News Round Up: June 29, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-income communities and exacerbating economic inequality across the country. Throughout this crisis, TCWF will compile news, legislation, and research on how tax credits and other income-boosting policies can provide much-needed relief for the hardest-hit communities:
Top Story: The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) urged states to recognize the significant economic contributions of undocumented immigrants by expanding access to state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) to filers using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). (ITEP)
- Massachusetts State Representative Marjorie C. Decker (D-Cambridge) filed a House FY20 supplemental budget amendment which would expand EITC eligibility to ITIN filers.
- New York State Assemblywoman Pat Fahy (D-Albany) introduced legislation to increase the state’s EITC from 30 to 40 percent of the federal credit, expand access to workers without dependent children under the age of 25, and double the phase-out rate from 7 to 15 percent for single or married households. (Spectrum News)
- The Aspen Institute Economic Strategy Group released a new report that recommends a set of policies to promote economic recovery, such as a “Pandemic EITC” that would double the value of a family’s current refundable credit. (Aspen Institute)
- Lanhee J. Chen, director of domestic policy studies in public policy at Stanford University, and David Crane, president of Govern for California, urged Congress to consider increasing and expanding access to the federal EITC to provide workers with additional income and increase workforce participation amid COVID-19. (The Hill)