U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) voted against the bipartisan tax package that was put on the House floor Wednesday. The bill paired expanding a temporary child tax credit for low-income families with boosting three corporate tax breaks, encompassing a roughly $79 billion tax cut package.
The bill was met with broad, bipartisan support and passed on by a vote of 357-70
DeLauro, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee and a longtime champion of the child tax credit, said the bill is inequitable, and she couldn’t support a bill so heavily in favor of corporations over working-class families.
“This bill delivers massive tax cuts for the biggest corporations while denying middle-class families the economic security they had under the expanded monthly child tax credit," DeLauro said. "Let us be unequivocal. This is a reversal of the largest middle-class tax cut in history.”
DeLauro added that at a time when corporations are richer than ever, the idea of having to share the tax split with middle and working-class families is "absurd." She said the bill fails to sufficiently improve the child tax credit and will leave millions of children in preventable poverty.
Previously, the child tax credit was $2,000 per child, but not all of was refundable. The passing of the bill incrementally raises the amount of credit available as a refund every year until it reaches the full $2,000 amount in 2025. The bill also adjusts the topline credit amount to rise with inflation.
On Long Island, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) also did not support his fellow Republicans in the majority. He said he voted against the bill because it failed to include an increase in state and local tax deductions. Known as SALT, the provision would have permitted taxpayers to deduct certain taxes paid to local and state governments, up to $20,000 per year.
LaLota said he refused to waiver on his promise to vote against the bill if it did not include an increase to the SALT cap.
"For months, I promised Long Islanders I would vote against the Wyden-Smith tax package if it did not have a reasonable increase in the SALT deduction cap," LaLota said. "I kept my promise by voting against the SALT-less Wyden-Smith tax bill.”
