Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) called for the expanded child tax credit passed in the American Rescue Plan Act to be made permanent. Data collected by Co-Equal highlights how transformative this guaranteed monthly income will be for California’s 34^th Congressional District (CA-34). In CA-34, 139,200 children will receive this benefit across 41,300 households, this benefit will lift 17,400 children out of poverty, and it will lift 5,900 children out of deep poverty.

“The American Rescue Plan has proved to be a meaningful and historic overhaul of our economy in favor of working families and vulnerable Americans struggling to get by,” said Congressman Gomez. “The introduction of a guaranteed monthly income for those raising children is the type of bold, progressive action we need to help combat poverty and give the middle class a chance to thrive – not just survive. But once the COVID-19 crisis is behind us, we cannot return to the status quo. We must seize this opportunity to rebuild our economy on the foundation of equity and fairness, and that starts with making these monthly payments permanent.”

The expanded child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan Act is a monthly guaranteed income that sends $3,000 per year to families per child ages 6-17 and $3,600 per year to families per child ages five and under. If not made permanent, this expanded tax credit will end after 2021.

According to Columbia University, should the tax credit be made permanent, it would cut child poverty nearly in half nationwide, and it would reduce poverty among Latino children by 45% and Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) children by 37%. In California, a permanent child tax credit would reduce child poverty by 36% across all races and ethnicities.

To view a fact sheet on the child tax credit’s impact on CA-34, please click here.