The pandemic forced the world to pause, delay, and hesitate before leaving home, touching surfaces, or visiting anyone. The new reality caused businesses to close, and many people lost their jobs. The swift downfall led to a nationwide need for financial help, which spiraled into federal lawmakers expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). As of March 2022, the federal CTC benefited 396,000 Mississippi families with 632,000 children. Why wouldn’t federal lawmakers make the expansion permanent?  

Our report, Envisioning a Brighter Future: Mississippi Child Tax Credit Implementation, breaks down how the expansion provided all families making $150,000 or less with an annual tax credit of $3,600 for children under six and $3,000 per child between 6 and 17, and how the funds helped low-income families, expanded children’s opportunities, and reduced poverty. Data also support that funds were greatly needed and used for necessities such as housing and utilities, childcare, and healthier balanced meals.   

If you’ve ever imagined a Mississippi with healthier families and brighter futures for our children, this could open doors to seeing lots more of it. Expanding the CTC is a no-brainer: over half of the state’s counties are experiencing persistent poverty and have had a poverty rate of at least 20% for more than three decades, and the state’s poverty rate ranks the highest in the nation.  

Building a better future for Mississippians has to include prioritizing children in families with low or no earnings. A permanent CTC will provide eligible families with the support many residents need to care for their children. Mississippi policymakers should join other states across the country and enact a state-level CTC to help build on the benefits of the federal credit, instead of eliminating state individual income taxes and giving more breaks for the wealthiest residents and corporations.