skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump heads to Texas after catastrophic flooding, avoiding criticism he's heaped on other governors; Trump threatens a 35% tariff on Canadian goods, and he may double what most other nations are charged; USDA funding pause could stall conservation momentum in MI, nation; New Ohio weapons plant to bring over 4,000 jobs; Report: Occupational segregation leads to pay gap for MA women.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

NOAA nominee says he supports cutting the agency's budget. Many question why Ukraine's weapons aid was paused. And farmers worry how the budget megabill will impact this year's Farm Bill.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Americans brace for disproportionate impact of federal funding cuts to mental health, substance use programs, and new federal policies have farmers from Ohio to Minnesota struggling to grow healthier foods and create sustainable food production programs.

PA Group Urges Congress to Expand Child Tax Credit

play audio
Play

Thursday, December 15, 2022   

A Pennsylvania policy analysis group is adding its voice to the calls for Congress to bring back the expanded child tax credit for families in place during the pandemic. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center said it could be included in the end-of-year spending package.

When the expanded Child Tax Credit was in effect, it helped boost millions of families above the federal poverty level, with a few hundred dollars a month per child.

Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, said the Child Tax Credit reduced poverty for 5.3 million people. He argued policymakers have the power to help address childhood poverty again and thinks Congress should not pass corporate tax breaks unless it also expands tax credits for families.

"We're telling Congress people that they ought to make a deal," Stier stated. "We're not crazy about some of those corporate tax cuts. Well, if we're going to give tax cuts to billionaires, we ought to be giving help to the poorest kids in our country, and that's a deal we can live with. And it's a deal they should include in the budget negotiations this month."

When it was in effect, the expanded Child Tax Credit provided monthly payments of $250 to $300 per child to families, depending on the child's age. Without the expanded program, an estimated 627,000 kids in Pennsylvania missed out on the full credit. Opponents in Congress argued the credit contributes to inflation.

Stier noted since Congress allowed the child tax credit expansion to lapse, child poverty in the Keystone State has risen by 40% and the number of people who do not always have enough to eat increased by 25%. He said families are struggling to pay their bills without the expansion of the credit.

"We're hearing from parents who are having trouble heating their homes, having trouble paying for food, having trouble paying for child care, so they can actually go out into the workforce," Stier observed. "A little extra money a month, which we give to upper middle-class families making $400,000 a year, we certainly can give that to low-income families as well."

Congress has until Friday to enact the final spending measure and pass another continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded, or risk a partial government shutdown.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
According to the Trump administration's 2026 fiscal year budget, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will cut 22% of its workforce, in addition to the workforce reductions that have already taken place. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Wisconsin's agriculture industry could see both wins and losses under the new federal budget. Climate change isn't a priority for the Trump …


Environment

play sound

Hoosier businesses across the state are feeling the ripple effects of rising tariffs and shifting trade policies, especially in farming, …

Social Issues

play sound

Some 15 community and faith-based organizations gathered again this week outside the Geo Group ICE detention facility in Aurora where longtime Denver …


Authors of the law may add enforcement language, such as fines for parents or involvement from the prosecutor's office, during the committee process. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

By Garrett Bergquist for WISH-TV.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Serv…

Social Issues

play sound

More than 400 teen artists will gather this Saturday in Southern California to learn about equity in arts education. The 3rd annual Arts Advocacy Day …

A seed drill used by New Mexico farmers to plant cover crops causes minimal disturbance to the soil. (photo: courtesy NMhealthysoil.org)

Environment

play sound

New Mexico farmers finding it more difficult to grow historic crops are taking up conservation techniques to meet the challenge. Drought, water …

Environment

play sound

Despite last-minute concessions in the Trump administration's budget, which removes alternative energy tax incentives, rural Alaska power providers …

Environment

play sound

"Don't go into the water" is a warning Illinoisans may want to heed. A 2024 study released this week found all state-border beaches on Lake Michigan …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021