ON THE MONEY: CBO estimate makes waves | Democrats to expand child tax credit | Wyden wields power

Happy Monday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

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LEADING THE DAY

CBO says $15 minimum wage would increase deficit $54B: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Monday said that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 would add $54 billion over 10 years to the budget deficit and lift 900,000 people out of poverty, but lead to 1.4 million lost jobs.

The deficit finding is of particular note because Democrats would like to use budgetary rules to pass a minimum wage hike as part of a budget reconciliation package, a process that can not be filibustered. 

• With the use of such rules, Democrats could advance the budgetary bill through the Senate even if every GOP senator objects, as long as Democrats stick together. 
• A Senate provision known as the Byrd Rule bars policies from being included in a budget reconciliation package unless they are found to have a direct budgetary effect.

As a result, the new finding could make it easier for Democrats to meet the Byrd Rule and include the hike in a budget reconciliation package. The Hill’s Niv Elis explains here.

Democrats further effort to expand child tax credit to $3,600: Democrats are furthering their efforts to expand the child tax credit in an attempt to reduce poverty and provide more assistance to families amid the coronavirus pandemic.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) is expected on Monday to introduce his panel’s portion of House Democrats’ broader coronavirus relief package, which is expected to include a one-year expansion of the child tax credit.

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) on Monday also reintroduced a bill to permanently expand the credit.

“This is the moment for the child tax credit expansion,” DelBene, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said Monday during a video press conference. “If we don’t act now, we’ll miss a historic opportunity to give millions of children a brighter future.”

Breaking down the plan: 

• Both measures would make the credit fully refundable, so that lower-income families can receive the full credit amount. 
• They would increase the annual credit amounts from $2,000 to $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 for older children.
• The expanded credit amounts would phase out for higher earners, though the thresholds are slightly different in the two proposals.

Here’s more from The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda.

THE BIG DEAL—Wyden to wield new power on health care, taxes with committee gavel:

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is poised to be a key player on some of the most hot-button issues over the next two years with Democratic control of both the White House and Congress.

• The Oregon Democrat last week took the reins of a committee that has jurisdiction over major components of the next coronavirus relief package, as well as other top priorities for Democrats. 
• The panel oversees policy areas that impact a wide swath of the economy, including taxes, health care and trade.
• Some of Wyden’s top agenda items include extending and enhancing unemployment benefits, increasing taxes on the wealthy and addressing rising health care and prescription drug costs.

“We got to fix the broken tax code, lower health care costs starting with prescriptions, move towards a carbon-free future and rebuild our infrastructure, and the Finance Committee is the center of all of these issues,” he said on a recent call with reporters.

The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda and Jessie Hellmann tell us what to expect here.

ON TAP TOMORROW:

• The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee holds a confirmation hearing on Neera Tanden’s nomination to be director of the White House Office of Management and Budget at 9:15 a.m.
• The House Budget Committee holds an organizational hearing at 11 a.m. 
• The Heritage Foundation holds an event on the impact of a $15 minimum wage at 12 p.m.
• The House Education and Labor Committee holds a markup of its reconciliation instructions for the coronavirus relief bill at 2 p.m.
• The Bipartisan Policy Center holds an event entitled “What’s Next for Stakeholder Capitalism in 2021” at 2 p.m.

GOOD TO KNOW

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Monday that funds will soon be available for families struggling to pay funeral costs after losing a loved one to COVID-19. 
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday called President Biden’s stimulus package the best way to get the U.S. economy back to pre-pandemic levels.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is probing how Venmo is handling debt collection.
• The family of a college student who died by suicide thinking he’d lost nearly $750,000 on Robinhood filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the stock-trading company on Monday.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and plans on accepting the cryptocurrency as payment soon, The Associated Press reports.
• Three major sports teams in Texas are getting together to support the legalization of sports betting in the Lone Star State, The Dallas Morning News reported.