Child tax credit close to lapsing as December checks go out

it's going to change everything. It's going to change our whole lives. The money is already *** life changer for so many working families, it will be turned into savings for the house so that we can put *** down payment on the House. House of Representatives passed an infrastructure investment and jobs act. That bill creates jobs while the build back better Act, which has yet to pass provides programs to support everyday families. These bills are all designed to give ordinary people *** fighting chance. Many families were struggling before the pandemic and the economic fallout from it only made life harder. 57.3% of US households making less than $35,000 *** year, experienced income loss compared with 34.6% of those make more than 100 and $50,000 *** year. Since july many us parents have been receiving up to $300 *** month per child. As part of the american rescue plan divided administration's covid stimulus package. That payment is the child tax credit and it's on the table to be extended through 2022 married couples filing jointly, who Make less than $150,000 *** year. And single parents who make less than $112,500 *** year, automatically qualified to receive these payments. In 2021. The American rescue plan will lift half of America's Children out of poverty. It's already working. Child poverty has been cut by 25% since The payments began and child hunger has fallen by 1/3, according to CNBC. This money also provides many families with *** chance to finally afford *** place of their own. It's gonna put us just into that bracket where we can afford to live somewhere outside of government housing. It means we're going to have *** home that we can put *** down payment on *** house and that's something that's for my Children, My entire family, the Biden administration's build back better agenda would extend the child tax credits through 2022. Although the spending proposal has taken some major hits in other areas, no one got everything they wanted, including me. But that's what compromises. The proposed budget has been cut from 3.5 trillion to 1.85 trillion losing popular proposals like two free years of community college cutting prescription drug prices, paid family and medical leave and attacks on billionaires. The framework would still provide universal pre k fight climate change and extend the child tax credit. Working people of this nation in the middle class of this country have been dealt out of the american deal. It's time to deal them back in while the child tax code allows parents to deduct up to $2,000 per child. That wasn't possible for all parents. But how many families do you know? *** cashier waiters, healthcare workers who never got the benefit of the full tax break because they didn't have that much to deduct 80% of those left out were working parents who just didn't make enough money now under the child tax credit. Those working parents can reap that benefit. That's why the american rescue plan. We didn't just expand the amount of the middle class tax cut. We also made it refundable when they're going to give me child tax credits and they say this is for your Children. It's going right back into the economy, recipients may receive *** total of $3000 for kids. Six years and older Children under five receive *** total of $3600. I received $250 For my 13 year old brother. Is that what it is? And then $300 for my three year old daughter. Families are using the money to invest in their children's future, pay for childcare and to cover basic needs. I immediately paid my rent which was late. It's going back into the daycare, it's going into the food, it's going to the grocery store, it's going into um the camp trip that we're gonna take. The payments will continue to be deposited into americans bank accounts every month until the end of 2021 followed by *** lump sum in 2022. They will appear in americans accounts as *** deposit from the I. R. S. T. R. E. ***. S. 3 10 within biden's new framework. The child tax credit would expire at the end of 2022. It's been weeks of negotiating among congressional democrats already though, and it could be weeks still before legislation is fully flushed out and ready for *** vote. If you have not received your 2021 child tax credit yet, you have until november 15th to sign up for december's payment. To do so, go to get c t c dot org.

It’s one of the most far-reaching of all the federal aid programs launched during the COVID-19 pandemic — up to $300 per child going directly into the bank accounts of families on the 15th of every month.But the last checks will go out Wednesday, the expanded child tax credit program expiring unless Congress revives it for 2022. That appears highly uncertain as lawmakers try to push President Joe Biden’s roughly $2 trillion social and environmental bill into law.The swift launch, and potentially quick end, to the bolstered child tax credit highlights the risks of enacting sweeping social policy changes in a politically divisive environment, without consensus to make the changes stick. Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill might not have been praised by voters for adding the new benefit, but they almost surely will be blamed if the money abruptly stops flowing next month.“We need to keep them going,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and chair of the House's New Democrat Coalition. “Families deserve that predictability and certainty.”The child tax credit wasn’t new when Democrats, over the objections of Republicans in Congress, altered the program as part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill shortly after he took office in January.But rarely has it provided the boost to families seen with this year’s changes.For more than 20 years, American taxpayers have been afforded a tax break for their children. Started as a $500 per child write-off under Bill Clinton in 1997, it changed over time and was beefed up under Donald Trump’s GOP tax cuts in 2017. Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased the credit to $3,000 a year, added 17-year-olds and boosted the amount to $3,600 for children under six years old. Most dramatically, it gave the credit to millions of families with low or no income, even if they didn't earn enough money to pay income taxes or pay enough tax to qualify for the refund.Studies suggest the child tax credit expansions are expected to cut child poverty by 40% — with 9 of 10 American children benefiting. All told, some 4.1 million children are on track to be lifted above the poverty line, according to analysis from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.After the first checks started arriving in July, about one-third of recipient families used the money during the first few months to pay down outstanding debt, along with paying for school supplies and child care, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Census Bureau.Families in New Mexico, which has one of the country's highest child poverty rates, spent nearly 46% of their child tax credit money on food, a study by Washington University in St. Louis’ Social Policy Institute found.“It says a lot about what families are worried about,” said Sharon Kaye, communications director for New Mexico Voices for Children. “This is hugely important to a lot of families.”Republicans are fully opposed to Biden’s larger policy bill, which would extend the tax credit, arguing the overall health, education and climate change package is too big and costly at a time of rising inflation.On Tuesday, Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, said his side was fine letting the policy lapse as the coronavirus crisis eases and the temporary aid goes away.“The thing I don’t think you want is a huge spike in spending," Thune told reporters. “And that would probably be the most obvious example of an inflationary type policy.”Faced with Republican opposition, Biden is trying to pass the roughly $2 trillion package with Democrats alone, which the House has already done. But the path in the evenly split 50-50 Senate is more difficult, with no room for dissent.Biden has been in talks with one key holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin, who appears to be the final obstacle for Democrats trying to pass the big bill by Christmas.Asked specifically about the expiring tax credit this week, Manchin did not respond to repeated questions about the potential loss.One Democrat who has had “many, many, many conversations" with Manchin is Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, who said the West Virginian "is not at this moment a fan of the Child Tax Credit.”Bennet said he hopes Manchin will come to see that the extension would help the country because it would enable more parents to afford child care and work. “My hope is that with the one-year extension of the enhanced credit he will become a fan and we’ll see,” he said.When it became law this year, the expansion of the child tax credit was hailed as a potential philosophical shift in the way that government assistance programs work by emphasizing a direct, no-strings cash support.Instead, the program delivers discretionary cash directly into parents’ bank accounts, leaving the parents to decide how best to use it. Recipients spend it on food, rent, school supplies or even recreational activities. Proponents described it as an element of trust that had been lacking in much of the American social safety net — relying on parents to make the right decisions on their family’s needs.Robert Greenstein, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, compared the child tax credit to America’s signature safety net programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — which have been adjusted and changed over the years to become mainstays in American life. He said there are few policies that are more important.Greenstein said the benefit flows not just to the families receiving the cash, but has the potential to bring long-term economic benefits. "We’ll end up having healthier, better-educated generations of children who can be more productive workers in the U.S. economy of future decades," he said.“People are often skeptical — the government doesn’t do things right,” he said. ”This is an example of something that they really got right.”With the last checks now slated for Wednesday, Democrats are rushing to ensure that Jan. 15 checks will still land in families' bank accounts. The Treasury Department has warned lawmakers that Dec. 28 is the deadline to pass the bill and ensure no disruption, though lawmakers have suggested payments could be made retroactively if Biden's package stalls.Emma Mehrabi, director of poverty policy at the Children’s Defense Fund, called the potential interruption of payments “a real slap in the face for families in need.”She said, "There is no other tool in our toolkit that has significantly reduced child poverty for decades.”___Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

But the last checks will go out Wednesday, the expanded child tax credit program expiring unless Congress revives it for 2022. That appears highly uncertain as lawmakers try to push President Joe Biden’s roughly $2 trillion social and environmental bill into law.

The swift launch, and potentially quick end, to the bolstered child tax credit highlights the risks of enacting sweeping social policy changes in a politically divisive environment, without consensus to make the changes stick. Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill might not have been praised by voters for adding the new benefit, but they almost surely will be blamed if the money abruptly stops flowing next month.

“We need to keep them going,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., and chair of the House's New Democrat Coalition. “Families deserve that predictability and certainty.”

The child tax credit wasn’t new when Democrats, over the objections of Republicans in Congress, altered the program as part of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill shortly after he took office in January.

But rarely has it provided the boost to families seen with this year’s changes.

For more than 20 years, American taxpayers have been afforded a tax break for their children. Started as a $500 per child write-off under Bill Clinton in 1997, it changed over time and was beefed up under Donald Trump’s GOP tax cuts in 2017. Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased the credit to $3,000 a year, added 17-year-olds and boosted the amount to $3,600 for children under six years old. Most dramatically, it gave the credit to millions of families with low or no income, even if they didn't earn enough money to pay income taxes or pay enough tax to qualify for the refund.

Studies suggest the child tax credit expansions are expected to cut child poverty by 40% — with 9 of 10 American children benefiting. All told, some 4.1 million children are on track to be lifted above the poverty line, according to analysis from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

After the first checks started arriving in July, about used the money during the first few months to pay down outstanding debt, along with paying for school supplies and child care, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Families in New Mexico, which has one of the country's highest child poverty rates, spent nearly 46% of their child tax credit money on food, a study by Washington University in St. Louis’ Social Policy Institute found.

“It says a lot about what families are worried about,” said Sharon Kaye, communications director for New Mexico Voices for Children. “This is hugely important to a lot of families.”

Republicans are fully opposed to Biden’s larger policy bill, which would extend the tax credit, arguing the overall health, education and climate change package is too big and costly at a time of rising inflation.

On Tuesday, Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, said his side was fine letting the policy lapse as the coronavirus crisis eases and the temporary aid goes away.

“The thing I don’t think you want is a huge spike in spending," Thune told reporters. “And that would probably be the most obvious example of an inflationary type policy.”

Faced with Republican opposition, Biden is trying to pass the roughly $2 trillion package with Democrats alone, which the House has already done. But the path in the evenly split 50-50 Senate is more difficult, with no room for dissent.

Biden has been in talks with one key holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin, who appears to be the final obstacle for Democrats trying to pass the big bill by Christmas.

Asked specifically about the expiring tax credit this week, Manchin did not respond to repeated questions about the potential loss.

One Democrat who has had “many, many, many conversations" with Manchin is Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, who said the West Virginian "is not at this moment a fan of the Child Tax Credit.”

Bennet said he hopes Manchin will come to see that the extension would help the country because it would enable more parents to afford child care and work. “My hope is that with the one-year extension of the enhanced credit he will become a fan and we’ll see,” he said.

When it became law this year, the expansion of the child tax credit was hailed as a potential philosophical shift in the way that government assistance programs work by emphasizing a direct, no-strings cash support.

Instead, the program delivers discretionary cash directly into parents’ bank accounts, leaving the parents to decide how best to use it. Recipients spend it on food, rent, school supplies or even recreational activities. Proponents described it as an element of trust that had been lacking in much of the American social safety net — relying on parents to make the right decisions on their family’s needs.

Robert Greenstein, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, compared the child tax credit to America’s signature safety net programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — which have been adjusted and changed over the years to become mainstays in American life. He said there are few policies that are more important.

Greenstein said the benefit flows not just to the families receiving the cash, but has the potential to bring long-term economic benefits. "We’ll end up having healthier, better-educated generations of children who can be more productive workers in the U.S. economy of future decades," he said.

“People are often skeptical — the government doesn’t do things right,” he said. ”This is an example of something that they really got right.”

With the last checks now slated for Wednesday, Democrats are rushing to ensure that Jan. 15 checks will still land in families' bank accounts. The Treasury Department has warned lawmakers that Dec. 28 is the deadline to pass the bill and ensure no disruption, though lawmakers have suggested payments could be made retroactively if Biden's package stalls.

Emma Mehrabi, director of poverty policy at the Children’s Defense Fund, called the potential interruption of payments “a real slap in the face for families in need.”

She said, "There is no other tool in our toolkit that has significantly reduced child poverty for decades.”

___

Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

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