Washington, D.C., January 19, 2024 – Bread for the World today expressed its support for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion included in the bipartisan tax agreement negotiated by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO). Bread has been working to protect and strengthen the CTC for more than a decade and urges lawmakers to quickly pass this agreement.
The following statement can be attributed to Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World:
“Bread for the World is grateful to Chairman Wyden and Chairman Smith for including an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in the bipartisan tax agreement announced earlier this week. The expanded CTC prioritizes the millions of children whose families currently receive only a partial credit or no credit at all because their incomes are too low. These are the children and families most in need of the CTC.
“In just the first year alone, the expanded CTC will lift as many as 400,000 children out of poverty. It will also serve as an important lifeline for millions of families with children struggling to make ends meet.
“We hope that lawmakers will also agree to distribute the credit monthly instead of as a lump sum. Data from the 2021 expansion shows that most families with lower incomes used the monthly CTC payments on basic household expenses – specifically food. With grocery bills remaining high, this will help families to put food on the table every month.
“Bread prays that lawmakers in both the House and Senate will keep this legislation moving and quickly pass the expanded CTC unimpeded so that struggling families are able to receive the full credit this tax season.”
Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision makers
to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger
