Last week the House Ways and Means Committee released and then worked on perhaps the biggest parts of reconciliation and the Biden Administration’s “Build Back Better” agenda when they published the tax provisions. The tax pieces can be divided into two broad parts, tax deductions and incentives and tax increases to pay for the tax
An important provision in the House Committee version of the CTC allows some flexibility for both birth parents and foster parents. A parent can still receive the CTC for temporary absences “under the facts and circumstances, it is reasonable to assume that the individual will return to reside at the place of abode.” There is
On Wednesday, 15, 2021, over 400 prominent economists outlined their strong support for a permanent extension of the CTC. In part they said: “Childhood poverty is a staggering problem in the United States, affecting approximately one in seven children, and one in five children of color, even before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Children growing up in
While Congress continues to wrestle with a reconciliation package, they also must deal with the start of the fiscal year 2022 on October 1, 2021. Aside from the reconciliation, which doesn’t have an actual deadline, there is a need to provide funding for the new fiscal year by October 1. At the same time Congress
An earlier piece of reconciliation adopted through the House Ways and Means Committee is the creation of a paid family and medical leave program. The version the House Committee has envisioned could start as early as 2023, and lost wages would be replaced on a sliding scale formula based on a worker’s annual income. An employee
Last Wednesday, September 15, 2021, the United States Department of Treasury released a study on the significance of child care to the U.S. economy and to families. The report, The Economics of Child Care Supply in the United States, indicated that for an average family with at least one child under age 5, approximately 13 percent
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI) hosted a Congressional Briefing with Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth Co-chair, Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI). Kenneth Chancey, Policy Manager of NFYI, organized this Congressional Briefing to highlight H.R. 5167. In this legislation, Chafee pandemic funding would extend into 2022, including access to increased funding eligibility to extended youth in foster care
Last week the House Ways and Means Committee and other committees began to work on their parts of the reconciliation package. The Ways and Means Committee began work on their version of family and medical leave, trade, retirement, and Medicare expansion, but they have left other actions for this week. The House Education and Labor started their work
An August analysis based on Census data released after the first Child Tax Credit (CTC) was issued in July indicated that the percentage of American families with kids who report not having enough to eat fell dramatically. The data offer proof that the monthly payments are having a major and immediate impact on millions of households.
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, the House Education and Labor Committee began their work on that Committee’s reconciliation instruction. A key part of their effort is the expansion of child care, pre-kindergarten, and Head Start. The Committee draft starts out with child care funding that would be provided on a sliding scale. Families making