This Week’s Must-Read: Expanding Tax Credits and Boosting Financial Security

Sources call for an expansion of state and federal tax credits, payday lenders plan to withstand new regulations while religious groups unite against these lenders, and how technology and policy can improve financial security.

  • Expanding the EITC to include workers without children would help level the playing field for young people in the labor force.
  • Scholars from the Urban Institute argue that financial security and longevity are linked, so policies should be created to encourage asset development.
  • Despite new regulations for payday lenders, larger branches in the industry plan to withstand the regulations and keep a controversial loan, one that has an annualized interest rate of 390 percent or more. Christian groups across the political spectrum are uniting together against these payday lenders.
  • In New York City, Espaillat is proposing an expansion of the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to address the city’s affordability crisis.
  • In New Jersey, senators announced a bipartisan agreement to fund a Transportation Trust Fund and a series of tax reforms, including raising the state EITC from 30 percent to 35 percent of the federal credit.
  • Financial inclusion is increasing in the United States. New technologies may help this expansion, providing greater access to affordable and safe financial services for American families.

 



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