News Round Up: November 18, 2019
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues:
U.S. Representative Danny Davis (D-IL-7) introduced the “Foster Opportunity EITC Act of 2019, which strengthens the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for workers without dependent children by increasing the value of the credit and the phaseout income. It also lowers the eligibility age to 19, and 18 in the case of homeless youth and qualified foster youth. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. (Congress.Gov)
- The National Women’s Law Center released a set of reports exploring the relationship between tax policy and gender and racial equity. The report recommends strengthening refundable tax credits to mitigate structural inequities in the federal tax code. (NWLC, TCWF)
- New Jersey Policy Perspective released a new report on how the state’s EITC can be improved and expanded to benefit workers without dependent children. The report recommends lowering the minimum age of eligibility from 25 to 18 and increasing the credit’s value and income limit. On the heels of that report, two new bills were introduced in the state legislature by State Senator Joseph Lagana (D-Bergen) and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Mercer). The first piece of legislation would increase the value of the state credit from 40 to 50 percent of the federal credit. The second bill would lower the age of eligibility for the state EITC from 25 to 18.
- A new book, “Putting Government in its Place: The Case for a New Deal 3.0,” proposes a new vision for the U.S.’s economic policy. The book’s author, David Reimer, offers several policy recommendations such as restructuring the EITC by combining the credit with the Child Tax Credit; creating a new, larger refundable credit for all workers, particularly workers without dependent children; and eliminating the current EITC’s high phase-out rate and marriage penalty. (Putting Government In Its Place)