Joe Biden has set a goal of cutting child poverty in half in 2021, and the first effort, a tax credit, is going through both houses of the legislature now as an addendum of the COVID19 relief bill.
The proposal aims to give families $1,200 per year for three years for each child under age 6 and $1,000 per child for three years for each child of age 7-17. The tax credit would be distributed monthly. The benefit would decrease gradually for parents making $150,000 or, for single parents, $75,000.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) is heading up the legislative effort. “The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and it’s devastating,” he said in a statement.
“We are making the Child Tax Credit more generous, more accessible," he continued. "By paying it out monthly, this money is going to be the difference in a roof over someone’s head or food on their table. This is how the tax code is supposed to work for those who need it most.”
In the Senate, Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is also introducing his own legislation for a "child allowance." His fellow Republicans are putting up some resistance. Surprise! The sticking point there is that the benefit would go to both working and nonworking parents.
So...which do the Republicans not like? Benefits to working parents, or to nonworking parents? I can't even look -- it's too ugly.
The proposal in both houses is still riding the clouds, however: The Senate parliamentarian has the say-so on whether the proposal can be added during reconciliation. The Byrd Rule limits addendums to bills that are "extraneous to budget-related matters."
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