Congress is unlikely to send another round of stimulus checks, believing there is no need. Even the creator of the Change.org petition which asks for more stimulus checks likely believes so. However, the petitioner now wants the federal government to make the expanded child tax credit permanent. In her latest coronavirus stimulus check petition update, she urged Congress not to “ghost” American families.
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Stephanie Bonin, a restaurant owner in Denver, Colorado, started a Change.org petition last year. The petition urges Congress to send monthly stimulus checks of $2,000 to adults and $1,000 for kids for as long as the coronavirus pandemic lasts. It has already received almost 3 million signatures, making it one of the top-signed petitions on Change.org.
Until a few months ago, Bonin was speaking in favor of more stimulus checks. However, over the past couple of months, she has been arguing in favor of making the expanded child tax credit permanent. In her latest coronavirus stimulus check petition update, she urged Congress not to “ghost the families of America.”
Bonin believes the child tax credit payments could prove extremely crucial for American families as the money goes directly into their pockets every month. Even President Joe Biden supports making the expanded child tax credit permanent, but without any support from Congress, the payments will end in December.
Thus, Bonin is asking Congress to extend its support for this stimulus program.
“This Halloween let's spread the word that the scariest thing is Congress ghosting America by taking away the checks being sent directly to our families, the expanded Child Care Tax Credits,” she wrote in her latest coronavirus stimulus check petition update.
How Making The Expanded Child Tax Credit Permanent Can Help
The American Rescue Plan, which was passed in March, expanded the child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for children below the age of six and to $3,000 for children between the ages of six and 17. The plan also changed the way families receive this credit.
Instead of a lump sum, families can opt to receive half the credit in six monthly installments from July to December and the other half when they file their tax return next year.
Bonin’s support for the expanded child tax credit is not without reason. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the child tax credit helped lift 3 million children out of poverty. Separately, a Census Bureau survey from late September found that about a third of families used the CTC payments for school-related expenses, and about 11% used it for childcare.
Many members of Congress are using this data to push for making the expanded child tax credit permanent, but congressional battles have so far blocked all such efforts. However, a vote scheduled this week could at least temporarily extend the expanded child tax credit payments through 2022.
