We are deeply saddened at the passing of Susan Rees, a great builder of the Coalition on Human Needs who served as Executive Director from 1983 to 1991.
We are so grateful Susan’s family has suggested contributions be made to CHN in Susan’s memory to continue the fight for justice.
If you would like to contribute to honor Susan Rees, please use the form below and email Radha Rath at rrath@chn.org to let us know you are contributing in Susan’s memory.
You may also contribute by mail at the following address: Coalition on Human Needs, 1825 K Street, NW, Suite 411, Washington, DC 20006.
Struggling Families Need an Immediate Increase to the Child Tax Credit
Tell Congress:
“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve the lives and futures of millions of U.S. children and cut childhood poverty in half. I urge you to vote in favor of the expansion of the Child Tax Credit and raise the Earned Income Tax Credit for millions of struggling workers and families at this time of urgent need.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has created incredible health and economic problems for millions of U.S. families. We need to act now!
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “President Biden’s $1.9 trillion emergency relief plan includes a Child Tax Credit expansion that would lift 9.9 million children above or closer to the poverty line, including 2.3 million Black children, 4.1 million Latino children, and 441,000 Asian American children.”
If passed, this expansion of the Child Tax Credit would be available to 27 million children whose families don’t currently get the full credit because their parents don’t earn enough. And it would raise the maximum Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,000 for children between ages 6 and 17, and to $3,600 for children under 6.
These changes are long overdue and, if passed, would cut childhood poverty nearly in half.
Congress can also help more than 17 million of the poorest adults, because the new proposal would increase their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). These are front-line workers without dependent children―cashiers, food preparers, and home health aides―who either now don’t qualify at all or get so little that the taxes they pay can push them deeper into poverty.
Take a look at this example of why we need to change the existing law:
In 2019, those earning between $10,000 and $20,000 received an average total of $850 from the Child Tax Credit while those earning between $75,000 and $100,000 typically received more than three times that amount, or the full $2,000 per child.
As part of the new legislation, the Child Tax Credit would no longer be tied to a minimum amount of family earnings, so families whose income is low would receive the full amount. We will no longer say to families: sorry, you’re too poor to get help.
The Credit would be increased from $2,000 to $3,000 for children 6 years of age through age 17; and increased to $3,600 for families with children younger than 6.
For workers without children, their maximum EITC would rise from about $530 to $1,500. A cashier earning $9 an hour at 30 hours a week now gets only $160 in her EITC; she still pays taxes that push her below the poverty line. The proposal before Congress would increase her EITC to $1,145, enough to edge her over the poverty line.
Together, we must demand Congress act swiftly to help U.S. families that are struggling in this terrible pandemic.
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest about the COVID relief and full-year funding legislation from Congress, and President Trump’s objections on the package. To download a PDF of the report, click here.
In This Edition
Between March 27, when Congress enacted the CARES Act in response to the pandemic, and December 21, when Congress finally passed more relief, the coronavirus death toll rose from nearly 1,300 to over 320,000, with over 18 million confirmed U.S. cases. By the end of December, at least 12 million more workers will lose unemployment benefits and the moratorium on evictions will expire, threatening millions of families, if the new bill is not signed into law. But the day after Congress acted, President Trump surprised many by calling the bill a “disgrace” and objecting to a number of provisions. READ MORE »
One of the biggest sticking points in the extremely prolonged negotiations over COVID relief, the final bill included a one-time Economic Impact payment of $600 per adult and child in households. Unlike the previous $1,200 payment, this version would not deny payments to citizens or green-card holders if their spouse or other household member were undocumented. President Trump denounced this part of the COVID relief bill, because he wants $2,000 per adult payments and opposes including the mixed status families. READ MORE »
Anti-hunger advocates had pressed for a 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/formerly called food stamps) maximum benefits since the onset of the pandemic. Although some increases in SNAP were provided earlier, this basic increase was not agreed to until this new package, which provides it for six months. The bill also excludes unemployment benefits from being counted as income in determining SNAP benefits and eligibility, and allows income-eligible college students to qualify for SNAP. READ MORE »
About 14 million people will see their last unemployment check on December 26 if the current benefits are not extended.
The pandemic has made it clear that even minimum economic security depends both on access to adequate unemployment benefits and access to paid leave. This bill does provide a tax credit for employers who do provide paid leave, butwithout the requirement for employers to do so. Extending required paid leave for 3 months would cost only $1.8 billion. READ MORE »
The moratorium on evictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control expires at the end of December. The COVID relief bill would extend the moratorium through the end of January. Significantly, the bill also provides $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, long sought by housing advocates who recognize that whenever the eviction ban ends, tenants who have accumulated one or more months of back rent will be unable to pay. READ MORE »
One new provision contained within the 5,500-page bill not directly connected to COVID relief would limit surprise medical billing starting in 2022. The legislation will prevent patients from being billed large amounts from health care providers not in their insurance network whose services were used in the course of treatment. READ MORE »
One of the biggest disappointments in the COVID relief package is the inability to include more help to states, localities, territories and tribes. Governments across the country have experienced large revenue shortfalls and have laid off about 1.3 million workers since the pandemic began. These workers include educators, public health and safety workers, unemployment insurance administrators, sanitation and transportation personnel, among others. READ MORE »
Child care providers have struggled during the pandemic as parents lost jobs or had to work at home. Child care experts have estimated that $50 billion would be needed to help providers return to a sustainable funding level. The COVID relief package provides $10 billion in emergency funding that states can use to make child care more affordable to parents, assist child care providers, and allow for targeted assistance for families of frontline essential workers. READ MORE »
Low-income earners and people with student loan debt will benefit from the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed late Sunday night, as will corporations who will benefit from a bevy of deductions, some new, some extensions of existing deductions. READ MORE »