Vice President Kamala Harris is backing a notable increase in child tax credit, which could reach up to $6,000 for families with newborns. This reinforcement aligns with the Democratic Party’s objective to bolster families’ financial stability.
Harris points out that this substantial rise would play a crucial role in alleviating child poverty nationwide. Furthermore, she stressed the significance of such initiatives as morally right and economically sound.
The proposition aims to avail $3,600 per child limiting to $6,000 for the first year for children from low-income to middle-income households. Therefore, these families could receive much-needed financial support during a critical period in their children’s lives.
Not long before Harris’s proposal, Ohio’s Republican Senator, JD Vance, presented a $5,000 child tax credit proposal.
Harris’s proposed boost to child tax credit
This elicited heated debates in political circles, with critics alleging it was Vance’s strategic maneuver to detract from Harris’s proposal.
Harris’s plan seeks to reestablish the child tax credit enacted by the American Rescue Plan in 2021. The credit originally offered a maximum of up to $3,600. Her plan would increase this amount for middle—to lower-income families in the first year after the child’s birth.
Despite echoing ex-President Trump’s earlier calls for expanding child tax credits, Harris’s proposal is distinct due to an additional $2,400 earmarked for newborns. The plan includes revisions to the tax code, making the child tax credits fully refundable, potentially benefiting millions of low-income families who currently hardly benefit from the existing policy.
In early August, Senate Republicans rejected an attempt to extend the amplified child tax credit, triggering a nationwide debate over childcare aid programs. Despite recent drawbacks, Harris’s new proposal ensures that the conversation on possible bipartisan progress on child tax credits stays at the forefront.
