Opinion: Bipartisanship has supported our bridges, and now it must support our families with children

The pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities in our societal safety nets, especially for families with children. It has affected return-to-work decisions due to the absence of child care. Most importantly, it has impacted our children and grandchildren, with child hunger skyrocketing to 1 in 4 children being food insecure. I am optimistic that bipartisanship can prevail in the current Congress in addressing the problems.

Congress recently passed in a bipartisan manner the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including "yes" votes by Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, and Rep. Cindy Axne, a Democrat. With the failure to pass the Build Back Better Act, President Joe Biden now wants to focus on those parts of that bill that can garner bipartisan support. I believe priority should be given to permanent expansion of the allowance for families with children in the form of child tax credits. But action is urgent as the monthly payments from the expanded child tax credits ended last month.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in 2017 before the pandemic, included a doubling of the child tax credit, to $2,000 annually, which recognized the financial pressures on families with children. The American Family Rescue Plan of 2021 further increased the credit, to $3,600 for children under age 6 and to $3,000 for those up to age 17. For the first time, it extended the reach of those payments to include those with income too low to file a tax return.

More: Iowans received nearly $1 billion in child tax credit payments this year, report says

More: Opinion: Iowa policymakers should aim to help Iowans in need, not scapegoat them

The expansion was predicted to reduce child poverty by 40%. Given the payment extension to very-low-income families with children, the effects are even more striking in certain racial and ethnic groups, such as Black, Latino and American Indian people and Alaska Natives, per the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Without an extension, 91% of Iowa children will lose out, and 49,000 may once again sink back below the poverty level. If the expanded credit is extended, a single mother with two young children who is working full time at minimum wage could receive $6,600 in child tax credits. Without the extension, her tax credit amount returns to $1,800. That is the difference between having to choose shelter over food versus being able to provide for both her young children.

The benefits to America from such financial support of families with children has been supported in recent publications from a broad political range of think tanks, such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Niskanen Center and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The groundwork for bipartisan congressional support already exists with the Family Security Act introduced by Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, in early 2021 that proposes a very similar child payment system. Both conservative and liberal think tanks support such allowances because they are pro-family, pro-life and a financial bargain given the lifetime costs of poverty.

Want more opinions? Read other perspectives with our free newsletter, follow us on Facebook or visit us at DesMoinesRegister.com/Opinion. Respond to any opinion by submitting a Letter to the Editor at DesMoinesRegister.com/Letters.

As a member of Bread for the World since 2008, my faith calls me to advocate for policies that move people out of poverty and hunger. If we can reach bipartisan support for our bridges and roads, surely, we can reach the same bipartisan support for our families with children. Contact our senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and your representative and demand they pass legislation quickly.

Dr. Larry Otteman, a lifelong Iowan, is an active member of Bread for the World (bread.org) and Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames. He can be reached at larryaotteman@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Opinion: Extend bipartisan support for bridges to American families