MAZON Urges Quick Passage of Bipartisan Expansion of the Child Tax Credit
Today MAZON issued the following statement urging Congress to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which would provide vital resources to millions of Americans:
“This is a critical window of opportunity to support children and families facing poverty and hunger,” said Abby J. Leibman, MAZON’s President and CEO. “The bipartisan agreement set forth by Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith is smart policy — it would help 16 million children whose families are currently unable to receive this federal assistance. Nearly half of these children live with a single parent, which usually means a single mother. The Child Tax Credit is a proven and powerful tool to lift families and children out of poverty. Improving it, and ultimately making it permanent, will allow families to plan for the future with confidence that the federal government will be there to support them in times of need. Along with safety net programs like SNAP and WIC, the Child Tax Credit has proven time and again to improve lives and local economies. Congress must urgently pass the Wyden-Smith bill because no one — regardless of circumstance — deserves hunger.”
While pushing for Congress to pass the bipartisan tax deal, MAZON is also urging policymakers to prioritize full funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which faces an imminent funding crisis. Earlier this week, MAZON sent a letter signed by 28 national faith-based organizations calling for increased WIC funds. Last week, Leibman wrote a powerful article about the dangerous attacks on women and safety net programs designed to help them, which is creating “a new wave of the feminization of poverty.”