Massachusetts expanded the child tax credit. Congress should too.

Everywhere I go, I hear from people who are struggling to keep up with rising costs. It’s the No. 1 concern on everyone’s minds. Too many families across this country are hurting. They’ve been dealing with high housing costs, high child care costs, and high college costs for too long, and they have been hit hard by global inflation since the pandemic. 

I know that there is no stress like financial stress on a family, because it never goes away. It eats at your sense of security. It impacts every little decision. I saw it firsthand growing up, as my mom did everything she could to provide for us five kids on her own as a school nurse.  

That’s why we took action in Massachusetts to lower costs for everyone. And now Congress has the opportunity to do the same at the federal level.

As Bay State families file their taxes over the next few months, they’ll notice something different — more savings. That’s because last year, I signed into law our state’s first tax cuts for residents in more than 20 years. Part of that included expanding tax credits for hundreds of thousands of children and other dependent family members. 

Previously, families in Massachusetts were eligible to receive $180 per dependent child, disabled adult, or senior, with a maximum of two dependents. Now, that benefit will grow to $310 for 2023 and $440 on a permanent basis beginning in 2024 for each dependent. We also removed the cap on dependents, because we all know that costs grow when your family does.

Once it is fully implemented, we’ll have the most generous universal child and dependent tax credit of any state in the country. Here’s what that means: a family with three children, or with two children and caring for an elderly parent, will go from receiving $360 each year to $1,320 each year. That’s nearly $1,000 in savings that families can put toward groceries, utility bills, gas or medicine.

In Massachusetts, we have seen firsthand what this change will mean for families. Last year, I met Rosa, a single mom of two boys who works at her local YMCA but can’t keep up with the rising cost of groceries and rent. I also met Rosario, who cares for her 90-year-old father in her home but struggles to cover his medicine and doctors’ visits. They both shared with me how an expanded child and family tax credit would make a huge difference in their lives, help them cover their everyday expenses and support their families.

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This impact for families in need can only get better with action on a national level. Right now, Congress has an opportunity to build on the progress we’ve made here in Massachusetts by expanding the federal child tax credit. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan tax bill that would expand eligibility for the federal child tax credit to families with extremely low incomes or no income at all. It will also allow the lowest income families to claim the credit for each child, rather than for only one child. The maximum federal credit is currently $2,000 per child, and this legislation would increase that amount each year based on inflation.

It’s estimated that in just one year, this proposal would benefit the families of about 16 million children. Once it’s fully in effect, it’s estimated to lift half a million or more children out of poverty. That’s a big deal.

We’ve already seen that these predictions bear out. When Congress expanded the federal child tax credit during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, child poverty dramatically declined. But these gains were erased when the expanded credit expired. In 2022, the number of people living in poverty increased by 15.3 million and the poverty rate for children more than doubled.

After a tough few years, we must do all we can to lift the burdens off hardworking  families — so they can be safe and well fed, in a comfortable home, with the things they need to feel secure. With the child tax credit, we have a real chance to make a change.

In Massachusetts, we’ve shown the way at the state level. Now it’s time for Congress to do the same by expanding the child tax credit for families across the country.

Maura T. Healey is the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts and one of the country’s first lesbian governors. She was previously the attorney general of Massachusetts and a civil rights lawyer.