WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons today co-sponsored the American Family Act of 2019 to overhaul the existing Child Tax Credit and make it a dramatically more effective tool for supporting middle-class families with kids and reducing child poverty. The bill was introduced with 36 original Senate cosponsors and 174 original House cosponsors, indicating a major show of support from across the Democratic Caucus.
The bill would create a new $300 per-month, per-child credit for children under 6 years of age and a $250 per-month, per-child credit for children under 17 years of age—increasing the credit for all children and, for the first time, making the credit fully refundable.
“I am proud to work with my colleagues in introducing the American Family Act to improve the Child Tax Credit, a powerful anti-poverty tool that helps working parents with children,” said Sen. Coons. “Unfortunately, the Republican tax bill was tilted in favor of wealthy individuals. This bill, as part of a broader tax reform that maintains or increases revenue, has the potential to cut our country’s child poverty rate nearly in half and virtually eliminate the share of children living in extreme poverty. This would create lasting improvements in child health and educational outcomes, and I look forward to advancing this family-based legislation.”
Background
The American Family Act would replace the current Child Tax Credit with an expanded version based on the latest research about what works to improve outcomes for children. The Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy recently released a report that found the American Family Act would cut child poverty by 38 percent.
Specifically, the legislation would:
The following organizations have endorsed the American Family Act: Center for American Progress, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Center for Law and Social Policy, Child Care Aware of America, Children’s Defense Fund, Community Change Action, Economic Security Project, First Focus, MomsRising, National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Women’s Law Center, Niskanen Center, Service Employees International Union, Zero and to Three.
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