News Round-Up: May 6, 2019

Top story: Improving tax credits for working families is a key component of a broader policy agenda to drastically reduce the number of American children living in poverty, according to a new report from the Children’s Defense Fund. (TCWF)

  • The Montana legislature passed a bill to review several corporate and personal income tax credits between 2019 and 2027, including the state EITC, to determine if the credits should be amended or eliminated. The legislation now heads to the governor for signature.  (Montana State Legislature)
  • The Maine Center for Economic Policy joined dozens of advocates to testify in front of the state legislature’s Taxation Committee in favor of expanding and modernizing Maine’s EITC. Roughly three dozen Mainers submitted testimony in support of the bill, which would increase the size of Maine’s EITC, expand eligibility into the middle class, and extend benefits to low-income students and family caregivers. No one spoke in opposition to the bill. Watch the full press conference here.
  • A new analysis from the California Budget & Policy Center finds that expanding income support programs, such as the federal EITC and Child Tax Credit, as well as California’s EITC, can help to improve maternal mental health. (California Budget & Policy Center)
  • A series of five videos from the Oregon Center for Public Policy features stories from EITC claimants and policy experts and urges the Oregon legislature to renew and raise the state-level credit. (OCPP)
  • TCWF released a new series of social media graphics around expanding the federal EITC for workers without dependent children.