News Round-up: October 24, 2016
Here are some highlights from the past week’s news and upcoming events on family tax credit issues.
- On Election Day, Washington State residents will vote on a referendum to fund the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by enacting a carbon tax. Washington enacted a state-level EITC in 2008 called the Working Families’ Tax Rebate (WFTR), but has yet to secure a funding mechanism for the credit. The referendum calls for a flat carbon tax that would be levied on businesses and individuals in the form of a gas tax and a tax on utilities. This has led progressive activists to disagree over the tax’s potential burden on the same low-wage workers the WFTR aims to help (Vox, The Seattle Times, The Olympian, The Bend Bulletin).
- A group of nine bipartisan economists called for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to be replaced by a universal benefit program. This benefit, which would amount to $250 per month for each American child, would be administered like Social Security, and, according to these economists, guarantee a “minimum level of well-being” for all children (New York Times, Nonprofit Quarterly).
- Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, wrote an opinion piece encouraging lawmakers to support legislation to expand the federal EITC to Puerto Rico, which is experiencing an economic crisis (The Hill).
- Thomas Quinn, a candidate for the State House in Missouri, announced his support for the creation of a state EITC (Springfield News Leader).
- Evan McMullin, an independent candidate for president, wrote about how growing up in a working-class family has influenced his views on antipoverty programs, including his strong support of the EITC (Fortune).
- The Tax Policy Center took a deep dive into how the EITC favors families with children (Tax Policy Center).