News Round Up: May 16, 2022
Top Story: The D.C. Council recently met to finalize the city’s budget plan for the year, which includes an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that extends its availability to all wage- and age-qualifying workers, including those who file with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. (Washington Post)
- Using the EITC and Child Tax Credit (CTC) as an example, the Center on Poverty and Social Policy released a policy brief depicting how monthly benefit payments would significantly reduce income volatility and child poverty year-round. (Center on Poverty and Social Policy)
- Ned Lamont recently signed into law House Bill 5506 – Connecticut’s FY2023 budget adjustment bill – which includes a $250 Child Tax Credit (CTC) for low- and middle-income households and an expansion of the state EITC from 30.5% to 41.5% of the federal credit. (The Center Square)
- In a recent op-ed, Robert E. Rubin and Jacob J. Lew, two former treasury secretaries, share support for a permanently expanded CTC. (New York Times)
- In a study by Children’s HealthWatch and the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice, preliminary data showed that low-income households with children who received CTC payments reported a higher rate of food security and parents being in good or excellent health in comparison to non-recipients. However, the data also noted disparities in which families were able to receive the tax credit. (Children’s HealthWatch)
- In another recent study from Children’s HealthWatch and Boston University’s School of Public Health, researchers found that the 2021 CTC expansion decreased food insufficiency by 26% in households with children. Once the expansion expired, food insufficiency increased by 12%. (Children’s HealthWatch)
- The CTC web tool – GetCTC – that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) suspended earlier this year is again operational. Even though filing season has ended, the portal was relaunched to give households who qualify for the expanded CTC a chance to receive the full tax return. (Politico)