The Senate is expected to take up tax legislation this month that is crucial to the middle class. A bill to cut middle class taxes could be introduced as early as this week. We at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families are primarily interested in three areas:

• Keeping the middle class tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003
• Keeping the extended refundable Child Tax Credit
• Keeping the Earned Income Tax Credit “marriage penalty” fix

AACF strongly supports permanent extension of tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003. As a matter of attacking the deficit, we also strongly support returning the top two marginal rates to the levels seen during the Clinton Administration.

The refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC), a very important aid to middle-class families, provides for a tax credit of up to $1,000 for each child in the family. This credit, though, is based largely on a family’s income-the more a family works the more likely they are to claim the full credit. In 2009, Congress lowered the threshold income to $3,000 in order to claim partial credit, and this threshold is set to expire at the end of the year. We strongly support a permanent extension of this credit at this level.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is available to low-income, working individuals and families as an offset to taxes owed. Congress made reforms in 2009 that provided up to $600 more to families of three or more children. The reform also lessened the degree of the “marriage penalty,” a reduction in benefits for a low-income individual who marries. This reform, too, is set to expire at the end of the year, and we would like to keep the credit at its current level.

Please call Senators Lincoln and Pryor. Tell them you support these changes to fundamental aid to low-income, middle-class families, and ask them for their support as well.