Stephanie Bonin, a Denver restaurant owner, created a Change.org petition for $2,000 monthly payments in the hopes of providing Americans stability during the pandemic. Now, the petition is on its way to the goal of 3 million signatures.
However, the lack of interest to make the Child Tax Credit a long-lasting fixture confuses her.
“I’m surprised that it hasn’t gone through the roof because we have a chance of making that permanent,” Bonin said. “Yes, it’s not a monthly stimulus check with those words, but it’s a monthly check to families with kids.”
The passage of the American Rescue Plan in March expanded the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to $3,600 for children under 6 years old, and $3,000 for children between the ages of 6 and 17 years old.
Read More: October Child Tax Credit Payment Coming This Week as $600 California Golden State Cash Deposited
It also altered how people could receive their money. Instead of one lump sum as a refund after a person files their tax return, eligible Americans could choose to receive half their allotted sum in monthly payments.
Under the relief package, payments were required to be sent out in July and continue through December. Americans will receive the second half of their credit after they file their tax return next year.
Now, Bonin shifted some of the focus of her campaign to the Child Tax Credit, sending several updates over the past few months about the importance of the payments.
Bonin said the fight is “now” to make the payments permanent and called it “illogical” that a policy that serves millions of people would be “erased.”
Bonin acknowledged that the Child Tax Credit payments don’t reach as many people as the first three stimulus checks did. But she noted they’re sent to “millions and make a huge impact.”
“We plan on X amount coming in for our paychecks and X amount going out for our bills and that’s what a monthly check stimulates. We need to plan for monthly security.” Bonin said.
The White House hasn’t committed to additional payments, but President Joe Biden has vocalized support for the Child Tax Credit. In April, Biden released the American Families Plan, which called for a four-year extension of the Child Tax Credit. A
s payments started going out in July, he again advocated for an extension of the payments because “people who are working hard and paying taxes deserve a break.”
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