Faith Community Urges Senators to Include Low-income Tax Credits in Tax Reform

July 22, 2013

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Hatch invited you to provide input on tax reform, particularly about tax expenditures. As people of faith from across religions, denominations, and backgrounds, we see the federal budget and our tax code as moral documents, outlining our priorities as a country. We urge you to write a letter and emphasize some of the most effective anti-poverty initiatives enacted: the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

As groups dedicated to addressing poverty and hunger, we were pleased to see the letter from Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Hatch. As we read it, this letter calls for a “blank slate” approach in regards to tax credits, while protecting the EITC and CTC at their current levels, with the 2009 improvements. We in the faith community would like to affirm this decision and would hope that in the coming conversations about tax reform this is not lost. The EITC and the CTC keep many out of poverty and are examples of our faithful principles in practice.

Please write Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Hatch and tell them that you support and agree that tax reform must ensure the EITC and CTC are continued at their current levels with the 2009 improvements.

We know there are many voices clamoring around tax reform. However, those struggling with hunger and in poverty are often left out of the tax policy debates. We urge you to remember them as you make important decisions over generating and allocating federal resources.

Second, it is important that tax reform generate adequate new revenue so we can continue this country’s commitment to addressing poverty while contributing to a healthy economy and fiscal future. As people of faith, we can envision a world without hunger and poverty. But that vision is untenable if sequestration remains in place, if our long-term deficits grow too big, if we fail to invest in effective anti-poverty measures, and if our economy remains weak. We urge you to emphasize this point as well.

In Proverbs (31.9) we are reminded of our responsibility to “Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy.” We urge you to follow these words as you provide input on tax reform. These tax decisions will reflect more than our government’s revenue situation, they will reflect our values as a nation.

Sincerely,

Bread for the World

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Jewish Council for Public Affairs

Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office

The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Council of Jewish Women

NETWORK

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Institute Justice Team

Union for Reform Judaism

United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society

Oppose House Reconciliation Bill

From a blog post by Bread for the World:

Tell Your Representative to Vote NO on the House Reconciliation Bill



Marie Crise is able to use her SNAP benefits to purchase fresh,
healthy fruits and vegetables at the Abingdon Farmers Market in
Abingdon, VA. Photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl. From Bread blog.


We need your voice today! Congress has been proposing more cuts to programs vital to hungry and poor people. The latest is a vote that the House of Representatives will take soon on additional cuts to SNAP and Child Tax Credits. 


Call your member of the U.S. House of Representatives today using 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill. Or Send an Email.  Call NOW!  The House may vote as soon as Thursday, May 10.


The House of Representatives is using a legislative process known as reconciliation for the FY 2013 budget. (Reconciliation reduces the federal deficit by changing mandatory programs such as SNAP. It instructs authorizing committees in Congress to change eligibility requirements or benefit levels to save money.)

This reconciliation bill, which the House of Representatives is about to vote on, will have a devastating impacts on hungry and poor people. Please call your representative now at 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill.  Or Send an Email.

Here are the basic talking points:

• We support a Faithful Federal Budget that “act[s] with mercy and justice by serving the common good, robustly funding support for poor and vulnerable people, both at home and abroad, and exercising proper care and keeping of the earth.
• Don’t balance the budget by cutting programs for hungry and poor people.
• SNAP is a lifeline for 46 million vulnerable Americans struggling to put food on the table. Eighty-five percent of SNAP benefits go to families with children, elderly or disabled people.
• The Child Tax Credit effectively lifts millions of children and families out of poverty every year. In 2010, the Child Tax Credit lifted 1.3 million children out of poverty.

If you have more time, you can also use the following points to expand your message:

• Cutting programs that serve poor and vulnerable populations is not the way to reduce our deficits. Congress must take a balanced approach that maintains our commitment to serving those in need.

• SNAP efficiently and effectively delivers food assistance to the neediest individuals and families. A recent study confirms that SNAP not only lifts families out of poverty, but also alleviates the depth and severity of poverty.

• The House proposed cuts to SNAP are tantamount to saying that every religious congregation across the United States needs to come up with an estimated extra $50,000 a year for the next 10 years to make up the difference.

• Food banks have seen a nearly 50 percent increase in demand since 2006. Any cuts to nutrition programs will put an even greater strain on charities and churches providing emergency food assistance.

• A parent with two kids working full-time at minimum wage in our country doesn’t earn enough to keep the family above the poverty line. Refundable tax credits, like the Child Tax Credit, boost earnings so working parents don’t have to raise their children in poverty.

• The bill proposes to cut state funding for services that play a critical role in preventing child abuse, increasing the availability of child care, and providing community-based care for elderly and disabled individuals. In 2009, just some of these funds provided adult protective services for well over 500,000 seniors.

Every time Congress proposes these types of harmful cuts to programs for hungry and poor people, we must loudly oppose it. These types of cuts are unacceptable. We need to continue to put the pressure on the House of Representatives.  So please call today.  

Call your representative at 1-800-326-4941 and tell him or her to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill today! Or Send an Email.