WARREN, MI –Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) and Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09) held a virtual roundtable to encourage working families to watch for advance monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit of up to $300 per month, per child beginning July 15^th through December.

You can watch the roundtable here or by clicking the image below.

The Representatives were joined by several guest speakers, including India Bekum of Detroit, a single mother who shared how this credit will help her pay her bills as soon as tomorrow. Simple instructions for families who did not file taxes in the last two years were provided by Matthew H. Hetherwick, MBA, Director, Individual Tax Programs, Accounting Aid Society and Wendy Vivas Gonzales, Tax Program Manager, Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Fund. Madiha Tariq, MPH, Deputy Director, ACCESS and Danielle Atkinson, Founding Director, Mothering Justice shared how this expanded credit will impact the families they represent in their organizations.

“The Child Tax Credit will have a major impact not only on my family’s life, but numerous families. Right now, I’m sitting around waiting for it to come because I’m actually behind on one of my bills and I really can’t afford to pay it. But now, I’m able to pay it because of the Child Tax Credit,” said India Bekum, Detroit mother. “This has been a long journey, something we’ve been hoping and wishing for because COVID has impacted a lot of families. Mine was one of them.”

“The expanded Child Tax Credit is a critical lifeline that families across the country have been waiting for, even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that exacerbated the dire straits many of them already faced,” Rep. Tlaib said. “To see it passed and now finally going into effect, which will improve the lives of  96.5% of children in 13th District Strong alone, gives me hope that sometime in the near future, we’ll be able to get even more bolder, transformative anti-poverty legislation passed that makes it permanent and goes even further.”

“Friends, there’s news that the Senate seems to be moving towards an agreement on a budget resolution—and there’s a lot of work to do there—but it seems like all Democratic Senators have agreed that we will carry this Child Tax Credit improvement into the future!” said Rep. Levin. Right now, it’s just for one year and Representative Tlaib and I are bound and determined to keep this going, because this is transformative for our families.”

A combined 23,200 children in both districts will be lifted out of poverty, with 96.5 percent of children in Michigan’s 13^th District and 88.6 percent of children in Michigan’s 9^th District benefitting from this key component of the American Rescue Plan that Reps. Levin and Tlaib helped to pass into law. The Representatives have fought to make the expansion of the Child Tax Credit permanent and celebrated the latest news of Senate negotiations on the call, committing to keep pushing for more support for working families. 

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