In an editorial, the Washington Examiner cited the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act – the biggest non-emergency bipartisan tax relief in nearly a decade – as a “big win for conservative tax policy.” After all, they argue, “Every Republican member of the House Ways and Means Committee voted this month for Chairman Jason Smith’s (R-MO) bipartisan Tax Relief for the American Families and Workers Act. The only three dissenting votes on the committee came from Democrats.”
Here are some highlights from the editorial:
On the Child Tax Credit providing strong work incentives:
“If people know they never have to work to get a check, they don’t work. But parents who know they must work to put food on the table one year will not quit the next year, especially given other work incentives such as the earned income tax credit. That is why both the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Tax Foundation have concluded that the new bill does not disincentivize work.”
On the bill’s strong safeguards against improper payments:
“[T]he 2017 legislation … contained much-needed reforms to the child tax credit system. Before its passage, parents claiming the child tax credit did not need to include a Social Security number for the children they claimed. The change in 2017 cut improper child tax credit payments by half. The new bill keeps the 2017 safeguard requirement, a key win for conservative negotiators against Democratic pressure to drop it.”
On the successful halt to Democrats’ push for monthly welfare checks:
“Bipartisan legislation involves compromise. But Chairman Smith got the better side of the bargain this time. Democrats wanted $3,600 a year for younger children ($3,000 for older children), fully refundable with no work requirements, no citizenship requirements, and benefits paid in monthly checks like welfare benefits. Smith nixed all of that.”
The Examiner concludes that “Pro-growth tax reform is important. The new bill keeps almost all of the 2017 pro-growth reforms. It also encourages necessary family formation. It is strong conservative policy and the House should pass it as soon as possible.”
The House overwhelmingly passed the bill.
To read the full editorial, click here.