[Op-Ed] Biden’s Monthly Tax Cuts Bring Relief; GOP Candidates’ Opposition Hurts Families

President Biden and Democrats are making historic investments in our kids, our families, and our economic future because they know that when families do well, we all thrive. Republican Senate candidates Congressman Ted Budd, Pat McCrory, and Mark Walker have failed to prove they’ll do the same.                                                              – Randy Trice

This summer, I was relieved to hear my family would be eligible for President Biden’s expanded Child Tax Credit. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, these payments, which started in July, will make a tangible difference for my family and others like mine to help cover the growing cost of raising kids.

Now, having received two payments, I can say without a doubt that they have been a game-changer for my family. Like most other parents, this year has been difficult and uncertain, especially for our kids. As the dad of a second-grader, I am so grateful to have this extra relief to pay for the $240 cost of math and reading tutoring that my daughter needs each month. Being in a position to do this for my daughter is a blessing. Without this extra income, I wouldn’t be able to afford the additional help she needs to be successful in the upcoming school year and beyond.

I also know what these payments mean for working families like mine. As the Founder and Executive Director of Fatherhood of Durham, a dynamic organization working to engage fathers in Durham and break cycles of absentee parenting, I work to enable men to develop the knowledge, confidence, and skills to become responsible fathers and co-parents and can attest to the importance of these types of programs to empower families. It’s the difference for many families to buy healthy food to put on the table or going hungry, paying the electricity bill or being left in the dark, and making rent or falling behind.

I am encouraged that there is support from President Biden and Democrats to extend these tax cuts past December, but the Republican Senate candidates have already made their opposition clear. They say it’s too expensive while supporting trillion-dollar tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest Americans. As families recover from the ongoing pandemic and financial stress of raising children, who are they fighting for?

I fear that their unwillingness to make this payment permanent will take my family and countless others backward. The certainty of the program — month after month — will strengthen families and cut poverty. Experts estimate that these tax cuts will be the main driver in predictions that the American Rescue Plan could cut child poverty in half. In North Carolina, relief will go to the families of over two million children, lifting more than one hundred thousand children out of poverty.

My family is everything to me. The expanded Child Tax Credit is more than just tax relief — it means empowering parents across North Carolina to take care of their kids the best way they know-how. North Carolina parents need leadership that will work to lift up all of our communities. Thanks to President Biden and Democrats, we are on the right track.

President Biden and Democrats are making historic investments in our kids, our families, and our economic future because they know that when families do well, we all thrive. Republican Senate candidates Congressman Ted Budd, Pat McCrory, and Mark Walker have failed to prove they’ll do the same.

Randy Trice

Randy Trice is based in Durham, NC. He is the parent of a second-grader and Founder and Executive Director of Fatherhood of Durham.