News Round Up: March 19, 2018
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news on family tax credit issue.
- Last week, Idaho Governor Butch Otter (R) signed legislation enacting a state-level Child Tax Credit (CTC) worth $130 per child as part of a larger tax package that primarily benefits wealthier families. The state House has since passed – and the Senate is considering – legislation to increase the new CTC to $205 per child, but analysis shows that the credit would need to be worth at least $287 per child to fully protect Idaho’s lower-wage families from a tax hike. (US News and World Report, TCWF)
- In a unanimous vote, the Maryland State Senate passed legislation to lower the age of eligibility for the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 25 to 18. The bill is contingent on an increase to the standard deduction which also passed the Senate and is now headed to the House. (General Assembly of Maryland)
- New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) proposed expanding the state’s EITC from 35 to 40 percent of the federal credit over three years and enacting a state-level Child and Dependent Care Credit as part of his budget plan for fiscal year 2019. (com)
- We blogged about a new report from the National Consumer Law Center that warns of the U.S. Treasury’s ability to seize EITC refunds from student borrowers in crisis and calls the consequences “devastating.” (TCWF)