Advocates in Maine push for child tax credit expansion

Advocates in Maine are calling on state and federal lawmakers to expand child tax credits. In 2021, Congress passed an extension to the child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan Act which eliminated a minimum income requirement for parents and boosted the tax credit from $2,000 per child to $3,600 per child between 0 to 5 years old and $3,000 per child between six and 17 years old.

“For many Maine families, it helped provide them an economic lifeline that helped them both weather the financial impacts of the pandemic and also just account for their normal day-to-day expenses, making it less stressful to afford things like groceries or rent or childcare that allowed the parents to stay in the labor force,” said Maine Center for Economic Policy fellow Josie Phillips.

Click here to read the full story, first published March 10, 2023 in WMTW.