WASHINGTON — Congress, which has been setting information for an absence of accomplishments, could also be on the verge of really doing one thing large: passing a invoice that would carry half one million youngsters out of poverty by subsequent yr.
The proposal, which the Home may vote on as quickly as subsequent week, includes an expanded tax credit score for fogeys of kids 16 and youthful.
If that rings a bell, congratulations, you’ve been paying consideration. The proposed credit score is a scaled-down model of a plan that handed throughout President Biden‘s first yr in workplace however lasted solely a yr.
Reviving some model of that has been a prime precedence of congressional Democrats ever since.
Earlier this month, the chairs of Congress’ two tax-writing committees, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, struck a deal to make it occur.
Their proposal then gained approval of the Republican-controlled Home Methods and Means Committee, 40-3 — the type of bipartisan vote that’s now uncommon in Washington.
This being Congress, it’s potential the deal may collapse. Some Home members threaten to oppose it over an unrelated tax situation. Within the Senate, some conservative Republicans don’t like increasing the kid tax credit score on ideological grounds. However the lopsided vote within the Home tax-writing committee indicated the invoice has a powerful probability of approval. That’s a uncommon advance in a stalemated Congress.
