News Round-up: October 3, 2016

Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues.
  • Time is running out to cast your vote to include a question about tax credits for workers and their families in the upcoming presidential debate. Learn more here.
  • After a months-long standoff, lawmakers in New Jersey have agreed to expand the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 30 to 35 percent of the federal credit to help offset the burden of an increased gas tax (NJ.com).

  • A study from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute found that creating a state-level EITC will lead 18,000 families closer to financial stability (Gainesville Times).
  • New York Assemblyman Ron Castorina Jr. (R) proposed a bill to expand the state’s Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) to cover up to 25 percent of a family’s annual child care expenses (SILive).
  • In Washington, a ballot referendum to tax carbon also includes a measure to create a state-level EITC at 25 percent of the federal credit. The measure will be up for a vote this election day (The Olympian).
  • Etsy, an online marketplace where craftsmen sell handmade goods, included a proposal to expand the EITC in a newly-released white paper detailing how the federal government can help workers in the growing gig economy make ends meet (Fortune).
  • Chuck Marr of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities penned a column arguing that expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which currently overlooks many of the poorest working families, could help lower the national child poverty rate (Talk Poverty).