Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) reintroduced the American Family Act, legislation that would make the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit permanent. The Child Tax Credit is part of a larger tax package that Congress hopes to consider in early 2024.

“When we expanded and improved the Child Tax Credit in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan, it provided unprecedented economic security for American families. It was the largest tax cut for middle-class and working families in generations,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). “These monthly payments helped parents pay bills, keep healthy and nutritiousfood on the table, afford school clothes and supplies, pay for a music lesson or a new pair of cleats, or manage a mortgage or rent payment. It lifted nearly 4 million children out of poverty in one year alone. It worked, and it is time we get it working for families and children once more. I am proud to join Congresswoman DelBene and Congressman Torres in reintroducing this critical legislation once more.”

The new proposal would:

• Remove an earnings requirement from the full credit.
• Expand the maximum child tax credit to $250 per month.
• Continue the young-child tax credit of $300 per month for children 6 years old and younger.
• Provide a "baby bonus," an extra $2,000 in the month a new baby is born.

A fact sheet can be found here.

Opponents argue this amounts to an expansion of the welfare state and a permanent child allowance will make parents less likely to work and reduce the number of two-parent households, since there would be a stream of income from the government. That the U.S. budget deficit surpassed $1 trillion for the first five months of the fiscal year, and this does not include the massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that will further widen the deficit by $1.16 trillion this year and $528.5 billion in 2022. We cannot keep up this out of control spending, and must so some fiscal responsibility. "When you look at the priorities of Speaker Pelosi, it's to spend as much money as quickly as possible on her socialist agenda," Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) said. “If pulling families out of poverty were as simple as handing moms and dads a check, we would have solved poverty a long time ago,” Sen. Rubio (R-FL).

Should Congress pass legislation that would make the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit permanent?