1. United States
2. S.D.
3. Letter

In the one year that the fully expanded Child Tax Credit was in effect, most low-income families spent their CTC on basic necessities like food, utilities, and rent or mortgage payments, as well as education expenses―and families need that help now. The expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) that recently passed in the House of Representatives would increase the CTC for 80% of low-income families who do not currently receive the full credit. It would offer much needed income to about 16 million children in families struggling to meet basic needs and would lift 400,000 children out of poverty immediately, rising to 500,000 above the poverty line in 2025. However, there are two dangerous amendments being considered by the Senate right now: -One would eliminate a “lookback” provision in the House-passed bill that supports a family experiencing a temporary decline in their earnings; -The second would completely deny the tax credit from citizen children with Social Security numbers in mixed status families―using xenophobic anti-immigrant attacks to deny children of immigrant parent taxpayers an economic benefit they are entitled to. The CTC improvements in the bill that recently passed the House would give struggling families more money for food, for rent, and for their heating bills. This bill does not go as far as it should in providing the CTC to families with the lowest incomes; it should certainly not be changed to help fewer children and their families. Parents and their children should not be penalized for a temporary decline in their earnings due to factors outside their control. And children and immigrants should not be pawns in political games. I urge you to reject bad amendments to the Child Tax Credit and expand the Child Tax Credit as provided in the House-passed bill now!