UPDATE: Child Tax Credit Stalls

ELCA Advocacy teams and Lutherans from across the country have been hard at work advocating for an expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC). This policy has the potential to lift half a million children out of poverty; in Arizona alone, more than 157,000 children’s lives would be improved by the CTC.

We have kept you updated on the bill’s progress, sending out an Action Alert on the topic just last week. Unfortunately, in one of the last meetings before congress went into August recess, senators voted against advancing the bill.

This does not mean that the bill is dead; senators just voted not to bring it to a floor vote. There is still a chance, however, for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to call another vote when Congress reconvenes. If the CTC were to pass that vote, arguments would then be considered on the floor.

Even though the policy is widely supported by Americans and contains some critical provisions for families in poverty, many lawmakers objected to the current version of the policy because they wished to see more work requirements attached to the tax breaks. Contrastingly, Senator Bernie Sanders voted against the bill because, in its current version, he believes it doesn’t treat high- and low-income families equitably.

Our stance is that any of the versions of the CTC that we have seen are better than no CTC; when the last CTC expired, hundreds of thousands of more families struggled to put food on the table. We know for many of our neighbors, the need for relief is immediate.

It is more important than ever for us to pressure our Senators to bring this issue back to the table and pass the CTC we need. Click here to find our Action Alerts!