Help Is On the Way

OFF-KILTER with Rebecca Vallas

With President Joe Biden’s signature, the American Rescue Plan Act became law on Thursday of this week. This wide-ranging package of relief measures—which despite garnering widespread bipartisan support among voters, passed both chambers of Congress without a single Republican vote—authorizes a set of landmark expansions of existing income security policies and programs—including an historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit, that for the next year at least, turns the CTC into a fully available child allowance that’s estimated to cut child poverty in half by establishing a guaranteed minimum income for families with children.

To break down the major income-boosting elements in the American Rescue Plan Act, now that help is on the way—and for a look at what families can expect to receive in the way of economic relief—Rebecca sat down with Seth Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former advisor to President Obama for tax policy.