Tlaib rolls out bill to create tax credit for low- and middle-class people

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Wednesday rolled out legislation to create a new tax credit to help low-and middle-income people,

Tlaib’s bill makes her the latest Democratic lawmaker to offer a tax-credit proposal in an effort to counter the GOP tax law and address the rising cost of living.

“The bill provides additional income … and serves as a buffer for people and families who have seen their cost of living rise without their wages increasing at the same pace,” Tlaib, a prominent freshman progressive lawmaker, said at a news conference.

{mosads}The refundable credit amount under the bill would be up to $3,000 for individuals making less than $50,000 and $6,000 for married couples making less than $100,000, with the amount phasing out as incomes increase.

Unlike similar proposals from Democrats, Tlaib’s proposed credit would be available to people even if they are not working.

“If you are individuals on disability or Social Security, or you’re the grandmother that’s taking care of children — those children who are desperate maybe from a broken family — you are still in need to be able to climb that mountain,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), a co-sponsor of the bill.

Tlaib’s bill is similar to legislation introduced in the Senate by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. But under Harris’s bill, only those with earned income and students would qualify for the credit.

Other Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates have proposals to expand existing tax credits benefiting people with low and moderate incomes.

The House Ways and Means Committee passed a Democratic bill last week to provide expansions of the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit and the child and dependent care tax credit for two years.

The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that Tlaib’s credit would provide most of its benefits to those in the bottom 60 percent of income, and would cost $380 billion in 2020.