Weekly News Round-up: May 31, 2016
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues. Remember – you also can track news coverage throughout the week by visiting our website, where you can filter news by a specific credit or state.
- TOP STORY: The Oklahoma legislature’s decision to drastically reduce the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) drew criticism nationwide. The New York Times called the measure “deplorable” in a scathing editorial. (New York Times, Tulsa World)
- Massachusetts Senate Democrats are working to expand the state’s EITC from 23 to 30 percent of the federal credit. (Newburyport News)
- Arkansas House Revenue and Taxation Committee Chairman Joe Jett (D-Success), said he plans to work on legislation for the 2017 regular session that would create a state-level EITC. (com)
- Ernest Reeves, a retired Army Captain running as a Democrat for the 3rd District House seat in the North Carolina legislature, said his top priorities if elected include raising the state’s minimum wage and restoring the state’s EITC, which was eliminated in 2013. (The Daily Advance)
- The revised proposal to address the debt crisis in Puerto Rico does not include eligibility for the federal EITC and Child Tax Credit (CTC), which were previously under consideration. (com)
- In a letter to the next President of the United States, the National Urban League called for an expansion of the federal EITC as part of a proposal to reduce poverty and reinvest in urban communities. The proposal is called “The Main Street Marshall Plan: Moving from Poverty to Prosperity.” (National Urban League)
- Aparna Mathur, economist at the American Enterprise Institute, and Abby M. McCloskey, founder of McCloskey Policy LLC, made the case that conservative policymakers seeking to increase workforce participation rates should look to the EITC and other family-friendly policies as potential solutions. (Forbes)
- S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) is gathering support for her bill to create a refundable Young Child Tax Credit that would provide families with an additional $1,500 credit for each child under age 3. (The New Haven Register)