Several Christian and relief organizations applauded the recent passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 and the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015. Bread for the World and other organizations urge President Barack Obama to sign the bills into law.
“The passage of both the … 2016 omnibus spending bill and the tax bill is a victory for working families and those who are struggling,” said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “This legislation will make a real difference in the lives of millions of people, both in the U.S. and around the world.”
Permanent improvements
The tax bill makes permanent key improvements to the earned income tax credit (EITC) and the child tax credit (CTC). The EITC and CTC together lift more people out of poverty than any other program in the U.S. besides Social Security. Making the improvements permanent will prevent 16 million people from falling into or deeper into poverty.
The omnibus bill increases funding for children’s programs like Head Start and provides alternative access to food during the summer months when school is not in session. The bill also increases funding for international food aid and maternal and child health and nutrition, as well as continues funding to build long-term agriculture sustainability.
Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America, said, “Feeding America applauds Congressional passage of the PATH Act, which expands and makes permanent food donation tax incentives that are vital to our efforts to secure additional food for the 46 million Americans we serve each year. The food donation tax deduction [has] … a real and profound impact on the ability of food banks nationwide to secure food and monetary donations to continue the critical work they do every day.”
The omnibus bill does not include a provision to increase subsidies to the world’s largest shipping companies to ship food aid. The provision could have resulted in up to 2 million people losing life-saving U.S. food aid while increasing transportation costs to taxpayers by $75 million.
Beckmann said, “When lawmakers work together, good things can happen. Making the earned income and child tax credit improvements permanent will (help) 16 million people. … This is great news.”
(Bread, TAB)
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