a pattern of liberal think tanks building real-time accountability infrastructure in response to an administration they cannot influence from inside.

Who Funds Them

CBPP’s funding comes overwhelmingly from major progressive foundations, with a significant secondary stream from labor unions and dark money networks. Unlike conservative think tanks that rely heavily on individual mega-donors, CBPP’s funding model is foundation-centric.

Major Foundation Funders:

  • Ford Foundation
  • Annie E. Casey Foundation
  • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
  • Rockefeller Foundation
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • David and Lucile Packard Foundation
  • W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  • Carnegie Corporation of New York
  • Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
  • Open Society Foundations (George Soros)
  • Atlantic Philanthropies (major culminating grant, amount undisclosed — described as a “big bet” by Inside Philanthropy in 2014)
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Arnold Ventures
  • Sandler Foundation
  • Kresge Foundation
  • Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Dark Money / Pass-Through Funders:

  • Democracy Alliance — CBPP attended the 2006 Democracy Alliance meeting alongside CAP and EPI to discuss progressive economic agendas
  • Hopewell Fund (Arabella Advisors network)
  • New Venture Fund (Arabella Advisors network)
  • Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Labor Union Funders:

  • AFL-CIO
  • Change to Win
  • Unite Here Local 25
  • National Education Association (NEA)

Cross-Think-Tank Funding:

  • Center for American Progress donated $613,750 to CBPP in 2022 — the same organization that regularly cites CBPP research in its own advocacy, creating a closed-loop citation-funding circuit.

Revenue Trajectory:

Fiscal YearRevenueExpensesTotal Assets
2024$52.5M$48.6M—
2023$32.2M$44.3M$163.9M
2022$80.5M$42.7M$172.9M
2021$53.4M$49.1M$126.9M
2020$46.8M$43.7M$118.7M
2019$53.4M$41.5M$112.8M

The 2022 revenue spike to $80.5M suggests a major one-time gift or culminating grant. The organization’s asset base has nearly tripled since 2012 ($54.9M → $163.9M), indicating a sustained institutional expansion funded by the liberal foundation ecosystem.

What They Produce

CBPP produces three primary types of output:

1. Budget and Tax Analysis: Real-time analysis of federal and state budget proposals, tax legislation, and spending bills. CBPP’s reports on the distributional impacts of tax cuts — particularly during the Bush and Trump administrations — become go-to citations for Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocates. Their analysis of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and their ongoing analysis of the 2025 reconciliation bill are widely referenced.

2. Safety Net Program Defense: CBPP is the single most influential analytical voice defending SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP, the EITC, and the Child Tax Credit. Their research on the American Rescue Plan’s CTC expansion — which temporarily cut child poverty to 5.2% — became the evidentiary backbone for Democratic efforts to make the expansion permanent.

3. State Policy Coordination: Through the State Priorities Partnership, CBPP provides research templates, messaging guidance, and analytical support to 40+ state-level organizations that lobby for progressive tax and spending policies. This is not just research — it’s an operational infrastructure for progressive fiscal policy at the state level.

The Policy Pipeline

CBPP’s influence operates through a distinct pipeline: CBPP produces analysis → analysis is cited by Democratic members of Congress, CBO, and state legislators → analysis shapes legislative language → CBPP alumni in government positions implement the policies.

Donation-to-Policy Timeline

DateRecipient/TargetAmountPolicy ReturnTime Gap
2009-2010ACA Medicaid ExpansionFoundation-funded researchCBPP provided state-level technical assistance for Medicaid expansion implementation; 40 states eventually expanded2010-2023 (ongoing)
2014Democracy Alliance / SPPFoundation grantsSPP network claims $40B in protected/raised state revenue for social programsOngoing since 1993
2017-2020Trump TCJA OppositionFoundation-funded analysisCBPP distributional analysis became primary Democratic counter-narrative to Republican tax cutsImmediate
2021 JanBiden USDAStacy Dean appointmentDean (CBPP VP, 1997-2021) → USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition; oversaw Thrifty Food Plan update increasing SNAP benefits24 years at CBPP → direct policy control
2021 MarAmerican Rescue PlanFoundation-funded advocacyCTC expansion to $3,600/$3,000, EITC expansion — CBPP research was evidentiary backbone; child poverty dropped to 5.2%Research preceded legislation by years
2021-2024Biden OMB/NEC/TreasuryMultiple alumni placementsParrott (CBPP → HHS → CBPP → OMB → CBPP), Aron-Dine (CBPP VP → OMB acting deputy → NEC deputy → Treasury acting asst. sec.)Continuous rotation
2022CAP → CBPP$613,750Funds organization whose research CAP then cites in its own advocacy — closed-loop citation circuitImmediate
2025Reconciliation bill defenseFoundation-funded analysisCBPP analysis showing 9.9-14.9M people at risk of losing Medicaid coverage under Republican cuts — widely cited in Democratic oppositionImmediate
2025-2026Executive Action WatchFoundation-funded trackerReal-time documentation of Trump executive actions: $167B non-defense cuts, 10% federal workforce reduction, illegal fund withholding — becomes definitive opposition research resourceOngoing

Money

CBPP’s policy pipeline is distinctive not for direct donor-to-legislation ROI but for institutional capture: the organization produces the research, trains the staff, places them in government, and then provides the analytical cover for the policies those staff implement. The Stacy Dean case is paradigmatic — 24 years at CBPP producing SNAP research, then appointed to run the federal SNAP program itself. The research doesn’t just influence policy; the researchers become the policymakers.

The Revolving Door

CBPP has one of the most active revolving doors in the progressive think tank ecosystem, with staff cycling between the organization and Democratic administrations:

Sharon Parrott (President):

  • CBPP welfare reform director (1993-2009)
  • HHS Counselor for Human Services Policy, Obama admin (2009-2012)
  • CBPP VP for budget policy (2012-2014)
  • OMB, Obama admin (2014-2017)
  • CBPP senior VP (2017-2020)
  • CBPP President (2021-present)
  • Three tours at CBPP, two in Democratic administrations — quintessential revolving door

Stacy Dean:

  • CBPP senior policy analyst → VP for food assistance policy (1997-2021)
  • USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Biden admin (2021-2022)
  • Nominated for USDA Under Secretary (2022)
  • 24 years producing SNAP research at CBPP, then appointed to run the federal SNAP program

Aviva Aron-Dine:

  • CBPP researcher → VP for health policy
  • OMB associate director / acting deputy director, Obama admin
  • CBPP VP for health policy (between administrations)
  • OMB acting deputy director / NEC deputy director, Biden admin (2021-2022)
  • Treasury acting assistant secretary for tax policy, Biden admin
  • Now director of Hamilton Project at Brookings — the Goldman Sachs-funded policy shop

Robert Greenstein (Founder):

  • USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator, Carter admin
  • Founded CBPP (1981)
  • Clinton Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform (1994)
  • Obama transition team, federal budget policy (2008)
  • Founded the think tank after leaving government, then returned to advise multiple administrations

Kenneth Apfel (Board Chair):

  • Social Security Administration Commissioner, Clinton admin
  • OMB Associate Director, Clinton admin
  • CBPP board chair
  • Government pension policy → think tank board overseeing pension policy research

Contradiction

CBPP describes itself as “nonpartisan” despite a revolving door that runs exclusively through Democratic administrations. No CBPP alumnus has ever served in a Republican administration. The revolving door operates on a strict partisan axis — CBPP staff govern during Democratic administrations and produce opposition research during Republican ones.

What Their Funders Got

CBPP’s funders — major progressive foundations — are not seeking direct financial ROI like corporate donors. Their return is structural: the maintenance and expansion of the federal safety net, which aligns with foundation missions around poverty reduction, health equity, and social justice.

Specific Returns:

  1. Medicaid Expansion (2010-present): CBPP’s state-by-state technical assistance helped push 40 states to expand Medicaid under the ACA, covering 20+ million previously uninsured adults. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funds CBPP and has a mission centered on health equity, received direct mission-aligned returns.

  2. SNAP Benefit Increases: Stacy Dean’s 24 years at CBPP producing SNAP research culminated in her overseeing the 2021 Thrifty Food Plan update as Biden’s USDA appointee — the first permanent increase in SNAP benefits in decades. The foundations funding CBPP’s food assistance work got their policy enacted by their own think tank’s alumna.

  3. Child Tax Credit Expansion: CBPP’s research was the analytical backbone for the 2021 CTC expansion that temporarily cut child poverty to 5.2%. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which funds CBPP and focuses on child welfare, saw its core mission directly served.

  4. State-Level Revenue Protection: The SPP network’s claimed $40B in protected/raised state revenue funds programs that foundation donors want to exist — education, healthcare, infrastructure. The Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and others see their grants to CBPP multiplied through state-level policy wins.

  5. Opposition Infrastructure: During Republican administrations, CBPP serves as the primary analytical opposition shop, producing rapid-response research that Democratic lawmakers use to resist safety net cuts. The $80.5M revenue spike in 2022 suggests funders understood this function and invested accordingly during the transition between administrations.

Class Analysis

CBPP represents something structurally different from most think tanks in this vault: it is funded primarily by progressive foundations — not by industries seeking deregulation or tax breaks. Its policy outputs genuinely benefit low-income Americans. The Medicaid expansion, SNAP increases, EITC/CTC expansion, and state revenue protection are real material gains for working people.

But the class analysis must go deeper. The foundation ecosystem that funds CBPP — Ford, Rockefeller, Gates, Hewlett, Packard — represents the philanthropic arms of enormous inherited and corporate wealth. These foundations exist because of the very economic system that produces the poverty CBPP studies. Their tax-exempt status is itself a form of revenue loss to the public treasury that CBPP advocates for.

The structural function CBPP serves is managed amelioration: maintaining the social safety net at a level sufficient to prevent social instability, without threatening the underlying wealth distribution that creates the need for a safety net in the first place. CBPP never advocates for wealth taxes, corporate ownership reforms, or structural redistribution of productive assets. It advocates for better-funded government transfer programs — which is real and valuable, but structurally conservative in the deepest sense.

The revolving door pattern reinforces this: CBPP alumni enter government to manage existing programs, not to transform the economy. Stacy Dean ran SNAP better, not differently. Sharon Parrott managed OMB budgets within the existing fiscal framework. The pipeline produces competent administrators of the status quo, not challengers of it.

The Democracy Alliance connection and the Arabella Advisors dark money pipeline (Hopewell Fund, New Venture Fund) reveal that even progressive think tanks operate within opaque funding structures that mirror the dark money networks they criticize on the right. The closed-loop between CAP funding CBPP and then citing CBPP’s research is a progressive version of the same citation-laundering patterns seen in conservative think tank networks.

Money

CBPP’s funders invest in poverty management, not poverty elimination. The foundation ecosystem needs poverty to exist in order to justify its own tax-exempt existence. CBPP provides the intellectual infrastructure for this managed amelioration — keeping the safety net intact enough to prevent social crisis while never threatening the wealth accumulation that makes the safety net necessary. It’s the most effective progressive think tank in America, and that effectiveness operates within boundaries set by the donor class that funds it.

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