Senators Mitt Romney and Michael Bennet Unveil Bipartisan Proposal to Expand Child Tax Credit

By: Juan Tirado

This week, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) unveiled a bipartisan proposal to improve refundable tax credits as negotiations over a potential legislative package of tax provisions are ongoing.

“Congress is nearing another deadline without a clear plan to deal with dozens of fundamental responsibilities that the American people expect us to address,” Romney and Bennet said. “With its focus on helping families raising young children, protecting medical innovation for patients, and bringing certainty to workers and businesses, our plan should be considered on merit alone. And while the intent of our proposal is not to address every aspect of the current negotiations, we believe it is a compromise that can help clear a path forward and break the current logjam.”

The proposal would expand and reform the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC), create a New Young Child Tax Credit (NYCTC), make corrections to 2017 tax law, and permanently repeal the medical device excise tax. The changes to the existing CTC would eliminate the current $1,400 cap on refundability, making the first $1,000 per child fully refundable while making the next $1,000 per child phase in at a 15% rate starting at the first dollar of income. The NYCTC would be a new tax credit of $2,500 per child for children up to six years old; the first $1,500 would be fully refundable and the next $1,000 would phase in at a 15% rate beginning at the first dollar of income, and begin phasing down at current law income thresholds.

To fund these changes, the plan proposes passing the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act, implementing the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act, and passing the Ending New Nicotine Dependencies (ENND) Act. Learn more about the full proposal here.