It was many years ago, when Colorado Senator Michael Bennet was Denver's school superintendent. One high school student kept falling asleep during morning classes. Bennet asked the student why he was so tired. He said that he worked at McDonald's until midnight to make sure his family had enough money.
Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut was referring to her childhood memories of her parents being evicted, and then finding their furniture in the street.
Bennet and DeLauro were among the Democratic legislators who have tried to make permanent an expanded child credit. This credit was made permanent by President Joe Biden's coronavirus relief program, which transformed it into a monthly payment available to nearly all children. Biden was unable to convince enough Democrats to extend the payments through 2025. In negotiations for his larger package of economic, social programs, he seems to have settled on a one year extension that will run through next year.
Despite this concession, the president continues to fight for a legacy-making strategy that could be the equivalent of Social Security in children's lives. Biden called July's payment start "historic", claiming that it would transform child poverty and that he wanted to make the credit permanent.
The steady growth of the child tax credit is a reflection of a fundamental shift in how legislators think about human nature. Are payments from government making people lazy or giving them the tools to be more responsible? The credit was established with bipartisan support in 1997. It has changed in ways which challenge many assumptions about political identities. For example, Democrats would call for Republicans to reduce taxes.
Republican critics and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, the decisive Democratic vote, worry that the payments will discourage parents from working. Supporters say the money will make it easier for parents to pay for child care and transportation.
Biden stated that it was a tax cut for the average person in a Wednesday speech in Scranton. It does exactly that. It's not something I regret.
It is about as much a political as it is an economic transformation to continue the $300 per month payment per child.
It is a tax cut that targets the middle class, as the median family income is $86,372. The evolution of the credit since 1997 is a testament to the power and effectiveness of the tax code in social policy.
This allows Democrats to claim the title of middle-class tax cutters while Republicans opposed to the idea could be criticised for favoring tax increases on this key group of voters in the run up to the 2022 election. This is a stark reversal of the Ronald Reagan-era Republican identity as being committed to tax cuts that aid growth.
"A lot of its success was that it fit into the frame tax relief," Gene Sperling, an aide to Biden who worked on economic policy at both the Clinton White Houses and the Obama White Houses, said. "This is the one area where progressives have kind of won conceptual war over a period that spans 30 years."
Initially, the child tax credit was bipartisan. This unique overlap in policy between Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton was what made it bipartisan.
It was part of the 1994 "Contract With America" which included a list that ex-Georgia Rep. Gingrich used to ride to the House speakership. Gingrich stated in an interview that Henry Hyde, a former Illinois Rep., stressed that the GOP had to demonstrate that it cares about children after birth, and not just during pregnancy. The tax credit was chosen.
Clinton proposed it separately in his December 1994 "middle-class bill of rights" speech. This convergence eventually led to the 1997 welfare overhaul that created a $500 tax credit. The credit was expanded by subsequent administrations. The credit was not fully refundable until 2005, which meant that low-income parents might not be able to receive the entire payment.
With their coronavirus relief package, Biden and Democratic legislators removed that limit. This effectively made the tax credit a monthly allowance for children. This change would be made permanent by their planned extension.
Gingrich and Republicans claim that people would quit their jobs to be able receive payments without having to work, which would deprive children of role models such as working parents.
He called it "an extremely dangerous thing for our culture."
University of Chicago economists support this argument with a paper that suggests that 1.5 million parents would quit their jobs if they received tax credits that are not tied to work.
Bruce Meyer, a University of Chicago professor who coauthored the analysis, said that "it's a policy which's been transformed form one that encourages self-reliance and work to one where it doesn't."
Real world economic data has not shown a correlation between payments and workers leaving the workforce. Columbia University researchers found that the July-enhanced child tax credit payments had no effect on labor. Models claiming otherwise are too simplified. They argue that workers often have to spend money to find a job.
Elizabeth Ananat, an economist from Barnard College and co-author of the Columbia paper, stated that "you have to make an investi" in order to be able work. You must fix your car. Your phone must be turned on again. To secure your place in the preschool, you will need to purchase a month's supply of diapers.
Democratic lawmakers believe that the payments will reduce poverty and improve education outcomes. This will increase the likelihood that children will have steady jobs as adults.
Colorado Senator Bennet supported the idea of a Child Tax Credit after realizing that school administrators needed more resources to ensure children's success.
"Most parents work incredibly hard, with some working multiple jobs. Bennet stated that no matter how hard they work, the children will not be kept out of poverty.
DeLauro claims that the breakthrough in expanding credit was due to the coronavirus revealing how economically fragile many families can be and Biden's choice as a presidential candidate supporting the policy. She believes beneficiaries will retain their jobs, because work is an integral part of who they're.
She said, "People identify themselves through their work."
