John,

There are at least 19 million reasons to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC)―that’s the number of kids who do not receive the full credit (or any credit) because their families do not earn enough money. As we contemplate the history of racism and ongoing racial discrimination along with lack of opportunity for millions, this statistic stands out for me: nearly half of Black children, along with 4 in 10 American Indian/Alaska Native and more than 1 in 3 Latino children, get less than the full credit or no CTC at all because their families’ incomes are too low.[1]

House and Senate negotiators are currently finalizing a deal that would―as reported―increase the credit for about 80% of these 19 million children and their families and lift an estimated 400,000 children above the poverty line.[2]

While this proposal wouldn’t go as far as the last time Congress expanded the CTC in 2021 as a part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, it is a step towards fixing deficiencies in the current CTC, which provides higher benefits to families earning $400,000 per year than to families earning $15,000.

Under current law, a mother with 2 children earning $15,000 would get $1,875 from the CTC, while higher-earning families receive $4,000 ($2,000 per child). The new proposal raises the $15,000/ 2-child family’s credit to $3,600 for 2023, with the credit equaling the maximum per child in 2025.[1]

Today is MLK Day, a day where we honor the life and service of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who dedicated his life to fighting for the rights and dignity of Black people and all poor people. In his Nobel Peace prize acceptance lecture, Dr. King said:

“There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it… In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny.”[3]

On this MLK Day, send an email to Congress telling them to expand the Child Tax Credit so that it reaches all children; Congress may not get all the way there this time, but millions of children will be helped in an important first step. No child should be too poor to receive the CTC.

The proposed CTC expansion would apply retroactively to 2023, so families filing their taxes this spring would receive the expanded CTC, and increases the maximum credit for low-income families to match what higher-income families get by 2025. Overall, an expanded CTC can help families to keep up with higher costs of living.

Back in 2021, the additional $250 and $300 per month, per child, that Congress provided families through the expanded Child Tax Credit was a lifeline for millions and allowed many to keep their heads above water. In the one year that the expanded Child Tax Credit was in effect, there were 716,000 fewer Black children, 1.2 million fewer Hispanic children, and 820,000 fewer white children in poverty.[4] Research shows that most low-income families spent the expanded CTC on basic necessities like food, utilities, and rent or mortgage payments, as well as education expenses―and families need that help now.

We must keep up the pressure on Congress to do what is morally right and politically popular and expand the Child Tax Credit to lift 400,000 children out of poverty and increase help to millions of children in families with low incomes. Click here to send a direct message to Congress today.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

[1] Any Year-End Tax Legislation Should Expand Child Tax Credit to Cut Child Poverty
[2] Reported Proposal to Expand Child Tax Credit Would Lift as Many as 400,000 Children Above the Poverty Line
[3] Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964
[4]Expansions to Child Tax Credit Contributed to 46% Decline in Child Poverty Since 2020