TRENTON, N.J. – A bill to gradually increase the refundable cap on the federal child tax credit to $2,000 passed the House on Wednesday, and now Assemblywoman Aura Dunn wants New Jersey to follow suit.
“Both parties in Washington recognized the need to enhance the federal tax credit to benefit more Americans, so there is no better time to move my measure that will lift more New Jersey families out of poverty,” Dunn (R-Morris) said. “New Jersey has only grown more unaffordable since my last plea to expand the state’s child tax credit. I urge New Jersey’s legislative leaders to post my bill for consideration.”
Dunn’s measure (A3249) would increase the amount of the state child tax credit and expand eligibility. Taxpayers with children ages 6 to 11, who are currently excluded, would receive a tax credit between $1,200 and $2,000. For children who are under 6 years old, the tax credit would be increased from $1,000 to $1,600. Additionally, the income limit to receive the credit would be raised from $80,000 to $100,000.
“More than 40% of children in New Jersey experience financial hardship, because of New Jersey’s notoriously high expenses. Living in poverty puts children’s health and wellbeing in jeopardy. It affects the quality of their housing, food, health care and education,” Dunn said. “More generous child tax credits would help millions of residents in many ways.”
One nonpartisan group estimates the enhanced federal tax credit bill will benefit roughly 16 million children in low-income families in the first year and could lift half a million children out of poverty.
In 2022, New Jersey became the seventh state to enact a refundable state-level child tax credit. When the bill came to the Assembly floor for a vote, Dunn moved an amendment that would have made the tax credit larger and included more families, but it was rejected by Democrats.
“With the exception of cutting taxes in New Jersey, child tax credits are the most effective way to provide relief to low-income and middle-class families,” Dunn said. “Maximizing support for families struggling to meet New Jersey’s exorbitant costs of living needs to take priority in Trenton. Lawmakers must go big or go home.”