The Child Tax Credit needs a Christmas miracle to pass in Congress
Faith advocates across religious and political boundaries have been trying to make themselves heard during final negotiations over the government spending bill known as the “omnibus.”
A Christmas Miracle.
That's what it will take to pass the extended Child Tax Credit in this lame duck session of Congress. Those who are listening, and few Americans will be during this Holiday season, will hear things about votes to pay our country’s bills, perhaps an electoral reform bill, and, most likely, corporate tax cuts for the rich – a clear contradiction at Christmas. (Remember that homeless baby in the manger that Christians say we adore but pay little attention to his clear messages for the world?)
Here’s a brief explanation of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) via Rachel Cohen of Vox, who I spoke to earlier this month:
In 2021, an expansion of the child tax credit delivered hundreds of dollars monthly to some 35 million parents across the United States, helping them afford gas, food, rent and school expenses, and lifting almost 3 million children out of poverty. But last December, Democrats narrowly failed to approve an extension of the expanded credit, and it expired…
2021 marked the only time in its quarter-century history that the CTC had no parental work requirement, and it was that feature, experts agree, that drove the policy’s substantial reduction in child poverty: a stunning 46 percent drop in one year, according to US Census data.
Many faith advocates, across religious and political boundaries, have been trying to make themselves heard during final negotiations over the government spending bill known as the “omnibus.” We are trying to get the CTC “on the bus,” so to speak, and many us have been advocating for the Child Tax Credit, which would also help to heal our racial inequities, for more than a year.
Back in May, a broad coalition of Christian leaders urged Congress to extend the child tax credit to low-income families, hoping to broaden access to the program, as Religion News Service reported. We wrote a letter to the White House and all 535 Members of Congress and took an ad out in Politico that said:
As Christians, we serve a God who commands us to care for the poor. The Bible contains over 2,000 passages instructing us to protect the poor and we must be obedient to our holy scriptures…
Congress cannot leave ”the least of these” (Matt 25) behind. The experience of the expanded Child Tax Credit demonstrated that Congress has the power to alleviate the hardships faced by poor children. We dearly hope that all lawmakers will search their conscience and follow the call of all our faiths, and pass a reconciliation bill that makes the Child Tax Credit fully available to all low-income families with our poorest children. It is the right and wise thing to do for a decent nation.
In addition to hosting strategy meetings on the CTC at Georgetown, I’ve recorded videos and podcasts about the program, and gathered with leaders from the invaluable Circle of Protection nearly every week. A remarkably broad coalition of Christian leaders signed our letter to the White House and Congress in November. Leaders in the Circle oversee thousands of congregations, and the organizations in the Circle together have close to 100 million members. Our churches are on the front lines of assistance to people in need across the country and around the world, and all of us agree that our government should be doing more to provide help and opportunity to people in poverty. These convictions are rooted not in political ideology but in religious faith. Not every political issue unites mainline Protestants, Catholics, Quakers, Jews, Muslims, White Evangelicals and Black Protestants. But the Child Tax Credit does.
In one sense, I feel like we have said everything on the CTC that I know how to say.
Here, for example, is a link to a Religion News Service column I wrote last week on why Advent would be an appropriate time to focus our attention and support for the poorest children
As I wrote in RNS:
In the throes of the pandemic, in 2021, Congress expanded the child tax credit, raising the amount available to the poorest American families up to $3,600 a year per child and allowing the credit to be distributed across the tax year in monthly installments. The measure produced historic results. Even during a global pandemic and economic recession, the expanded credit helped drive the child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2%, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The current Congress allowed the expanded credit to expire at the end of 2021, leading to dire consequences: 3.7 million children, including 2.5 million Black and Latino kids, fell back into poverty. Some believe that number will rise to 4.1 million because of the still-rising costs of food, gas and housing.
In a nation where millions claim to follow the teachings of Christ, this is strangely un-Christian behavior. In the Gospels, Jesus makes his concern for children crystal clear. In the Gospel of Matthew, he explicitly says that caring about God entails caring for children. “Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me,” he says.
I don't know what else to say now.
Many faith advocates have said all they know how to say, have visited dozens and dozens of legislative offices on both sides of the political aisle, have reached out to members of their churches, synagogues, mosques and temples and have prayed unceasingly for the passage of the Child Tax Credit.
Will Republicans agree to pair their passion for tax cuts for the rich with an equal compassion for the nation's poorest families? The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal threw cold water on the idea, calling the idea “extortion.” It tells you everything you need to know about the moral blindness of Rupert Murdoch’s minions that they consider it a crime to pair tax credits for poor children with corporate tax breaks.
But some are hopeful that Congress can make a deal and bring good news to families this Christmas. I am skeptical. As I said, it will most likely take a Christmas miracle.
But then again, I am a believer, and I keep the faith.