U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) wants to bring back the expanded child tax credit. The congresswoman is part of a delegation that introduced it as part of the American Family Act last week.
The proposal would increase the value of the child tax credit from $2,000 to $6,360 for newborns, $4,320 for children ages one through six, and $3,600 for children ages six through 17. The payments would be delivered monthly, not annually.
The expanded monthly credit was tried for 6 months during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
“The antidote to child poverty and inflation gave real money back to millions of working families in the form of a monthly check, cutting child hunger by a fourth and bringing child poverty down to its lowest recorded levels in history,” DeLauro said at a child care facility in West Haven on Tuesday.
If lawmakers don’t pass an updated version, the credit will revert back to $1,000 this fall.
Mark Abraham, who leads the nonprofit data research organization Data Haven, said the 2021 credit immediately supported Connecticut families. Nearly 380,000 families in the state received more than $865 million over six months.
“The food insecurity rate for families was around 17% every year. It dropped to 12% in 2021 in those six months when the credit was active, and then it doubled. It's now 24%,” Abraham said.
An expanded child tax credit has some bipartisan support, including Vice President J.D. Vance (R). But some Republicans have said the credit doesn't do enough for working-class people.
The party has also been focused on cutting costs across the federal government this session.
