Discussions continued between key appropriations leaders, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX). Not much has been revealed but Chairperson DeLauro offered some broad positive comments about progress. Like the reconciliation, Democratic leaders including the White House would like a final deal by March 1.
On January 18th, Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy released its newest policy brief detailing the impact of the Child Tax Credit, announcing that the sixth payment kept 3.7 million children out of poverty in the final month of 2021. Researchers at Columbia University have tracked the impact of the CTC over time
The Senate continued to debate how to address voting rights including how to deal with the Senate filibuster while the House focused some attention on the appropriations for the current fiscal year, FY 2022. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) maneuvered to bring a version of voting rights to the floor for debate by using
The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, a part of the American Rescue Plan, delivers $350 billion to state, local, and Tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency. These funds are meant to be used to support families and businesses struggling
While Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) opposition to a continuation of the expanded CTC has put at least a temporary stop on the 2021 version of that tax credit, all qualifying families still have six months of the CTC coming from 2021. The CTC has been federal law since the mid-1990s, but last year’s expansion added
Both houses of Congress return this week as the House joins the Senate in an early return. Facing members is a list of challenges some are a carryover while Covid-19 returns in another variant. On the Build Back Better Reconciliation, the House will have to wait on Senate action and that does not seem likely
With the Build Back Better bill stalled in the Senate, many historic gains for children and families are now in jeopardy, including the proposed investments in child care and early education. The National Women’s Law Center, in partnership with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and other national organizations, has distributed
Has the Child Tax Credit impacted your personal life or the life of a loved one? Personal stories about the direct impact of policies can be an effective strategy in advocating for change with lawmakers, because they cut to the heart of the issue in a way that data often can’t, at least not on
The Center on Policy and Social Policy at Columbia University has released an important new report that rounds up the wide range of available research about the expanded Child Tax Credit. Since the introduction of the expanded credit in July 2021, there has been a significant amount of research conducted to measure the impact on
At first talks between the President of the United States and a single senator last week did not result in an agreement on a reconciliation bill and, as a result, the legislation was delayed until January at the earliest. That senator, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), first appeared to be taking aim at the Child Tax