Rep. Katie Porter Is Fighting To Give Single Parents The Child Tax Credit They Deserve

Last updated on February 20th, 2021 at 04:12 am

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) is working to change the Biden stimulus bill so that single parents get the same child tax credit as people who are married.

Video of Rep. Porter on MSNBC:

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Porter said:

So right now we have a proposal from the administration and from the House and Senate to enhance the child tax credit. This is really important during the pandemic with remote schooling and more people having to deal with childcare costs. As the proposal is currently structured if you’re a married couple you’re more likely to get the tax credit and a bigger tax credit than you are if you’re a single parent. That makes no sense.

There is no discount for being a single parent. If there is, please point me to it. Single parents have to pay for all of the costs of the household. Do all of the housework, and pay for all of the childcare or figure out how to do that. The goal here is helping children. Making sure children have what they need. No child should get more or less of this benefit because of the status of their parent’s marriage.

Not surprisingly for a body that has been dominated by men, Republicans and Democrats in Congress were not aware of this issue and are interested in learning about this issue from Porter.

Rep. Porter is the only single parent in Congress, and the child tax credit change that she is working on is why diversity is important in a legislature. A diverse Congress is more likely to understand the needs of the American people and act on those needs to make the House and Senate more representative for all Americans.

It doesn’t matter what committees Rep. Katie Porter serves on. She continues to fight for all Americans.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association