Wilder Joins Advocates to Call for Permanent Investments in Families

On Tuesday, August 24, Wilder joined Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota, the Minnesota Budget Project, and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid to co-host a webinar about the importance of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit for families. At the event, advocates from across the state heard from national experts from the Children’s Defense Fund and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities about Congress’ important but temporary expansions of these programs through the American Rescue Plan.

Among the positive outcomes of the Child Tax Credit expansion is the power of the policy to address Minnesota’s racial disparities—among the worst in the nation. While child poverty in the state is expected to drop 48 percent if the Child Tax Credit expansions are made permanent, poverty would drop by 55 percent for Black children in Minnesota.

We often hear folks repeating that “those who are closest to the problem are the closest to the solution,” but with past federal and state policies, we have told people that we do not trust them to make the best decisions for themselves and their families,” said Dominic McQuerry, Director of Public Policy and Community Relations at Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. “The federal expansions to the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit not only provide access to more resources for families, they provide flexible dollars that can be layered on top of existing resources however people see fit.”

Watch the full webinar recording to learn more about what you can do to advocate for legislation that could bring critical investments in children, workers, education, housing, health care, and more. Additional resources related to the Child Tax Credit are available on the Children’s Defense Fund’s website.