In the Media
THE SACRAMENTO BEE: Republicans want to sabotage America’s most important tax credit for workers
01. 31. 2025
For 50 years, the Earned Income Tax Credit has helped lift families out of poverty. Now, proposed changes threaten this core support for workers.

This opinion originally appeared in The Sacramento Bee
This Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the Earned Income Tax Credit, America’s most successful tax policy for working families. Created under a Republican president in 1975, the tax credit has enjoyed decades of bipartisan support while lifting millions of working families out of poverty. But as we reach this milestone, Republicans in Congress are planning to cut the heart of the program while simultaneously pushing tax cuts for billionaires.
Amid many other proposed cuts by the current presidential administration, the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee put the Earned Income Tax Credit on its proposed list of cost cuts by disguising it as “restructuring.” The proposal would eliminate head of household filing status for working parents, making life much harder for single moms and dads.
As a single mother of three, I know kids don’t need less food or medicine because they have one parent instead of two. Single working parents ought to get the same tax credits as a household with two parents. Yet, Republicans propose to remove even this modest boost for working parents. Our tax policy should uplift all families, not punish children because they don’t live in a two-parent household.
An analysis of an earlier proposal shows the devastating impact: when paired with automatic cuts to state Earned Income Tax Credits built on the federal credit, a single mother of two earning $25,000 could have $2,000 less in her bank account each year.
Tax policy is wonky, but it’s not hard to imagine what having $2,000 less per year means for a single parent making $25,000. For many, it will literally be the difference between putting food on the table for their kids or going without.
This tax credit, which currently helps nearly 17 million working families with children make ends meet, isn’t a giveaway. It’s a core, longstanding part of our tax code that allows workers — both those who have kids and those who don’t — to keep a bit more of the money they earn.
I’m proud that California expanded our support for families by boosting our state-level Earned Income Tax Credit during the pandemic: The CalEITC, now reaching its own 10th anniversary, helped 3.5 million California taxpayers last year, making it easier for workers to thrive.
Now, however, Republicans are targeting the Earned Income Tax Credit’s core mission of supporting working parents. Cutting this tax credit is a remarkable pivot from a party that swept into power promising to ease working families’ economic pain. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans ran on a promise to lower costs. Instead of making good on that promise, they have immediately switched to their real agenda: handing out huge tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of working people.
The lack of empathy that Republicans are showing for working Americans is astounding. This assault comes just as families are grappling with persistent inflation and soaring housing costs. The Earned Income Tax Credit was designed precisely for moments like this: to help working people bridge the gap between stagnant wages and rising costs. At a time when more and more families struggle to make ends meet, Republicans want to make things even harder.
Instead of spending more federal dollars on tax cuts for billionaires, Congress should focus on keeping its promises to voters: lower costs, invest in the middle class and put more money back in the pockets of the everyday workers who power our economy. The 50th anniversary of the Earned Income Tax Credit should be a time to recommit to supporting America’s working families.