First Focus: Will Congress push America's kids over the cliff? - California's Children

First Focus: Will Congress push America's kids over the cliff? - California's Children:

First Focus: Will Congress push America's kids over the cliff?

December 27, 2012: First Focus, a Washington, D.C.-based, bipartisan advocacy nonprofit dedicated to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions, released its analysis just last week on how the "fiscal cliff" -- also known as "sequestration" -- would affect specifically affect children in the U.S. At left is the graph, breaking out the specific cuts, totalling $6.4 billion, that will impact American families -- particularly those who are already teetering on the edge of poverty and survival.

In a letter sent to Congress that accompanied the analysis, First Focus president Bruce Lesley wrote:

"...this is the worst possible time to cut initiatives that protect children..."

...Failing to extend the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the report finds, will hit 6.5 million families with children with a $500/annual increase in taxes, and failing to extend the Child Tax Credit (CTC) will raise the tax liability by $800 for 12 million families with children. It would also deny the CTC to as many as 5.5 million children whose parents file federal tax returns with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Families affected by this provision earn an average of $21,000 per year. The federal poverty line for a family of four is just over $23,000.

[Proposals by House Republications] would also cut billions from federal initiatives that meet children’s basic needs: