Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Tuesday she is open to discussing proposals to overhaul an expanded child tax credit included in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan that is set to expire in the next few days.
“I am open to proposals that would support working families and reduce childhood poverty and look forward to working with colleagues of both parties on bipartisan solutions,” Collins said in a statement to the Bangor Daily News.
If the expanded child tax credit is allowed to expire, monthly payments will end for the families of about 60 million children.
The Daily News noted that roughly 90 percent of children of Collins’s home state of Maine qualify for the child tax credit.
Earlier this month, Collins indicated that she was open to finding a way to maintain the tax credit with some changes made to it.
“Unfortunately, that went to very high income people. It was unlinked to work, and I would prefer we went back to the original formulation,” she said.
Other Senate Republicans have so far not been as open to extending the credit as Collins appears to be. On Monday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called the credit “ill-crafted” and suggested that Congress instead pass his Family Security Act, which would give families $250 to $350 each month per child.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said there is little support for extending the benefit among Republicans.
“I don’t think our guys are interested in dealing with that,” Thune said. “That’s not something our members are interested in.”
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued that there is still time to work out a deal for the tax credit. McConnell echoed Collins’s concerns about the lack of a work requirement tied to the credit.
“I’m sure there will be a debate about the enhanced portion of it,” said McConnell. “Yeah, I think it will be discussed. We’ll see what happens when it actually gets to the cliff.”