Washington, DC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15,2013
CONTACTS: William Tranghese (Neal)
202-225-5601 Sara Lonardo (De Lauro )
202-225-3661
Expanded Child Tax Credit Lifted Nearly Two Million Children Out Of Poverty
Richard Neal (D-MA) and Representatives Rosa De Lauro (D-CT) introduced legislation today to make the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) permanent, putting money back in the pockets of working families. The expanded CTC has been in place since 2009, but is scheduled to expire in 2017.
“Since 1997, the Child Tax Credit (CTC) has helped improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. This popular and successful program eases the financial burden that many middle class parents face when raising their children. For more than a decade, the CTC has kept many working families in Massachusetts out of poverty. After expanding and strengthening the tax credit on two separate occasions, I believe Congress should work in a bipartisan manner to make the CTC permanent,” said Neal
“Since Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit in 2009, nearly two million children have been lifted out of poverty,” DeLauro said. “Millions of other working parents have used the additional money in their pocket to improve their children’s lives. We are not just talking abstract numbers; we are talking about money that makes a real difference in the lives of families across America and in the strength of our economy.
“There is no reason we can make permanent an estate tax cut that benefits a miniscule amount of wealthy Americans and not do the same for working families,” she continued. “I urge my colleagues to support this legislation so we can bring some certainty and benefits to the people who need it most.”
The Child Tax Credit Permanency Act would make the CTC expansion that began in the Recovery Act, and was recently extended in the American Taxpayer Relief Act, permanent. It would also index the value of the CTC to inflation to stem the erosion of the credit. In addition to Neal and DeLauro, the legislation is supported by 70 members of the Democratic caucus.
Since 2009, nearly nine million families–inciuding approximately 18 million children–have benefitted from an expanded CTC, including two million children who have been lifted out of poverty.
The CTC was originally created in 1997 to help working families defray some of the costs of raising a family. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Child Tax Credit, together with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), has lifted more children out of poverty than any other federal program. Together, the CTC and the EITC have reduced the poverty rate by 8.3 percent.
Permanently extending and indexing the Child Tax Credit will help millions of American families with children. Today, a family with one full-time minimum wage earner and two children receives a total child tax credit of $1 ,812. If the CTC expansion ends, that credit would drop to $267, a $1,545 loss and the average family claiming the CTC will see their credit drop by $854.
