This week, Senator Reverend Warnock introduced the American Family Act, legislation that would nearly double the Child Tax Credit (CTC)

Senator Reverend Warnock joined several of his Senate colleagues for a press conferenceintroducing the landmark bill 

Since entering the Senate in 2021, Senator Reverend Warnock has been a leading advocate for expanding the CTC to support working families and lift children out of poverty  

If no action is taken and current provisions expire at the end of the year, the CTC will be slashed in half 

ICYMI from US News & World Report: Warnock on Expanding the Child Tax Credit

Senator Reverend Warnock: “I’m proud to stand with all of my colleagues pushing for the American Family Act. This is what family values looks like. Family values is not about rhetoric, it’s about giving every child a chance and to ensure that a child’s outcome is not based on their parent’s income”

Senator Reverend Warnock during a press conference highlighting his CTC legislation

Washington, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) introduced the American Family Act, legislation that would nearly double the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and put more money back in the pockets of working and middle-class families. The bill would also provide a new “Baby Bonus”, a $2,400 one-time payment for newborns. 

“I’m proud to stand with all of my colleagues pushing for theAmerican Family Act. This is what family values looks like. Family values is not about rhetoric, it’s about giving every child a chance and to ensure that a child’s outcome is not based on their parent’s income,” said Senator Reverend Warnock during a press conference.

Under current law, the CTC is $2,000 per child ages 0-16. If no action is taken and current provisions expire at the end of the year, that would be cut in half to $1,000 per child. Senator Warnock’s proposal would increase this tax cut for families in Georgia and across the country by providing a $4,320 credit for children under 6 years old, and a $3,600 credit for children 6-17, as well as providing the Baby Bonus.

Since entering the Senate in 2021, Senator Reverend Warnock has been a leading advocate for expanding the CTC to support working families and lift children out of poverty. Senator Warnock successfully pushed to include an expansion of the CTC in the American Rescue Plan, which helped cut child poverty across the country in half until Congress let the tax cut expire. In 2022, Senator Warnock called on Congress to extend the tax cuts for working families and urged the Biden Administration to secure an extension of the expanded CTC as a centerpiece of any subsequent negotiations on economic legislative priorities

Bill text of the American Family Actcan be found HERE.

A one-pager on the American Family Act is available HERE.

See below coverage of Senator Reverend Warnock’s new legislation:

US News & World Report: Warnock on Expanding the Child Tax Credit

• Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has been making waves inside and outside the halls of Congress since being elected in 2022. […] Since being in the Senate, a key concern of his has been the child tax credit, a tax benefit offered by the federal government to assist families with the cost associated with raising children. A temporary increase to the credit is set to expire on Dec. 31, and if it does, the amount will be cut in half.

• He, along with Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, introduced the American Family Act on April 9 to permanently expand the child tax credit, nearly doubling the amount parents can claim for newborns for newborns – $6,360 – and increasing to $4,320 for children aged one to six and $3,600 for children six to 17.

Capitol Beat: Democrats pitch expansion of child tax credit

• […] Most of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, including Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, are calling not only to prevent that from happening but also to permanently expand the credit.

• “This is about attacking poverty in our country and ensuring that the government isn’t taxing people into poverty,” said Warnock, who is among more than 40 other Senate Democrats co-sponsoring the bill.

WSB: Senator Warnock pushes for permanent Child Tax Credit under American Family Act

• Georgia families and parents across the nation could soon see lasting financial relief if the latest push to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) becomes law. U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock is co-sponsoring the American Family Act, a bill that would more than double the existing credit for young children and nearly double it for older kids.

• Warnock emphasized that the expanded credit would also be permanent and tied to inflation, helping families keep up with the rising cost of living. “The central problem that I’m focused on is that right now there are way too many people in our state who are literally too poor to get this tax cut,” he said. “My legislation fixes that.”

WUGA: Senator Warnock introduces bill to expand Child Tax Credit

• Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock along with Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado are introducing legislation that would expand the Child Tax Credit.

Senator Warnock’s remarks during the CTC press conference:

“Hello, everybody! So, in this deeply partisan moment in our country, here is where Democrats and Republicans have something in common. Each of the parties wants to do a tax cut this year. Democrats and Republicans want to cut taxes. The difference is that they want to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, and we want to cut taxes for hard-working moms and dads. They want to cut taxes for the wealthiest people in the country who have enough and then something to spare. We think it’s a good idea to cut taxes for folks who are just trying to make their lives work, trying to do the best that they can for their children.”

“They think that the strength of our economy is about wealth trickling down. I’m old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan promised us that we’ve seen that experiment for 40 years. It does not work. Wealth does not trickle from the top down. The strength of our economy is when we give ordinary folks a chance. It’s from the bottom up.”

“So I’m proud to stand with all of my colleagues pushing for the American Family Act. This is what family values looks like. Family values is not about rhetoric. It’s about giving every child a chance and to ensure that a child’s outcome is not based on their parent’s income.”

“I’m proud of the fact that when I came to the Senate in 2021, one of the first things that we were able to do, because we flipped the Senate, Georgia had a lot to do with that, I’m proud of that. But we were able to pass the American Rescue Plan. And that plan, that piece of legislation, had a lot of great things in it, but nothing greater than the expanded Child Tax Credit, which cut child poverty nearly in half. The sad thing is, six months later, the Congress went back and doubled it by not extending it. Well, we have a chance to fix that in this Congress. This piece of legislation will about double the amount that families would get for the expanded Child Tax Credit. I’m grateful to stand here with my colleagues pushing for this and urging the Congress to get it done.”

“We have a word for our Republican sisters and brothers: The eyes of ordinary American people are on you, America is watching, and we’re going to see who you’re fighting for? You fighting for millionaires and billionaires? Are you fighting for ordinary, hard-working people who are just trying to make their lives work?”

“Some say it’s too risky. It doesn’t make sense to give money to ordinary people, because, when you give, when you give a few extra dollars to poor people, to working class people, you know, sometimes they do irresponsible and extravagant things. They buy things like a coat for their kid. They pay for a tutor.”

“We will be watching, this is a defining moral moment in our country, and I’m reminded of the words of the one in whose name I preach every single Sunday, Inasmuch as you’ve done it unto one of the least of these, you’ve have done it also unto me.”

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