News Round-up: June 12, 2017
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues.
- California is one step closer to expanding its state-level Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The bill, which was incorporated into the proposed state budget, would increase the credit’s income cap from less than $15,000 per year to $22,300 per year, a change that would allow thousands more California families to become eligible for the credit. Lawmakers must vote on the budget before the legislative session ends June 15 (The Daily Progress, The Mercury News, KQED, Sacramento Bee).
- Kansas legislators passed a measure to increase taxes by $1.2 billion, rolling back Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) 2012 tax cuts and overriding his veto of the legislation. Although the tax hike means that every Kansas taxpayer will pay more each year, the bill will reinstate a child care tax credit as well as help close the state’s significant budget deficit (Kansas City Star, Tax Foundation, KCUR).
- On June 5, The Aspen Institute hosted a panel discussion on how tax reform could affect low- and middle-income workers. The full video of the event can be found here.
- Josh McCabe, associate director of the Freedom Project at Wellesley College, argued that restructuring refundable tax credits like the EITC and child tax credit could make them even more effective at encouraging work and helping low-income families make ends meet (National Review).