News Round-Up: September 18, 2017
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues.
- U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced the Grow American Incomes Now (GAIN) Act in the House and Senate, which would double the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for eligible workers, increase the credit for workers without dependent children and lower the qualifying age. (TCWF, Khanna.House.gov)
- U.S. Senators Angus King (D-MA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced The Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone Act. The bipartisan legislation would make the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) refundable and index the credit to inflation to reflect the rising cost of child care. The legislation has already been introduced in the House. (Fosters; Business Insider)
- The 2016 U.S. Census data showed continuing economic progress for Americans and highlighted programs such as the EITC that have lifted millions of Americans out of poverty. To build on that progress, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggests broad policy recommendations, including strengthening refundable tax credits for low-income families. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
- Elaine Maag and Julia B. Issacs of the Tax Policy Center designed a plan to provide a Young Child Tax Credit to parents of very young children who tend to earn less and spend more on child care. (Tax Policy Center)
- The Center on Budget & Policy Priorities and Prosperity Now are hosting a webinar on Tuesday, September 26, at 2 pm EDT to share learning from campaigns in Maryland, California and Minnesota that improved both the state-level EITC and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs. Click here to register.
- Sally Cline, president and CEO of the West Virginia Bankers Association, urged the legislature to enact a state-level refundable EITC to help keep West Virginia’s children out of poverty. (The Gazette)
- We blogged about how Prosperity Now and Institute for Policy Studies’ new report, The Road to Zero Wealth, recommends the EITC as a policy response to the growing racial wealth divide. (TCWF)
- We blogged about how interim findings from MDRC’s Paycheck Plus Demonstration pilot program’s and our recent focus group findings reinforce the growing bipartisan support for expanding the EITC for “childless workers.” (TCWF; MRDC)