Democrats work on legislation to provide $ 3,000 in payments per child during pandemic – WISH-TV | Indianapolis News | Weather Indiana



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(CNN) – House Democrats are working on legislation proposed by President Joe Biden to extend the existing child tax credit, directing the IRS to send recurring monthly payments to American families, a source confirmed close to the file at CNN.

In a draft proposal, the IRS would deposit checks worth $ 300 per month per child under age 6 and $ 250 per month per child age 6 to 17. This would give parents $ 3,000 per year for each child aged 6 to 17, and $ 3,600 per child under 6.

The changes would last for a year, but lawmakers would then lobby to make them permanent, another Democratic aide said.

The source also confirmed to CNN that the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal of Massachusetts, is directly involved in the effort to expand the child tax credit, as well as the chair of the committee. of House Tax Credits, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Rep. Suzan DelBene, Democrat of Washington.

The drafting of the bill was first reported by the Washington Post.

Eligibility for the benefit, similar to stimulus checks, would be based on family income from the previous tax year and would be phased out at a certain amount of income, the post reported.

A White House official did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Biden has previously said he wants to extend the child tax credit and last week he unveiled a $ 1.9 trillion proposal that would do so for a year. He also called for making it fully refundable to allow more households to claim it. Currently, 27 million children live in low-income families who receive partial or no tax credit because they earn too little, according to the Left Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

A one-year expansion would cost about $ 120 billion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan tax watchdog.

The president’s proposal also includes an extension of the earned income tax credit to more working poor, as well as $ 1,400 stimulus checks, increased unemployment, nutrition and housing assistance, among other measures.

“In total, the US bailout would lift 12 million Americans out of poverty and cut child poverty in half. That’s 5 million children lifted out of poverty, ”Biden said Friday before signing two executive orders that would increase nutritional assistance and strengthen protection for federal workers.

Biden also noted that the proposal would reduce poverty among black families by a third and among Hispanic households by nearly 40%.

The US bailout would increase many of the measures in Congress’ landmark $ 3 trillion coronavirus relief bill from March and December’s $ 900 billion legislation, which was scaled back to garner support Republicans in the Senate.

CNN reported that Biden’s stimulus proposal already faces Republican objections, and Senate Democrats have laid the groundwork to use a rare procedural tactic known as reconciliation to pass important parts of the package if Republicans block it. Their efforts.

The White House urged patience when it comes to negotiating and pushing the stimulus package on a bipartisan basis as part of the due process of the Senate, but Biden’s team said it didn’t was unwilling to “remove any tool from the table”.

The current child tax credit provides up to $ 2,000 per child under 17. The credit is being phased out for lone parents with adjusted gross income over $ 200,000 and $ 400,000 for married couples. It is paid as a lump sum and not in monthly installments.

The $ 3 trillion Heroes Act, which the House passed in May, included similar improvements to the child tax credit.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017 broadened eligibility to many more upper-middle-income households, increased the amount of credit for many families, and the amount refundable. The changes were pushed by Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

More than 48 million households are expected to claim the child tax credit for 2020, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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