NEW HAVEN—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Friday held a press conference with local leaders to celebrate the expanded and improved Child Tax Credit included in the American Rescue Plan and the impact the first monthly check has had on Connecticut families. Additionally, Murphy, DeLauro, Blumenthal, and community leaders called for the permanency of this transformative policy.

“The Child Tax Credit creates a virtuous cycle for families and businesses across Connecticut. It saves families and kids from destitute poverty while at the same time puts money right into small business across the state,” said Murphy. “There are still a lot of restaurants who don’t have enough people coming through their doors or retail establishments who are living off their PPP checks. So, as we work towards economic recovery, the Child Tax Credit allows families to pay their bills and helps businesses hire more workers.”

“The expanded and improved Child Tax Credit is a historic lifeline to the middle class and cuts child poverty by 55 percent,” said DeLauro. “The first monthly check that hit bank accounts and mailboxes last week is already changing lives across Connecticut. I am grateful for the work of our community groups and VITA sites in helping parents access this life-changing benefit. Together, we will continue to spread the word until every qualified family is regularly receiving this monthly check. I look forward to continuing the work to make this transformative policy permanent. Children and families must be able to count on these checks long after the end of this pandemic. We cannot cut child poverty in half and eliminate extreme child poverty in 2021 – and then double child poverty in 2022. That is why our position has been clear: we must make the Child Tax Credit permanent.”

“The most important investment our nation can make is an investment in our children – the educators, nurses, and doctors of the future,” said Blumenthal. “We have a fundamental, moral obligation to provide our children with a good, safe upbringing. Parents across Connecticut and the United States wake up every day to go to work to provide food, clothing, and housing for their kids. The least we can do as a country is to assist these parents and children by making the extension of the Child Tax Credit permanent. I’m proud to stand with our united delegation, and with the tireless, unremitting advocate that Rosa DeLauro has been for so many years on this issue.”

“We are so proud of the role Connecticut has played – through the leadership of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and other members of the delegation – in establishing this historic and groundbreaking policy that will make a transformative difference for CT's children, families and communities,” said Connecticut Citizen Action Group Director of Organizing Ann Pratt. “We look forward to working with the CT delegation to make this tax credit permanent.”

“We would like to thank Congresswoman DeLauro and the entire Connecticut Congressional delegation for supporting this very important provision,” said Connecticut Alliance of YMCAs Executive Director John Cattelan. “It will benefit many Connecticut families that are affiliated with one of our YMCAs.”

The community leaders also shared resources for parents who qualify for this program but did not receive the first payment.

In Connecticut, 550,200 children, 73 percent, will receive the monthly Child Tax Credit checks. Additionally, the expanded and improved Child Tax Credit lifts 37,600 children in Connecticut out of poverty, 21,000 children out of deep poverty. Because of the larger benefit for the youngest, 13,400 kids under the age of six are raised out of poverty. The average benefit for the 177,300 households in Connecticut who receive the monthly check is $2,560 annually. The average benefit for households in poverty who receive the monthly check is $4,360 annually.

The Child Tax Credit was expanded and improved in the American Rescue Plan based on key provisions from DeLauro’s legislation, the American Family Act. All families who qualify will receive the same monthly payments, $250 per month per child, and $300 per month for every young child. 

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