Focus on the Family joined with dozens of pro-family individuals and organizations in signing a letter calling on Congress to further strengthen the Child Tax Credit (CTC).
The CTC helps families with qualifying children under age 17 get a tax break. The credit can be claimed annually if a set of eight criteria (based on age, relationship, support, dependent status, citizenship, length of residency, family income, and work-eligible Social Security numbers) are met.
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), passed by Congress earlier this year and signed into law by President Trump on July 4, increased the CTC from $2,000 to $2,200 per child for qualified taxpayers. The bill made the CTC permanent and took effect immediately, so the provision applies to the 2025 tax year.
The letter, dated September 19 and addressed to President Donald J. Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, acknowledges the positive impact the OBBB’s tax reductions will have on families.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill implemented many new supports for families; making the Child Tax Credit permanent, indexing it to inflation so it won’t lose its value and increasing the amount,” the letter details.
“Thanks to your leadership, Republicans continue to have an opportunity before the midterms to put American families first and deliver the next step on the trail you are blazing to American greatness.”
Focus on the Family President Jim Daly signed the letter alongside other pro-family leaders, including:
- Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator
- Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Michele Bachmann, dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University
- Brad Wilcox, senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies
- Robert P. George, professor at Princeton University
- Terry Schilling, president of American Principles Project
- Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action
- Aaron Baer, president of Center for Christian Virtue
- Gene Mills, president of Louisiana Family Forum
The letter notes how crucial the family is to a healthy society:
Family is the first community that forms our citizens, the first school that teaches our students, the first apprenticeship that trains our workers, and the first city that orders our loves. Pro-family conservatives continue to develop a suite of family-strengthening policies.
Therefore, the letter proposed “next steps” Congress should take to “usher in a new golden age for American working families”:
- Further Strengthen the Child Tax Credit by increasing its top-line value, with a particular focus on families with children from conception to age 5.
- Increase work incentives in the CTC by providing first earned dollar tax relief to all working families.
- Enhance the Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCTC) by enabling any working families with earned income and childcare expenses to claim the credit.
“We stand ready to help, to remind Americans why they voted for President Trump, Vice President Vance, and a Republican Congress; because you put families first,” the letter concludes.
“You know that the future of America passes through the family, and that our culture is only as strong as its families.”
Republicans in Congress used the reconciliation process – a process that allows Congress to enact tax and spending legislation with a simple majority vote in the Senate (rather than the usually required 60 votes) – to pass the OBBB. The reconciliation process can normally be used once per year.
Since Republicans control just 53 seats in the U.S. Senate, the reconciliation process allows the majority party to bypass any need for Democrat support.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has expressed interest in using the reconciliation process twice more before next year’s midterm elections to enact additional tax and spending changes.
If Republicans do so, they should implement the recommendations in the above letter to further support American families.
Related articles and resources:
House Passes ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’ Finally Defunding Planned Parenthood
Senate Passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ to Defund Planned Parenthood, Lower Taxes
House Passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ With Tax Cuts & Pro-Family Policies
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