House Dems bristle at proposed Child Tax Credit provisions
As Senate Dems and the House GOP try to nail down a tax deal, they’ll face pushback from House Dems who want the version of the CTC Biden signed into law in 2021.
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Several House Democrats have expressed skepticism or voiced outright opposition to a proposed tax deal that would include a provision on the Child Tax Credit, a policy congressional Democrats passed and President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.
The credit slashed child poverty by almost half in the six months it was enacted. Since its expiration, Democrats and the White House have worked to restore the policy that sent direct cash payments to working families to cover essentials, including child care, groceries and utilities.
Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has made the inclusion of a version of the CTC the centerpiece of a tax plan he and House Ways & Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) have been negotiating for months. Republicans have pined for business tax breaks for research and development with the same fervor as Dems have with the CTC. After months of closed-door talks, a deal finally felt real in the past few days.
But as House Democrats learned the Wyden CTC is less generous than the Biden version passed in the American Rescue Plan, resistance to the deal has hardened. Some estimates claim corporations would receive $4 in tax breaks for every $1 for families. And as with most social programs, conservatives have suggested beneficiaries who meet so-called work requirements receive the credit.