Dean: Child tax credit will be ‘life changing’
Congresswoman discusses impact on poverty in Montco
Many Montgomery County families struggling to make ends meet could soon find some relief as the “expanded” child tax credit rolls out later this month.
U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D4th Dist., who represents residents in parts of Montgomery and Berks counties, called the child tax credit “life changing.”
A subsection of the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress, and enacted into law by President Joe Biden back in March to provide economic relief from financial struggles associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the child tax credit will distribute monthly payments based on age.
Beginning July 15, the legislation stipulates that for “most families,” eligible children up to 5-years-old could receive monthly installments of $300, totaling $3,600 annually, according to a statement from The White House. Those 6- to 17-years-old could also obtain $250 per month, equating to $3,000 per year.
Sixty-eight percent of children in Pennsylvania’s Fourth Congressional District would be impacted by this initiative, Dean said.
“The expanded and improved child tax credit will directly lift 4,300 children in our district out of poverty. It will lift 1,500 children in my district out of what is considered deep poverty,” she said.
“So it’s literally game changing,” Dean continued. “It is as though we’ve transformed what we are doing to ... lift the lives of families who struggle with low incomes and poverty.”
The funds can be used for a number of purposes including