By: KEVIN DERBY Sunshine State News
This week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is once again focused on tax reform, showcasing his efforts to expand the Child Tax Credit and turning his attention to paid family leave.
Rubio released a video last month which he showed last week on the matter.
“We live in a rapidly changing economy that has left millions of working Americans at risk of being left behind. Globalization has created a world where corporate profits go up, while wages sometimes remain flat. At the same time, starting and raising a family is more expensive than it’s ever been,” Rubio says in the video. “In this time of great disruption and insecurity, our country needs an economy that works for all Americans. One that stops the erosion of the American dream. One that works for both the laid-off factory worker and the immigrant family of a bartender and maid—and all of their children.
“So when we passed the new tax law, we worked to make sure that it would help working class families of teachers and firefighters and home health aides. The Child Tax Credit is the biggest provision to help working families. It puts money directly back into their pockets,” Rubio adds.”The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubles this tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child, which helps more than 90 million American families. That’s real money. And we won’t stop there. Starting and raising a family should not bankrupt working Americans. That’s why we need to find a conservative solution to provide paid family leave in a fiscally-responsible way. This is something I will continue to work with my colleagues to make a priority and to pass. As Ronald Reagan once said, we are going to make it economical to raise children again.
“I want my message to be clear: if you work hard, pay your taxes, and start a family, you are doing immense good for our country in a time when we need stable families more than we ever have. Republicans have a chance to be the party that fights for our workers, while fighting for our families and at the same time, growing our economy,” Rubio says in conclusion. “These important changes to the tax code will make the difficult, but deeply important, job of raising kids just a little bit easier. And that, that’s worth doing.”
Last year, Rubio and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee’s, R-Utah, teamed up on a proposal to expand the child tax credit. Under their “Economic Growth and Family Fairness Tax Plan,” Rubio and Lee called for allowing an additional $2,500 tax credit to families with children while keeping the current $1,000 tax credit per child in place. Rubio and Lee got much of what they wanted, raising the per-child tax credit to from $1,000 to $2,000 and increasing the credit to working class families to $1,400.