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GOP senators seek to deny child tax credit to undocumented immigrants
Ayotte’s amendment is receiving opposition from pro-children organizations and immigrant rights groups.
First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley released a statement Wednesday expressing his opposition. He said the amendment comes at a time “when child poverty is already at the highest level in a generation.”
“This proposal targets millions of the most vulnerable children in America and threatens to drive even more children into poverty,” Lesley stated. “And our message to members of Congress: find a smarter solution, and don’t cut kids.”
The First Focus Campaign previously said that denying the Additional Child Tax Credit to children whose parents file federal income tax returns using an ITIN number would hurt more than 5.5 million children, 4.5 million of whom are U.S. citizens. The group also said the child tax credit has proven effective in protecting children from poverty.
Advierten a migrantes EEUU sobre cambio fiscal
YAHOO! Noticias Venezuela (Spanish)
NGOs criticized on Wednesday a Republican proposal that would deny immigrants who entered the country without authorization tax credits granted to taxpayers with children.
During the debate being conducted by the Senate over a three-month renewal of unemployment benefits for 1.4 million unemployed, which expired in December, Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and five other Republicans proposed banning the child tax exemption for to taxpayers who do not have a Social Security number, as a way to offset the cost of $6.300 million.
"I made a sensible proposal that would save billions (of dollars) to prevent illegal immigrants from claiming the child tax exemption," Ayotte said yesterday.
Bruce Lesley, president of the Washington-based advocacy organization The First Focus Campaign for Children, said the proposal " affects millions of vulnerable children in the United States and threatens to bring more children into poverty. Our message to Congress is: find a smart solution, don't exclude children."
A Better Deal for Kids in the Budget? Democrats and Republicans Say Yes
At a congressional briefing last week, children’s advocacy organization First Focus Campaign for Children, in conjunction with advocacy group MomsRising, presented the results of a nationwide poll that found bipartisan public support for protecting funding for children’s programs in the federal budget.
The survey of 800 voters, commissioned by First Focus and conducted by polling firm American Viewpoint, found that strong majorities of both Democrats and Republicans opposed cuts to programs like the ones that sustained Jimenez.
Voters were surveyed by landline and cell phone in the first week of December.
“Kids were affected significantly by the budget sequestration that took effect earlier this year,” says Ed Walz, vice president of communications at First Focus. Cutbacks, he says, have disproportionately impacted programs serving children.
Children's Advocacy Group Honors Sens. Blumenthal, Murphy
National Children’s Advocacy Group Recognizes Hirono As ‘Champion’ for Keiki
Hawaii’s Sen. Mazie Hirono is one of 100 members of Congress being recognized today by the Campaign for Children for their leadership on children’s issues.
The national bipartisan advocacy group praised Hirono as a politician who actually delivers on her promises to improve the lives of keiki, particularly in the realms of early childhood care and education. The list includes those who introduced, co-sponsored and voted for legislation meeting children’s needs, in addition to members who spearheaded other efforts to improve the health and well-being of kids.
Payne Recognized As A “Defender Of Children”
News Record (New Jersey)
Today, the First Focus Campaign for Children, a national bipartisan children’s advocacy group, recognized Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. as a “Defender of Children” for leadership on issues important to children during 2013.
“Lots of politicians talk about kids’ issues, but few back it up,” said Bruce Lesley, president of the Campaign for Children. “Rep. Payne delivered for kids.”
Hanna Named ‘Champion For Children’
Representative Richard Hanna has been named a 2013 ‘Champion for Children’ by the First Focus Campaign for Children.
First Focus chose Hanna because of his work introducing, co-sponsoring and voting for legislation to meet childrens’ needs.
The ACA’s 'Family Glitch' Could Hurt Families Who Need CHIP
“Now, more than ever, it is crucial that states continue or expand coverage of children,” said Bruce Lesley, president of the children's advocacy group First Focus. Without CHIP, the federal-state health care program for kids, he and others worry about potential harm the ACA may do to children. A main concern is a provision known as the “family glitch” that could make employer-sponsored insurance too costly for low-income workers.
According to a study by the Urban Institute, Obamacare could result in new coverage for as many as 3.2 million uninsured children because of tax credits on health insurance exchanges and overall outreach efforts. But if CHIP is not reauthorized by Congress when it expires in 2015, or states decide not to continue it, the ACA could result in fewer children covered by insurance.
GOP Obamacare Defunding Bill Would Gut Children's Health Insurance Program
Bruce Lesley, president of the First Focus Campaign for Children, told HuffPost in an interview that the funding cuts could ultimately end the CHIP program altogether.
"What would end up happening is that states would start to immediately slow down coverage, and then by Christmas or so the whole program would have to shut down," Lesley said. "For some of those kids, the family might figure out a way to get them employer coverage or individual market coverage. But we're talking about low-income families, so many of those kids would lose health care coverage altogether."
House Republicans Pass Deep Cuts in Food Stamps
Critics of the measure said the cuts would fall disproportionately on children.
“Yes, the federal government has budget problems, but children didn’t cause them, and cutting anti-hunger investments is the wrong way to solve them,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus Campaign for Children, a child advocacy group.