WHEREAS, The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), a refundable tax credit, was enacted in 2015 and, along with the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), is one of the most effective tools we have to fight poverty for Californians; and

WHEREAS, Over one in three Californians struggle to meet basic needs, according to United Ways of California’s Real Cost Measure report. The report calculates the “Real Cost Measure,” which factors the costs of housing, food, health care, child care, and other basic needs for a measure of what it takes to make ends meet in California that is more accurate than the official poverty measure. An estimated 3,700,000 households in California have an income that falls below the Real Cost Measure, and 97 percent of those households have at least one working adult. The CalEITC could help families improve their financial stability now and into the future; and

WHEREAS, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) holders are ineligible for the majority of federal tax benefits, but California has made the groundbreaking decision to open benefits like the CalEITC and Young Child Tax Credit to ITIN holders. This is especially important as fifty-seven percent of households led by someone without United States citizenship live below the Real Cost Measure; and

WHEREAS, Fifty-four percent of households in California with children under six years of age fall below the Real Cost Measure and the Young Child Tax Credit is available to all CalEITC-eligible families with children under six years of age; and

WHEREAS, Research shows that the EITC can improve child and maternal health and spur local economic growth. Children in families that receive the EITC perform better in both the short and the long term; now, therefore, be it