New Scorecard Finds Congress is Divided on Anti-Poverty Bills

The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law released its annual Poverty Scorecard, which found that Congress is more polarized than ever when it comes to anti-poverty policy.

The Scorecard, which gives each member of Congress a grade based on their support of major anti-poverty legislation, found that Congress is almost completely divided when it comes to legislation that benefits low-income families. Ninety-five percent of senators and 98 percent of House members received a score of A, D, or F meaning that the vast majority of Congress is either strongly for or strongly against these bills.

It looks like tax credits for working families may be among the only anti-poverty programs Republicans and Democrats agree on. In 2015, Congress took one of the most monumental steps towards reducing poverty in the past 20 years when it passed legislation to make permanent expiring provisions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit, and politicians from both sides of the aisle support expanding the EITC to childless workers.

To learn more about the Poverty Scorecard, join the conversation on Twitter using #2016PovertyScorecard.