In the News

WASHINGTON – House Democrats on Wednesday passed a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package that will send $1,400 payments to most Americans, along with monthly payments to parents of up to $300 per child, a dramatic but temporary overhaul of a tax credit program Democrats hope will become permanent.

The sprawling legislation also includes $350 billion for state, local and tribal governments and billions more to fund vaccination, schools, unemployment benefits and more. Republicans universally opposed the bill, which President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law by the end of the week, criticizing its overall cost and provisions they say are unrelated to the pandemic.

Democrats, including Washington Sen. Patty Murray, have defended the scope of the package whose goals, they acknowledge, extend beyond pandemic relief to encompass a sweeping effort to combat poverty.

“Right now, the country is on fire – and Republicans’ biggest concern seems to be that we want to use too much water,” Murray said March 5. “The reality is, we are far from doing too much, because we will not have done enough until this crisis is over – until families across the nation are safe – and until we rebuild a stronger and fairer country.”

The Democrats’ poverty reduction ambitions are evident in the bill’s provision that expands the Child Tax Credit to as much as $3,600 a year, up from the previous maximum of $2,000, and transforms the year-end deduction into monthly payments of $300 for each child under age 6 and $250 for children aged 6 to 17.

Because Senate Democrats used a process called budget reconciliation to sidestep the upper chamber’s usual 60-vote requirement to pass legislation, the change will last just 12 months, but Biden has already signaled his support for making the payments permanent. Democrats in Congress are betting GOP lawmakers won’t want to strip the benefits from parents when they expire ahead of next year’s midterm election.

“I think this is the first time in a long time we’ve seen deficit spending targeted toward lower-income families,” said Ryan Herzog, an economics professor at Gonzaga University. “Republicans are going to have a hard time saying, ‘We’ve got to take this away.’ ”

Rep. Suzan DelBene, a northwest Washington Democrat who has championed the Child Tax Credit overhaul, is pushing to make the payments a permanent safety net for American children.

“We cannot lift children and families out of poverty for just one year,” DelBene said in a joint statement with Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Richie Torres of New York. “Now is the time to get this over the finish line. We have Presidential leadership, strength in Congress, and the urgency of a pandemic demanding action.”

In its current form, the Child Tax Credit lets taxpayers reduce their taxable income, but the lowest-paid parents don’t earn enough to qualify for the full amount. The new credit will be sent in monthly installments to all parents, regardless of income, with payments gradually phased out for individuals making more than $75,000 a year and couples who earn more than $150,000.

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