News Round-up: January 17, 2017
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues.
- New research from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California at Berkeley has determined the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is even more effective at reducing poverty than previously thought. Berkeley Professor and report author Hillary Hoynes wrote that “the true anti-poverty effects of the EITC have been underestimated by up to 50 percent” (Berkeley, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment).
- In Michigan, lawmakers started to debate how to slash income taxes for individuals. While some Republicans would like to reach this goal by eliminating the state’s income tax, Democrats are hoping the legislature instead will consider expanding the state’s EITC (Detroit News).
- Illinois Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Madigan (D) introduced a plan to boost the state’s economy that includes a measure to expand the state’s EITC (State Journal Register).
- As Congress gets closer to revising the tax code, Hill Democrats are urging lawmakers to make sure any tax reform package has provisions that will benefit the middle class, including ones to expand the federal EITC and Child Tax Credit (CTC) (The Hill).
- The incoming Trump administration signaled to lawmakers that making child care affordable will be a top legislative priority in 2017. During his campaign for the presidency, Trump proposed offering “child care spending rebates” through the EITC (Politico).
- A new study from Young Invincibles found that millennials are having a harder time finding their financial footing than previous generations did. The report’s authors suggest that expanding the EITC for individuals not raising children could help them become economically stable (Los Angeles Times).
- U.S. Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett (D) introduced a bill under which the federal government would help U.S. territories such as Guam and the Virgin Islands pay for their EITCs. Under current law, the territories must cover the cost of tax credits for their citizens (Pacific Daily News).