Durbin, Duckworth Join Introduction Of Legislation To Increase Value Of Tax Credits That Help Working Class Americans
The American Family Act and the Tax Cut for Workers Act would expand the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit to give Americans much-needed financial relief
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined their Senate colleagues to introduce two bills, the American Family Act and the Tax Cut for Workers Act, aimed at expanding tax credits for American families.
“As costs have risen, wages haven’t kept up. And now Republicans want to give tax cuts to billionaires. What we need to do instead is give workers and families more tools to help make ends meet,” said Durbin. “The American Family Act and the Tax Cut for Workers Act would put money back into the pockets of hardworking Americans so they can afford to put food on the table, keep their lights on, and access high-quality child care.”
“When Democrats expanded the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan, we lifted millions of children out of poverty with the stroke of a pen, bringing child poverty rates to the lowest recorded levels in our history,” Duckworth said. “As costs continue to rise, middle-class families are the ones that need relief, not billionaires like Elon Musk and the corporations shipping jobs overseas. I’m proud to join my colleagues in this push to put money back in the pockets of Americans.”
The American Family Act, led by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and cosponsored by Durbin and Duckworth, would permanently expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for middle-class and low-income families, one of the most effective tools to reduce poverty and put money back in the pockets of working families. The 2021 expansion of the CTC in the American Rescue Plan Act, based on the American Family Act, led to a historic reduction in poverty in the United States, particularly for children. Research showed that child poverty fell immediately and substantially to 5.2 percent, its lowest level on record.
Specifically, the American Family Act would:
- Increase the value of the CTC from the current level of $2,000 per child to $6,360 for newborns, $4,320 for children ages one through six, and $3,600 for children age six through 17;
- End the longstanding, discriminatory policy that reduces the value of the CTC for low-income families, ensuring that the families of 17 million low-income children left out of the CTC under current law will receive the same credit as families in the middle class;
- Provide for monthly delivery of the credit so families have access to the credit as bills arrive; and
- Index the CTC for inflation to preserve the value of the credit moving forward.
The Tax Cut for Workers Act, led by U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and cosponsored by Durbin and Duckworth, would cut taxes for working class American without children, who currently receive a much smaller Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) than workers with children. The bill would also extend eligibility for the tax cut to workers under the age of 25 and over the age of 64.
The text of the American Family Act is available HERE and a summary of the bill is available HERE.
The text of the Tax Cut for Workers Act is available HERE.
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