Schumer Announces Senate Vote on Child Tax Credit Expansion

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during the weekly Senate presser in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on July 9, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on July 30 that a bill to expand the Child Tax Credit would receive a vote in the Senate on Aug. 1, before the body breaks for its month-long August recess.

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act would increase the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit for the 2023 tax year to $1,800—up from $1,600 at present—with $100 increases each year for 2024 and 2025, at which the full $2,000 of the credit would become refundable. It would also allow parents to claim a credit for each qualifying child, as opposed to a single credit regardless of the number of children, and make it adjustable for inflation in 2024 and 2025.

“Last night, I filed cloture on this important piece of legislation, and senators should expect to vote on this measure Thursday,” Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor on July 30. He talked about the expiration of the last Child Tax Credit expansion in 2021, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act proposed by President Joe Biden, which increased the credit to $3,000 and made it fully refundable.

“During that year, parents had money to pay for good food for their kids, to pay for school supplies, to pay for clothing, and the things that so many parents can’t afford to do. It made the kids so much better,” he said. “Every single Republican, down to the last member, voted against this bill.”

Attempts to Negotiate

The current bill passed the House of Representatives on Jan. 31 by a vote of 357–70, with a two-thirds majority of both Democrats and Republicans in favor. However, opposition from Republicans in the Senate has impeded its final passage, with 60 votes being required to overcome a filibuster and advance the bill.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the ranking Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee, has indicated his opposition to the “lookback” provision of the bill, which allows parents to claim the credit based on a previous year’s income even if greater than the current year.

“Allowing individuals to receive a refundable credit when they have zero annual earnings—as the prior year’s earnings provision allows—is a departure from longstanding policy,” Mr. Crapo wrote in a statement.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chairman of the Finance Committee and the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate, told The Epoch Times that he offered to remove the “lookback” provision in response, though it hasn’t changed Republican opposition.

“I'll change the work rules. I offered that to them, and that wasn’t good enough,” Mr. Wyden said.

Many activist groups and Democrat senators were demanding that Mr. Schumer, who controls the Senate floor schedule, advance the bill to the floor.

“We want to get the Child Tax Credit done. It’s an urgency,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told The Epoch Times.

Meredith Dodson is a senior official with the Coalition on Human Needs, which has advocated for the bill.

“There’s limited time that the Senate’s in session,” Ms. Dodson told The Epoch Times. The bill will lapse by Jan. 2, 2025, if not passed in the 118th Congress.

Support From Republicans

Some Republican senators told The Epoch Times that they would support the bill when it comes to the floor for a vote despite their misgivings.

“It’s not perfect, but I’m gonna vote for it,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said. “I’ve heard a lot of fussing from my colleagues about all this. ‘This makes it refundable for people who don’t work.’ I don’t, I think if you dig into details ... that’s not accurate.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he will support the bill but questioned Mr. Schumer’s process of bringing the bill to the floor.

“If [Schumer] was serious about really doing something in this area, and there’s some parts of the bill that I support, he should have put it up for debate and amendment,” Mr. Grassley told The Epoch Times.

Mr. Grassley’s comments echo the refrain of many Republicans who want the bill debated in the Senate Finance Committee.

“It’s not gone through a committee, so we’ve not had the opportunity to improve it and the Democrats don’t care to improve it. It’s not the way this place ought to be working,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times.

Still, even supportive Republicans are pessimistic about the bill’s chances. “I'd be really surprised to get 60. I think they know it won’t,” Mr. Hawley said.

Apart from the Child Tax Credit, the bill includes changes to business tax provisions, legislation to give effect to a new tax agreement with Taiwan, tax provisions to help residents of East Palestine, Ohio, who were affected by train derailment in 2023, and provisions to crack down on COVID-19 pandemic tax fraud.