UnidosUS Urges Senate Lawmakers to Vote for Expansion of the Child Tax Credit

Washington, DC — Laura MacCleery, senior director of policy and advocacy of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, issued today the following statement urging lawmakers in the Senate to strongly support expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC): 

“Lawmakers should not claim to care about the ‘rights’ of parents and families unless they vote right when it matters—including on the basic financial help families need now on the high cost of living from expanding the Child Tax Credit—which is teed up for a floor vote in the Senate tomorrow. 

“We applauded when this measure was overwhelmingly approved in a rare bipartisan vote (357 to 70) in the House in February, but it was held up in the Senate by a power play from lawmakers seeking to conserve their ability to call the shots on tax policy in the next Congress, overlooking dire needs that families have today.  

“As they dither, lower-income Latino families and families of color keep suffering. The single most important issue for Latino voters this cycle is the high cost of living. While it’s not everything we want from the tax reform package in the next Congress, this sensible and necessary CTC expansion is tailored to support those who need it most, would lift millions of children out of poverty, helping families go to work every day and put food on the table, and is a moral imperative for Congress. We commend those members of the Senate who will choose tomorrow to elevate the urgent needs of families over cynical power-grab politics.”