Connecticut Post

The area’s increase in child poverty (“Percentage of children in poverty rising dramatically in some cities,” Sept. 20) is alarming. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit lift nearly 5 million children out of poverty every year. Both bipartisan credits reward hard work. And both put money back into Connecticut’s economy, helping parents buy food, clothes and other basics from local merchants. Yet both will expire in their current forms at the end of this year, and with elections just a few months away, politicians are focused elsewhere.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is a champion for children on these and other issues. Others in Congress need to hear that they must protect these lifelines for working families. Their decisions will determine whether child poverty gets better or worse. And for Connecticut’s kids and Connecticut’s future, there is no more important choice.

Bruce Lesley