Weekly News Round-up: June 13, 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.
- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced legislation to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless workers and lower the eligibility age from 25 to 21. Brown also reiterated his support for allowing low-income families to receive a portion of their EITC in advance payments (Politico, The Hill).
- House Republicans this week unveiled their vision for federal safety net programs and lifted up the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as one of the most effective ways to lower the poverty rate and increase opportunity for low-income families. But some of the report’s suggestions for reforming other antipoverty programs like food stamps and Social Security drew criticism from Democrats (TCWF, Washington Post, Washington Post 2, USA Today, AEI).
- California Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas and Joseph Sanberg, the chair of CalEITC4Me, wrote encouraging the state legislature to raise the income ceiling to collect the EITC, which is currently $14,000 per year (Los Angeles Daily News).
- New Hampshire Maggie Hassan (D) introduced her Innovate NH 2.0 economic plan, which includes plans to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and create a new $1,000 credit for families making under $250,000 per year (Concord Monitor).
- Lawmakers in New Jersey continued to debate legislation to pay for the state’s transportation fund. A bipartisan group of senators announced a plan that would fund the transportation bill by raising the gas tax while also boosting the state’s EITC from 30 to 35 percent of the federal credit to offset the increased tax burden on low-income families (Politicker NJ, com).