We urge the Montgomery County Council to restore the local Earned Income Tax Credit back to 100% by passing Bill 8-13, Working Families Income Supplement.  This legislation will mandate a phased restoration and make fighting poverty a higher priority for the county budget. Stand up for working families, vote FOR the Working Families Income Supplement.

 

Sponsored by

A Wider Circle

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington

Coalition for the Advancement of Financial Education

Community Action Board

Emergency Assistance Coalition

Family Services

Fuel Fund of Maryland

Fund Our Communities

Interfaith Works

Jews United for Justice

Justice and Advocacy Council of Montgomery County, Archdiocese of Washington

Manna Food Center

Maryland CASH Campaign

Maryland United for Peace and Justice

Montgomery Housing Partnership

Primary Care Coalition

Stepping Stones Shelter

UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO

 

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Background: Montgomery County is one of the very few local jurisdictions that provides an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to low-income residents. The EITC, which offers tax credits to low-income workers, has been around for decades. By putting money directly into the pockets of working-class people, it has become one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the nation. Research shows that the EITC keeps millions of Americans out of poverty​, encourages work among single mothers​,encourages success for low-income children in school and even reduces the incidence of low birth weight among babies. For ten years, the county’s EITC matched the state’s EITC dollar-for-dollar and gave our working class families a chance to live here in dignity. More than 30,000 households in our county depend on it.

 

In 2010, the county was thrown into a fiscal crisis and cut the EITC by nearly a third.  While the county faced many hard choices that year, this one had an immediate impact on the county’s working class. At the height of this recession, the average EITC recipient lost $126 a yearand many lost much more than that. The EITC reduction combined with the recession and our ever-rising cost of living make our county an even harder place for low-income people to live.

 

That’s why County Council Members Hans Riemer, Marc Elrich, and George Leventhal introduced a bill to restore the EITC to full funding. As the county slowly recovers from the recession, it’s only fair to working families that we help them recover too.

 

Please help by signing our petition!