Adriano Espaillat: “When the child tax credit was originally expanded by the American Rescue Plan in 2021, it provided a lifeline to…”

“When the child tax credit was originally expanded by the American Rescue Plan in 2021, it provided a lifeline to families during very serious economic hardship. The benefit allowed families to receive an extra $3,600 annually for kids under the age of 6 years old and $3,000 annually for children over 6 years of age. In my district, the child tax credit provided $185 million to 123,000 children and 47,000 families. The expansion lifted 13,700 children in my district out of poverty. It is a district with a median household income of $48,638 and where emergency room visits for children with asthma are 20 times higher in the Bronx than any other borough. An average of 28 percent of residents are paying 50 percent or more of their income in rent. It is a district where about 84 percent of the 475,000 households earn below the poverty level and have a severe rent burden. Mr. Speaker, students in the school districts that I represent receive some of the highest rates of title I funding in the city. I am heartened to hear of the negotiations that will include an expanded child tax credit for low-income families. However, the agreement fails to make the full child tax credit available as a refund to families with little or no taxable income. I don't get this. All of a sudden, this is leaving the neediest families, the lowest earning families, out of the benefit. They will receive no child tax credit.…”