Yesterday, on July 15th, payments began to disperse to more than 1.2 million Georgian families, a game changer for the over 2 million Georgia children who will benefit from the new tax cut for working families

Senator Warnock: “Not only is this the right thing to do, for working families, it’s the smart thing to do for the Georgia economy”

Georgia Parent and CTC Beneficiary: “The expanded Child Tax Credit is going to be a huge relief for us while trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy… “I actually just saw the money hit my bank account. [M]aybe an hour ago, I just looked in there and saw it. I was just thinking how relieved I am.”

View fact sheet on Georgia families and the expanded Child Tax Credit here

Before the virtual press conference, Senator Warnock joined Senate colleagues to celebrate the Child Tax Credit, reiterated the importance of making this tax cut for working families permanent – WATCH HERE

ICYMI: Senator Warnock is pushing to make this Enhanced Child Tax Credit permanent, saying the expansion will “resurrect hope and possibility and promise for all of America’s children”

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) discussed the incredible impact the Expanded Child Tax Credit payments will have on more than 2 million Georgia families. 

Senator Warnock, alongside by Alicia Johnson, Executive Director of Step up Savannah, Ray Khalfani, Research Analyst for Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) and Nura Moshtael, a MomsRising member and Georgia parent set to receive the tax cut, discussed how the expanded Child Tax Credit will help Georgia’s working families overcome the economic consequences of the pandemic, curb childhood poverty and boost Georgia’s state and local economies. This tax cut, which began reaching bank accounts on July 15^th, will help Georgia families pay the bills, buy essential goods and services, like child care and rent payments, and more. The group underscored the importance of making this credit permanent for Georgia’s economy and for helping to eradicate childhood poverty.

The American Rescue Plan included a historic, one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, which will send families across the nation checks of up to $3,600 per child under age 6 and up to $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17. All Georgia families making up to $150,000 jointly or $112,500 for a family with a single parent will get the full credit. This program will lift half of American children out of poverty, including more than 165,000 children in Georgia. 

Senator Warnock has been a leading advocate in the Senate for making the enhanced Child Tax Credit permanent. In March, he delivered a floor speech calling for its permanent expansion to further support working people and their children.

View key excerpts from the press conference below:

Senator Reverend Warnock:

• “This is tremendous news for hardworking Georgians coming out of this once-in-a-century pandemic.”
• “This tax cut for working families is a game changer. It’s a game changer for hardworking Georgia families who stand to receive up to $300 per child per month. That’s money that can help them do the things that they think are important. This money will help so many working parents provide additional support to their children and will allow working families not just to survive, but to thrive, especially following this pandemic and the economic turndown.”
• “These are my neighbors and your neighbors. And that’s why championing this tax cut has been one of my proudest moments in the Senate. It’s why I do this work.”
• “Not only is this the right thing to do, for working families, it’s the smart thing to do for the Georgia economy.”
• “We must make the necessary investments in our children, because they are the future of Georgia and this nation.”

Nura Moshtael

Nura is the single mom to a sixth grader born with Downs Syndrome; they live in Atlanta. She joined Senator Warnock today, after receiving her Child Tax Credit payment an hour prior, to discuss what this boost means to her and her family.

• “I’m a mom of an amazing 13 year old son. He was born with Down syndrome. As we speak right now he’s finally getting his first face-to-face session, since before the pandemic, for occupational and speech therapy.”
• “Throughout his life, I’ve needed to be flexible, and work wise in order to be able to care for him and make sure his needs are met. And I’ve spent more than a decade before he was born and since he’s been born, building a career in the restaurant industry. Then the pandemic hit and I lost both of my restaurant jobs. And of course, you know, as a result of the pandemic, I’ve struggled to pay my bills, we were displaced, we ended up having to move into our family home. We’re just now starting to put the pieces back together.”
• “I actually just saw the money hit my bank account. It was just really a relief, like maybe an hour ago, I just looked in there and saw it. I was just thinking how relieved I am because I’ve had so many moving expenses and just getting back to where I feel is the most important place for us to be for our stability… I’m so excited about what the Child Tax Credit will mean for my family.”
• “The Expanded Child Tax Credit is going to be a huge relief for us while trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy… I’m really, really so pleased that Congress decided to invest in children and families.”
• “We really hope that the lawmakers make this expansion permanent, because I know how important it is to working families like me.”

Alicia Johnson:

Alicia is the Executive Director of Step Up Savannah, a non-profit dedicated to promoting economic opportunity and financial security in Chatham County, GA.

• “So the Child Tax Credit in essence creates that capital for working families across the social safety net to help provide those necessary support to sustain families getting back into economic recovery.”
• “Here in Savannah, our asset poverty rate is about 36%. That means that more than one in three Savannah households are without sufficient net worth to negotiate their day to day losses or bills or anything like that related to their household finances. And so this means everything to those families, compared to Georgia’s asset poverty rate, which is about 27.3%. You can see for the Savannah community, that this is extremely meaningful for our families and citizens in Chatham County.” 
• “Having this real time benefit for them to access for some of our lower wage working families makes all the difference in creating an economic future, starting savings, and creating some of those other means for generating economic mobility for themselves and for their children.”

Ray Khalfani:

Ray is a policy analyst for worker justice for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

• “It increases the earning for families, particularly our families of lower incomes who have had stagnating or declining wages in this pandemic.”
• “Today, families will begin receiving monthly checks up to $300 per child which will help bolster pandemic recovery… Research has shown when we have expanded tax credits, including tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, there’s been improvements in infant and maternal health and improvements when it comes to school performance.”

WATCH the full press conference.

###