Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) in introducing the Working Families Tax Relief Act, legislation that would cut taxes for low- and middle-income American workers and families by expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The American Rescue Plan, which Warner and Kaine helped pass, expanded these tax credits during the pandemic, but the expansion expired in December 2021; this bill would make the expansions permanent to continue to help families.
The expanded CTC provided up to $300 in monthly tax refunds per qualifying child to help low- and middle-income families with children under 18 years old pay for basic necessities like food, housing and utility bills, education costs, and health care. It helped lift 2.1 million children out of poverty. In Virginia, the expanded CTC helped 1.7 million children— including 249,000 children living in poverty. The expanded EITC, which lowers taxes for low-income childless workers, provided up to $1,500 in annual tax relief to more than 400,000 workers without children in Virginia.
“The expansion of the CTC and EITC helped many workers and families in Virginia pay for necessities like food, housing, and health care,” said the senators. “Permanently expanding these tax credits will offer more financial stability to families, keep children out of poverty, and put money back in the pockets of millions of hardworking American families and workers.”
Specifically, the Working Families Tax Relief Act would:
- Increase the annual CTC to $3,000 for low- and middle-income families with children ages 6-17 and $3,600 for low- and middle-income families with children ages 0-5, which is the rate it was in 2021. This CTC would be delivered in monthly payments as it was in 2021, providing a reliable source of financial stability.
- Make the CTC “fully refundable” so that the lowest-income families can receive the credit. Under current law, many of these families are not able to benefit from the CTC.
- Nearly triple the maximum value of the EITC for low-income workers without children.
- Extend the EITC to workers starting at age 19 and eliminate the maximum age. The EITC can currently only be claimed if you are between 25-65 years old.
In addition to Warner, Kaine, Brown, Bennet, Booker, Warnock, Wyden, and Durbin, the legislation was cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
Warner and Kaine have long supported efforts to lower costs and improve tax fairness for Virginia workers and families. The senators helped pass the American Rescue Plan, which originally expanded the CTC and EITC. Expanding the CTC and EITC are priorities in Kaine’s Roadmap to Recovery, a legislative action plan to help America build on the progress made since the pandemic.
Full text of the bill is available here.