Senate Rejects Proposal for Increased Child Tax Credit

This article was originally published by The 19th.

After seven months of legislative wrangling, the Senate has finally killed a proposed expansion of the child tax credit. The bill, which passed the House earlier this year, aimed to increase the credit through 2025 and extend benefits to poorer families. However, it fell short in the Senate with a 48-44 vote, needing 60 votes to pass.

The bipartisan bill was crafted by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Jason T. Smith, a Missouri Republican, and initially passed the House with a substantial 357-70 vote. Despite this, the Senate Finance Committee’s Republican objections prevented further progress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed for a vote this week, forcing Republicans to publicly take a stance ahead of the November election.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina distributed pamphlets suggesting that passing the bill would benefit Vice President Kamala Harris before the election. Notably, GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio missed the vote due to his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. Vance had expressed support for the bill earlier this year but noted valid Republican concerns about specific provisions.

Earlier this week, Vance falsely claimed that Harris had called for ending the child tax credit. In reality, Harris supports expanding it, advocating for permanent changes that were temporarily implemented in 2021. This year’s bill would have increased the credit from $1,600 to $2,000 per child for low-income families, aligning it with benefits for higher-income households.

Schumer criticized Republicans, arguing that their opposition contradicts their pro-family and pro-business stances. In contrast, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated the bill required significant revisions to secure the needed votes. Sen. Mike Crapo from Idaho stated that outreach efforts on the bill had been lacking, while Wyden accused Republicans of stalling tactics.

The bill proposed several crucial changes, including indexing the tax credit to inflation and allowing families to use prior year’s income to qualify for a larger credit. However, Republicans argued that this discouraged work. Despite historical bipartisan support, disagreements over specific provisions and corporate tax breaks included in the $79 billion bill led to its downfall.

Senate voting saw some deviations from party lines. While most Democrats supported the bill and Republicans opposed it, a handful—Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, and Sen. Rick Scott—broke ranks, voting in favor. Conversely, Independents Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin voted against the bill, contrary to Kyrsten Sinema, who supported it.

In a strategic move, Schumer changed his vote to “no” to reconsider the motion later. Had the bill passed, an estimated 16 million children, including 400,000 lifted out of poverty, would have benefited, especially among Black and Latinx communities.

The battle for an expanded child tax credit isn’t over. The issue is anticipated to resurface next year, coinciding with the expiration of a child tax credit expansion from former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax bill.