Create Champions for Protecting the EITC and CTC

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.results.org/take_action/us_poverty_actions_and_news/july_2010_u.s._poverty_action/

Keep Pushing Members of Congress to Take a Strong Stand in Favor of Working Families

Whether your group lobbied members of Congress in Washington, back home, or have not yet gotten a chance to meet with them face-to-face, this is the key time for members of Congress to support, lead on, or champion permanent extensions the 2009 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) provisions. In your follow up conversations with members of Congress and their staff, be sure to highlight the following:

1. Tell them that RESULTS groups across the country are lobbying Congress to expand the EITC and CTC. These low-income tax credits are helping keep millions of Americans out of poverty, including millions of children. You can find district-level data for EITC on the Brookings Institute’s website and you can find state level data on the CTC on the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities’ (CBPP) website.
2. Explain that these tax credits are vital for low-income families — they encourage work, promote responsibility, and maintain family stability.
3. Use a story from your VITA outreach in May to illustrate how these tax credits are helping people in your home state and/or congressional district. Supplement that information with any data you obtained from your VITA site coordinator on how much EITC and CTC money the VITA programs generates in your community; money that is often spent immediately thus creating important economic activity.
4. Remind your member of Congress that ARRA expanded the EITC and CTC; these expansions have helped 7 million low-income Americans.


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