Congress didn’t just fail to extend child tax credits. It failed our children | Editorial
Kids will be the innocent victims now that Congress has failed to extend the child tax credit — just as COVID cases surge again.
They’ll suffer more poverty, go hungry more and feel the stress when their parents can’t pay their bills.
Child advocates say the pandemic benefit package has been a success. The checks that families receive have pumped money into the economy since July, helping us all. But apparently none of that is enough for lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to continue providing the kind of assistance that actually reduced child poverty.
It’s stunning. And it’s sad.
Congress expanded the child tax credits under the Biden administration, part of the American Rescue Plan, to help families keep afloat as we entered the second year of the pandemic. The benefit rose from $2,000 a child to $3,600 a child. Checks came monthly, and the pool of people who qualified for the program was broadened to include millions who had made too much money — yes, that’s nonsensical — to get the full benefit. The bulk of those who had been left behind? Black and brown kids, and children being raised by single mothers, demographics that should hit home in Miami.
Families will suffer
For months, Democrats had vowed to make the tax credits permanent. But with Congress’ inability to pass the Build Back Better Act in the Senate, and with it, the extension of the tax credits, families are going to find themselves abruptly back where they were in 2020.
Build Back Better, the wide-ranging social-policy, climate and tax legislation, is unable to go forward in the 50-50 Senate because Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, opposes it. And he specifically opposes the child tax credit extension, raising objections about the cost and, as the Wall Street Journal reported, voicing concerns that the money could be used to increase opioid use.
Half of the tax credits were sent as monthly payments of up to $300. The second half is claimed when parents file income tax returns.
Some critics say the program became too broad because it included couples who can make up to $150,000. That’s a fair concern. But lawmakers should fix it, not scrap the whole thing.
Others have said the money from the tax credits would reduce parents’ incentive to work. A study by the Columbia University Center for Poverty and Social Policy found no evidence of that. There are different economists who say the impact on the workforce isn’t so clear cut.
Used for food, school
But there are some concrete indications that the money is being used for basic needs. The U.S. Census Bureau found that many families were spending the money on childcare and school expenses, to pay off debt or to pay for food. Not exactly frivolous stuff.
The program isn’t perfect. But it has helped millions of American children, including those right here in Miami. It has provided support to the poor and lower middle class. By failing to extend the child tax credit, Congress is failing our children.