DelBene, DeLauro, Torres Secure $13.6 Billion in Child Tax Credit Funding and Report Language in FY 2022 Financial Services and General Government Spending Bill

Press Release

Today, the House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year 2022 Financial Services and General Government funding bill. In this spending bill, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), and Ritchie Torres (NY-15) secured $13.6 billion for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an increase of $1.7 billion above the FY 2021 enacted level. This increase in funding will be used to help cover the costs associated with the implementation of the expanded and improved Child Tax Credit as included in the American Rescue Plan.

Additionally, the Members secured the inclusion of language requiring the IRS to focus on outreach and education to ensure all eligible families, including those in low-income and underserved communities who are not connected to the tax system, can access the Child Tax Credit. This legislation also strongly encourages the IRS to continue to work with potentially eligible individuals, including unhoused and non-traditional filers, to claim the Child Tax Credit.

"Making the historic Child Tax Credit expansion successful depends in part on reaching communities that will not automatically receive the benefit starting July 15. Thanks to our efforts and Chairwoman DeLauro's leadership, the IRS will be better positioned to conduct outreach and engage with trusted community stakeholders to get this information to those families," said DelBene. "This is the first step in creating the long-term infrastructure to make this a permanent benefit that will help us rebuild our middle class and lift over 4 million children out of poverty."

"The expansion and improvement of the Child Tax Credit is a lifeline to our most vulnerable and the middle class," said DeLauro. "As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, I am incredibly pleased to have worked closely with my colleagues, Congresswoman DelBene and Congressman Torres, and the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Quigley, to include this increase in funding for the IRS and report language on the implementation of this transformational policy in this fiscal year 2022 spending bill. The Child Tax Credit will only be successful in changing lives if the IRS has the resources it needs for implementation, including funding to increase staffing, outreach, and education. The work does not stop here. I look forward to continuing to fight with Representatives DelBene and Torres to ensure this funding is included in the final spending bill signed into law and the expanded and improved Child Tax Credit is made permanent."

"We've seen the consequences of having the IRS operate without the resources it needs to help the American public: delayed payments, confusion and stalled services. As we approach the implementation of the Child Tax Credit expansion, the federal resources allocated in this funding bill will help the IRS provide families with the monthly benefits and give families the tools they need to access the Credit. Thanks to the leadership of Chairwoman DeLauro, funding is now in place to ensure the IRS is well-suited to reach families who will benefit most from the Child Tax Credit, and has the infrastructure in place to hopefully make this a permanent benefit for American families," said Torres.

Representatives DelBene, DeLauro, and Torres also successfully worked to include language directing the IRS to report back on how implementation funding was used to support community outreach and provide the number of families who newly claimed the Child Tax Credit under the American Rescue Plan expansion. This legislation also commends the IRS for their efforts to roll out the monthly advanced Child Tax Credit payments and directs the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to assess the IRS's Child Tax Credit implementation plan and ensure that the payments are accurate and information provided by individuals to the IRS using the online portal is secure.

Representatives DelBene and Torres led 61 of their colleagues in a letter to Representative DeLauro, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, requesting this increase in funding for the IRS to provide families with information about the credit, process the timely disbursement of payments, and address programmatic needs moving forward.

The American Rescue Plan includes one year of an expanded and improved CTC modeled after the American Family Act introduced by DelBene, DeLauro, and Torres. More information about the American Family Act can be found here.

A summary of the Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Services and General Government funding bill is here. The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here.

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