Regarding the recent news story, “Anti-poverty message spreading in Richmond’s faith community,” it’s encouraging to see local residents getting involved in the fight against poverty. But Virginia’s congressional delegation has an important role to play, too — especially for kids.
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 Virginia’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 weeks away, politicians are focused elsewhere.
Virginia’s leaders 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 Virginia’s kids and Virginia’s future, there is no more important choice.
Bruce Lesley,
President, First Focus Campaign for Children.
Washington