News Round-up: May 16, 2017

Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues.

  • Last week, Montana and South Carolina enacted bills to create state-level Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) on top of the federal credit. In Montana, Gov. Steve Bullock (D) signed into law a bill that creates a state credit worth 3 percent of the federal EITC. That bill passed with broad, bipartisan support earlier this month (TCWF, Missoulian). In South Carolina, the legislature voted to create an EITC as part of a tax reform package, which Gov. Henry McMaster (R) vetoed. But lawmakers overrode his veto, and an EITC worth 125 percent of the federal credit became law (TCWF, Tax Justice Blog, Statehouse Report, Post and Courier).
  • Despite a push from advocates and legislators, a bill in the Georgia legislature to create an EITC-type program did not pass before the 2017 legislative session ended (Georgia Work Credit).
  • Virginia gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello announced his support for making the Virginia EITC refundable and creating a Child Care Tax Credit worth $500 for every family in the state, regardless of income (Virginian-Pilot).
  • In California, legislators had hoped to expand the state’s EITC, but this year’s tax revenue was much lower than anticipated (Sacramento Bee).
  • Lawmakers in Arkansas convened a taskforce to study the best way to reform the state’s tax code (The Pine Bluff Commercial).