Weekly News Round-up: March 7, 2016
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues. Remember – you also can track news coverage throughout the week by visiting our website, where you can filter news by a specific credit or state.
- Momentum continued to grow around plans to expand the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to childless workers, which President Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan have both endorsed. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities wrote that childless workers and noncustodial parents are the only group of Americans who are consistently taxed into poverty – a problem an increased EITC could help mitigate (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Fiscal Times).
- Register now for Thursday’s webinar from TCWF and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The webinar, Putting Your Best Foot Forward on EITC: New Research on Messages that Work, will address how to run effective EITC campaigns using strong messaging. It will be held from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST.
- House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, held a press conference calling on Republican lawmakers to support effective anti-poverty legislation like the Child Tax Credit (Congressman Jim McGovern).
- Republicans and Democrats in Maryland moved closer to agreement on proposals to expand the state’s EITC to childless workers (The Washington Post, Baltimore Sun).
- The Oregon House of Representatives passed a bill to increase the state’s EITC from 8 to 11 percent for families with children under age three (KTVZ).
- The Center for American Progress applauded Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who introduced a bill to create a federal Young Child Tax Credit (Center for American Progress).
- Nick Timiraos of The Wall Street Journal suggested the EITC could be more effective at reducing poverty if the credit’s value was dependent on the cost of living in a taxpayer’s city (Wall Street Journal).
- Harry J. Holzer of the Brookings Institution presented several proposals to help low-income families, including expanding the EITC, and encouraged the Democratic presidential candidates to endorse them (Brookings Institution).