News Round Up: May 28, 2019

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

Top Story: The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released a new report examining the key differences between five major federal tax credit proposals, their costs and potential impact on low-income working Americans. (ITEP)

  • Len Burman, co-founder of the Tax Policy Center, proposed drastically expanding the federal EITC to a refundable Universal EITC worth up to $10,000 for working Americans. His proposal would also make the Child Tax Credit refundable and increase the credit to $2,500. (Tax Policy Center)
  • U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) proposed a new economic policy proposal, “The Family Bill of Rights,” which includes an expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to help working families afford high-quality childcare. (Medium)
  • The California State Senate Budget Committee approved a $214 billion state budget proposal that includes an expansion of the state EITC to workers with individual tax identification numbers and an increase to the credit’s value. The bill now heads to conference committee with the State General Assembly. (U.S. News & World Report)
  • Mark McCullough, a former Oklahoma state legislator who voted to strip the state EITC of refundability in 2016, encouraged state lawmakers to restore refundability to the EITC, which would benefit over 200,000 families. (Tulsa World)