U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement in response to today’s proposed bipartisan tax deal, which includes an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Booker was a key partner in the successful effort to expand the Child Tax Credit for 2021, and has been pushing for a renewal of the expansion ever since.

“Today’s announced bipartisan tax deal is a meaningful step forward in fixing our broken tax code, putting more money in the pockets of families with kids, and eliminating the moral obscenity of child poverty. Under current law, 19 million children receive partial or no Child Tax Credit. This proposed deal includes provisions for expanding refundability, phasing in benefits more quickly for multi-child families, allowing the use of prior-year income, and indexing the maximum value of the credit to inflation. In 2023, this expansion would benefit about 16 million children, including more than one in three Black children, who have been left behind by the current program. The deal also includes increased funding for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, our most important resource in creating and expanding affordable housing across the country; tax relief for the victims of several recent natural disasters; and billions of dollars for businesses to expand research and development in the United States.

“This bipartisan proposal is a step towards a tax code that better reflects our values—for every dollar spent on tax cuts to businesses, we are putting an equal amount back into the pockets of families with kids and extending lifelines for those who need it the most, helping families struggling to pay for gas, groceries, medicine, and other basic necessities. We must make a lasting commitment to continue our work until we reinstate the full expanded Child Tax Credit that Democrats passed in 2021 and ensure that no child grows up in poverty.”