WASHINGTON – Several Democrats in the House and Senate are trying to get back their monthly cash payments to parents as part of a year-end government funding bill that Congress may pass in the coming weeks.
It’s not clear how the group will overcome the same obstacles that prevented it from continuing to pay last year: opposition from Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) and all Senate Republicans.
Nonetheless, the group held a press conference Wednesday to tout its efforts.
Senator Cory Booker (New Jersey), Senator Michael Bennett (Colorado), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), Susan DelBene (Washington) and Richie Torres (New York).
The expanded child tax credit paid most parents in the US $300 per child each month from July through December 2021. This represents America’s experiment with the kind of child benefits that most other wealthy countries have been giving parents for decades.
This money greatly alleviated the family’s material hardships and promoted child poverty. to the lowest level ever.
“No other policy that we enacted here in Washington, D.C., has done so much to so many people so quickly,” Torres said.
But the Democrats were unable to extend this boon into this year because they couldn’t get Manchin on board. Payments stopped and child poverty reappeared.
The plan to tie the tax credit to other tax regimes and stick the whole thing to the broader government funding bill is problematic. The funding bill itself may not come to fruition.
“We need an omnibus to do this,” Brown told reporters after the event, referring to an omnibus spending bill that would fund the government until next year.
Also, Democrats need to get at least 10 Republicans. That’s because the fundraising bill would pass using normal Senate procedure, not the special budget rules Democrats used to pass the bill with just 50 votes in her September.
Adding a tax-increasing package to a blanket financing bill would cost a lot of money, something Republicans sometimes resist. The child tax credit alone costs $100 billion annually.
But corporate groups are pushing for Congress to restore tax breaks on research and development spending.
And to appease Republicans, they could try to move a smaller version of the child tax credit by excluding some households or offering smaller benefits. declined to say what changes Democrats might accept, but argued the trade could work.
“The business world is like, ‘Go!
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) said Wednesday that the child tax credit remains a priority for Senate Democrats if they win 51 seats instead of just 50.
“I’m not going to speculate about what we will do in the next Congress,” Schumer said. “In general, the child tax credit is something that many of us are passionate about and would love to see happen.”
