Stimulus Check Update: Bernie Sanders Pushes for Child Tax Credit Extension

 Stimulus Check Update: Bernie Sanders Pushes for Child Tax Credit Extension

Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent senator from Vermont, pushed to include child tax credit extensions in the Inflationary Reduction Act (IRA), saying on Saturday that American families need immediate help rather than a larger package.

   In March 2021, Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) through the budget reconciliation process, meaning it could be passed on a party-line vote in an equally divided Senate.  That law increased Child Tax Credit payments to $3,600 for eligible children under 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17.  Additionally, the ARP improved how Americans obtained credit.  Instead of receiving a lump sum after paying their taxes, millions of Americans receive roughly half of their credit in monthly payments for each child under 6 and $250 for all other eligible children.

   The popular Child Tax Credit plan, which ended late last year amid stimulus checks sent by the federal government during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Democrats hoped to renew the plan through President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act, but that bill failed.  Instead, Democrats now plan to pass the IRA, and Sanders hopes to amend that law to include an expansion of the child tax credit.

   I am introducing an amendment to extend the $300 per month child tax credit paid for the next 5 years by restoring the top corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, Vermont progressives said in comments from the Senate floor Saturday.

   On Sunday morning, as senators continued to vote on reforms in the larger package, Sanders' effort was soundly defeated.  The vote for the amendment to include the child tax credit was whittled down by 97 to 1, meaning that a majority of Democrats rejected the plan they once called for to reduce child poverty.  Postponed.

   When it comes to our children, we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost every major nation on earth.  While the bill, as currently written, does nothing to address that, Sanders urged other lawmakers to support his amendment in comments he made about the IRA on Saturday evening.

   Notably, Senator Michael Bennett, a Colorado Democrat, urged other members of the party not to vote on the amendment.  Although Bennett is a major supporter of extended benefits to parents, he argued that adding the provision would destroy the IRA.

   Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate West Virginia Democrat, has previously opposed expanding the child tax credit without significant reforms.  Since Democrats need a vote of all 50 members of their Senate caucus to approve the final draft of the IRA, even an opposing Democratic senator is enough to kill the bill.

   Newsweek has reached out to Sanders' press representatives for comment.

   Incentive checks or direct payments were popular policies during the pandemic.  At the start of the novel coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, Congress came together in a bipartisan way to pass a massive relief package, which included stimulus checks of up to $1,200 for most Americans.  Then in December 2020, another bipartisan package passed Congress with an additional $600 check.  In the ARP, which no Republican endorsed, Democrats included another round of $1,400 stimulus checks along with child tax credit payments.

   A Change.org petition gained enough support online to call for $2,000 a month in stimulus checks for every American for the duration of the pandemic.  The petition garnered more than 3 million signatures, calling on Congress and the White House to take action.

   Although the federal government is unlikely to send additional stimulus checks or extend the child tax credit anytime soon, some states have taken initiatives on their own to provide relief to residents.  The plan is to send direct payments to help struggling individuals and families in at least eight different states.  Payments range from a few hundred dollars in direct rebates, to larger checks for each dependent child, and additional tax breaks families typically receive.