You could get up to $3,600 per child under new proposal from Democrats. What to know
Top Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday are expected to unveil legislation that would provide up to $3,600 per child to millions of families as part of President Joe Biden’s larger $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan.
The proposal, headed by Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, would give families $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 in tax benefits over the course of a year, according to The Washington Post, which first obtained a copy of the bill. The Internal Revenue Service would send the payments out monthly starting in July.
Single parents making up to $75,000 a year and couples making up to $150,000 a year would be eligible for the full benefit, according to CNN, which also obtained a copy of the bill. Payments would phase out after that.
The payments would boost the current $2,000 child tax credit. The current credit phases out for single parents making an adjusted gross income over $200,000 and couples making over $400,000. Under the Democrats’ proposal, the phaseout for the current credits would remain the same, The Washington Post reports.
“The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and it’s devastating,” Neal, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement to CNN. “This money is going to be the difference in a roof over someone’s head or food on their table. This is how the tax code is supposed to work for those who need it most.”
The House Ways and Means Committee tweeted about the expected proposal Monday.
“The #COVID19 pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and they need relief now,” it tweeted.
The credit seems likely to get enough approval to be included in the coronavirus relief package, The New York Times reports, and could gain at least some bipartisan support as Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah introduced a similar measure last week.
The bill is expected as Democrats have moved forward with passing Biden’s relief plan without Republican support.
On Friday, the Senate passed a budget resolution 51-50 along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tie-breaking vote. The resolution will go to the House, and after it’s ratified, congressional committees will draft the relief bill. The Budget Committee will create a final version, which will go to the House and Senate for final approval.
Some lawmakers have balked at the cost of Biden’s $1.9 trillion package and questioned its timing given the passage of the $900 billion relief package late last year. Last week, a group of 10 Republican senators unveiled a slimmed-down, $618 billion counteroffer that includes less aid and smaller stimulus checks that would go to fewer Americans.
But passing Biden’s package through reconciliation — a process that allows for “expedited consideration” of matters related to spending, taxes and debt — will allow the legislation to pass with a simple majority instead of 60 votes. The U.S. Senate is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, and Harris serves as the tiebreaker.
Boosting the child tax credit is included in Biden’s relief plan, which he unveiled in January.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that the expected proposal is “emergency funding” when asked if the White House supports making the credit a permanent benefit.
“It’s a central priority of his first legislative proposal to cut child poverty in half this year, and that’s why he included a child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan,” Psaki said. “But that’s again emergency funding and something that will help people get through this period of time.”
His plan includes $1,400 direct payments to most Americans. Biden has signaled he’s open to more narrowly targeting the payments — but not to decreasing the amount.
Some lawmakers have proposed phasing out the payments for people making at least $50,000 a year, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday suggested a compromise that would cap eligibility at an individual income of around $60,000 per year.
Biden’s proposal also includes a $400 weekly unemployment boost through September, $415 billion toward pandemic response and COVID-19 vaccinations, roughly $440 billion for small businesses and communities and $130 billion for schools. It also includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, but Biden has previously signaled that he doesn’t believe the minimum wage increase will be included in the final version of the $1.9 trillion package due to rules on reconciliation.
But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told CNN that “we have a room full of lawyers working as hard as we can to make the case to the parliamentarian that, in fact, raising the minimum wage will have significant budget implications and, in fact, should be consistent with reconciliation rules.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 10:38 AM with the headline "You could get up to $3,600 per child under new proposal from Democrats. What to know."
