News Round Up: April 13, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-income communities and exacerbating economic inequality across the country. Throughout this crisis, TCWF will compile news, legislation, and research on how tax credits and other income-boosting policies can provide much-needed relief for the hardest-hit communities:
- A new issue brief from Prosperity Now analyzed COVID-19’s devastating effect on low-income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities, and offered policy solutions at the state and federal levels. (Prosperity Now)
- A new poll from Data for Progress found that most Americans support monthly cash assistance and other social safety net expansions to help mitigate COVID’s burden on low-income communities. (Data for Progress)
- Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity shared perspectives from several economic policy experts on what Congress should include in any future COVID-19 relief legislation. (Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity)
- To help parents provide financial stability for their children during the crisis, The Urban Institute offered policy recommendations such as cash payments, paid leave, and unemployment. (Urban Institute)
- The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department launched a new online application that allows workers who did not file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return to provide the information required to receive their Economic Impact Payment. (IRS)
- Nicole Rodriguez, research director at New Jersey Policy Perspective, urged the state legislature to consider expanding the value of the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), lowering the eligibility age to 18, expanding the value for workers without dependent children, and expanding eligibility to workers using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, which would benefit more than 400,000 New Jersey households during the COVID-19 pandemic. (North Jersey News)