Michigan Law Enforcement Talk Crime Prevention With Rep. Levin, Sen. Stabenow
Jun 22nd 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 22, 2010
Contact: Ted Eismeier, ted@fightcrime.org
Office: (202) 464-5350 Cell: (315) 335-9222
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 22, 2010)—Michigan law enforcement leaders met Tuesday with key members of Congress calling for the expansion of federal child tax credits for working families as an effective way to prevent future crime. Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Brian L. Mackie and Sterling Heights Chief of Police Michael Reese called on Senator Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Sander Levin to help reduce crime by supporting an expanded child tax credit for low-income, working families.
Most kids who grow up poor never become criminals, but a new research brief from the anti-crime group Fight Crime: Invest in Kids shows that the risk of becoming a violent offender is two and a half times higher for low-income kids than for the rest of children.
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that when parents’ incomes are increased above the poverty level, children in those families exhibit significantly fewer behavioral problems and, as a result, are less likely to turn to a life of crime. Allowing more lower-income families to keep more of their earned income would help more families make ends meet, lift more children out of poverty and decrease the likelihood that the children will commit crimes as adults.
“The child tax credit is a tax benefit that will help families struggling with the economy. I support an expanded child tax credit because it will cut child poverty and cut crime in the long run. This is a common-sense tax credit that will also make our communities safer,” Mackie said.
The law enforcement officials asked Rep. Levin and Sen. Stabenow to reduce the earnings requirement for the child tax credit, which was expanded through the 2009 Recovery Act, down to the first dollar of earned income. This would make it possible for more low-income working families to receive the child tax credit. They also urged the Michigan members of Congress to, at a minimum, extend the current level of eligibility for the Child Tax Credit. Levin chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for taxation issues. Stabenow is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax policy in the Senate.
American children are more likely to be living in poverty than any other age group. In Michigan, approximately one in five children are growing up in poverty, and the recession is only making things worse. As a result of the recession, many parents are now unemployed or underemployed, or have lost significant portions of their income or savings. Michigan has one of the highest rates of joblessness in the nation; between October 2008 and April 2010, Michigan’s unemployment rate climbed from just under 9.4 percent to 14 percent
The current child tax credit, as enhanced by the recovery package, provides help to 583,000 Michigan children in low-income families. They stand to lose these benefits or see them greatly reduced if Congress takes no legislative action. Currently families only get the refundable tax credit, which is 15 percent of earned income up to a maximum of $1,000 per child, once they have earned at least $3,000. If Congress does not act, the threshold will increase from $3,000 up to approximately $12,850, excluding even more poor, working parents from receiving the tax credit.
“There is clear evidence that children who grow up in extreme poverty and hardship are more likely to commit crimes as adults. By expanding the child tax credit, we can help families keep more of what they earn and make sure today’s most vulnerable kids don’t become tomorrow’s most wanted adults,” Reese said.
Prosecuting Attorney Mackie and Chief Reese are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Michigan, a national anti-crime organization of police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors with 440 members in Michigan and over 5,000 members nationwide.
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