L
EGACY Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
WEDNESDAYS • March 17, 2021
INSIDE & ONLINE Wanted: COVID-19 vaccinators - 2 Standing up for girls, everywhere - 3 Henrico school board member under fire for racist comments
Richmond & Hampton Roads
LEGACYNEWSPAPER.COM • FREE
How Biden’s Plan Could Help Reshape The Finances Of American Families SCOTT HORSLEY
For Nancy Cordeiro, a plan by the Biden administration to provide her family with a monthly allowance is more than just about money that she sorely needs. It's also about restoring something she has lost at times during the pandemic: her pride. “When you have to go to the food bank, there's a lot of pride at stake and people are suffering from that,” Cordeiro said. “They're getting depressed over that, because all that weight is on them, just like it is on me.” The Middletown, R.I., mom of a 4-year-old has kept her job with a heating and cooling company, but her husband, who does home renovations, has been unable to work during the pandemic. For a while, their daughter's preschool was closed, so the child had to tag along with Cordeiro to the office. Fixing three meals a day plus snacks was a drag on the family’s grocery budget. Some of that weight is about to be lifted. Included in President Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package is a provision that provides many American parents an allowance of $250 a month for each child and $300 for kids under 6. Although set to last only through this year, many experts see this as a potentially gamechanging initiative to fight poverty in America and lift up lower-income families. Biden Plan To Expand Child Tax Credit Could Help Lift Millions Of Kids Out Of Poverty The federal government already offered a limited tax break for parents, but the new law expands that in a number of important ways. First, it vastly expands the amount of money
President Joseph R. Biden signs the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill last week. provided to families — 50 percent to 80 percent more for each child. Second, it›s designed to be given out monthly, like an allowance, rather than just once a year. And third, parents with little or no income still qualify for the full amount. That’s a departure from the existing tax break, which is less generous to low-income workers and gives the poorest families nothing at all. “This is landmark legislation that would really slash child poverty and target benefits to
the lowest-income families that need them the most,”says Kris Cox, deputy director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. For Cordeiro, the allowances will make it easier to catch up on some bills and fill the refrigerator. “It’s a huge financial help because that takes away some of the burden of, ‘What do I pay?’” Cordeiro said. “‘Do I pay the rent? Do I pay the
(continued on page 7)