Letters: Join me in urging Braun, Young to support Child Tax Credit

Urge U.S. senators to support Child Tax Credit

As a pastor in this community, I know the dad who stressed over the cost of groceries, parents who are concerned about keeping the heat on, and the mom who is stuck doing the math of childcare versus working more hours. And that was before something went wrong.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The House recently passed an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and now the bill is in the Senate. These improvements to the CTC will lift nearly half a million children out of poverty. It will provide benefits to the 16 million children whose families are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed, but whose income is too low to receive some or all of the CTC benefit.

During pandemic era expansion of the CTC, the number of Hoosier children experiencing poverty was cut in half, with the greatest impact in rural areas. Experts suggest that high rates of child poverty have a higher price tag than the expansion of the CTC.

I am urging Sens. Braun and Young to support the CTC improvements included in the bipartisan, bicameral Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, and I hope you will join me.

Adrianne Meier, Bloomington