Albany bill would give NY families $500+ tax credit per child

ALBANY — Democratic lawmakers want reduce poverty by putting money back in New York parents’ pockets.

Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and other legislators will unveil a measure Thursday modeled on the lapsed federal child tax credit that backers say could decrease child poverty in the state by as much as 19%.

“We’re proposing to take steps here in New York to replicate the incredibly successful expanded child tax credit and, in the course of doing so, expand eligibility, expand the credit threshold and help make sure that we drive down child poverty,” Gounardes said.

The push comes after Congress failed to re-authorize child tax credits at the federal level that saw millions of families receive monthly checks of up to $300 per child in 2021.

Democrats in Washington are pushing to renew the measure by the end of the year — but their effort seems to have stalled despite Census Bureau data showing a massive reduction in child poverty in part due to the tax credit.

Gounardes said Washington’s failure to act opens the door for New York to take the lead.

The proposed NYS Working Families Tax Credit, backed in the Assembly by Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Queens), would essentially combine and streamline the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and Empire State Child Tax Credit by including New Yorkers with children from birth to 4 years of age and making families eligible regardless of citizenship status.

The measure would also allow those with the lowest incomes to receive the largest credits.

According to Gounardes, the measure would increase the maximum credit to $1,500 per child and provide, at minimum, a $500 credit per child regardless of income.

It would also eliminate the cap on the number of children eligible to receive a credit and be paid out quarterly, providing families with four payments per year instead of one lump sum.

With the new system, families with one to three children will receive on average $1,090 more than they currently do.

Those without children who qualify for the state EITC will be unaffected and continue to receive that benefit.

Eligible New Yorkers received checks this fall after lawmakers approved expansions to the Empire State Child Credit and the Earned Income Credit in the most state recent state budget.

In total, approximately 1.75 million New Yorkers received part of $475 million that came from existing federal COVID funds.

The new tax credit system will cost approximately $2 billion but could significantly reduce child poverty across the state, says an analysis conducted by the Center on Poverty & Social Policy at Columbia University.

The study found that the new tax credit would result in a 13.4% reduction in children under the age of 18 living in poverty and a 19.6% reduction for those under 18 living in deep poverty.

Gounardes said it’s hard to quantify the additional benefits but said New York would see increased educational attainment and employment opportunities for kids impacted by the credits.

“We are capturing almost everyone in the state whose families needs assistance and to drive down poverty by 20% would be a game changer,” he said.