Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Study: Military kids slighted on tax credit
Study: Military kids slighted on tax credit
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
6/4/2003
WASHINGTON — Nearly one in five children of active-duty U.S. military families won't benefit from the increased tax credit signed last week by President Bush because their parents earn too little to qualify, a study being released Thursday concludes.
The finding by the Children's Defense Fund, a liberal advocacy group, comes as Bush and Republican congressional leaders are under increasing fire for agreeing to omit working poor families from the increased child credit included in the $350 billion, 10-year tax cut plan and aid for states.
Those military families would have received a check of up to $400 per child under a provision that the Senate added to the bill. But that "refundable" credit to families who pay little or no federal income tax, but do pay payroll taxes, was deleted in final negotiations between Bush and Republican leaders of Congress.
Families who have children and earn more than about $27,000 a year are due to receive checks next month of up to $400 per child, as an advance on an increase in the credit from $600 to $1,000.
The group said 250,000 of the 1.4 million children in active-duty military families will not qualify for the benefit because of the omission.
Another 750,000 children denied the benefit have parents who are military veterans, the fund concluded. It based its findings on latest U.S. Census data.
Democrats, liberal groups and some moderate Republicans in Congress are trying to build pressure on Bush and GOP leaders to pass legislation quickly extending the credit to those families that were left out.
Democrats immediately invoked U.S. troops still in Iraq as a political justification for another bill expanding the credit.
"Thousands of military personnel, people who put their lives on the line for our country, won't receive the child credit unless we correct the bill," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said.
The $3.5 billion cost would be paid for by cracking down on business tax avoidance schemes under the Democrats' proposal. They said fast action was needed to assure 12 million low-income families are able to receive a check when the government begins mailing them to more affluent families starting July 1.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., were negotiating a possible agreement that would permit the Senate to vote, perhaps this week, on competing proposals aimed at providing just such a remedy to the working poor. House Republican leaders are resisting the move.
They say Bush didn't propose giving the added credit to the working poor as part of his original economic stimulus plan, and that sending tax refunds to people who pay no federal income tax may be bad policy.
"This is something that has been blown out of proportion," said Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. "It was not part of the original bill, nor was it part of the bill in the House. ... We never debated it. ... It is a new idea, and it is one we ought to think about."
In another effort to build pressure, a coalition of liberal groups today begins airing TV ads in Washington blasting Bush for leaving the working poor out of the child credit benefit increase.
The Center for Community Change is buying a relatively modest amount of airtime, but it is encouraging hundreds of like-minded groups to air the same ad in other cities.
The ad shows two children: one too poor to qualify for the increased credit and another, whose parents make more money, who receives it. "President Bush chose the most fortunate to get the most," an announcer says."
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
6/4/2003
WASHINGTON — Nearly one in five children of active-duty U.S. military families won't benefit from the increased tax credit signed last week by President Bush because their parents earn too little to qualify, a study being released Thursday concludes.
The finding by the Children's Defense Fund, a liberal advocacy group, comes as Bush and Republican congressional leaders are under increasing fire for agreeing to omit working poor families from the increased child credit included in the $350 billion, 10-year tax cut plan and aid for states.
Those military families would have received a check of up to $400 per child under a provision that the Senate added to the bill. But that "refundable" credit to families who pay little or no federal income tax, but do pay payroll taxes, was deleted in final negotiations between Bush and Republican leaders of Congress.
Families who have children and earn more than about $27,000 a year are due to receive checks next month of up to $400 per child, as an advance on an increase in the credit from $600 to $1,000.
The group said 250,000 of the 1.4 million children in active-duty military families will not qualify for the benefit because of the omission.
Another 750,000 children denied the benefit have parents who are military veterans, the fund concluded. It based its findings on latest U.S. Census data.
Democrats, liberal groups and some moderate Republicans in Congress are trying to build pressure on Bush and GOP leaders to pass legislation quickly extending the credit to those families that were left out.
Democrats immediately invoked U.S. troops still in Iraq as a political justification for another bill expanding the credit.
"Thousands of military personnel, people who put their lives on the line for our country, won't receive the child credit unless we correct the bill," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said.
The $3.5 billion cost would be paid for by cracking down on business tax avoidance schemes under the Democrats' proposal. They said fast action was needed to assure 12 million low-income families are able to receive a check when the government begins mailing them to more affluent families starting July 1.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., were negotiating a possible agreement that would permit the Senate to vote, perhaps this week, on competing proposals aimed at providing just such a remedy to the working poor. House Republican leaders are resisting the move.
They say Bush didn't propose giving the added credit to the working poor as part of his original economic stimulus plan, and that sending tax refunds to people who pay no federal income tax may be bad policy.
"This is something that has been blown out of proportion," said Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. "It was not part of the original bill, nor was it part of the bill in the House. ... We never debated it. ... It is a new idea, and it is one we ought to think about."
In another effort to build pressure, a coalition of liberal groups today begins airing TV ads in Washington blasting Bush for leaving the working poor out of the child credit benefit increase.
The Center for Community Change is buying a relatively modest amount of airtime, but it is encouraging hundreds of like-minded groups to air the same ad in other cities.
The ad shows two children: one too poor to qualify for the increased credit and another, whose parents make more money, who receives it. "President Bush chose the most fortunate to get the most," an announcer says."
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