Norcross & NJ Leaders: Let’s Address Inequality by Providing Tax Relief for Working Families

CHERRY HILL, NJ – As working families start off the new school year juggling fulltime jobs and fulltime academics, Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01), New Jersey Policy Perspective and the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey called on Congress to pass the Working Families Tax Relief Act, H.R. 3157, of which Norcross is a co-sponsor. The Act increases the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).

“This week we honored workers on Labor Day, but on a daily basis our tax policies are not honoring the working men and women who power our economy,” said Congressman Norcross. “Despite more than 40 years of wage stagnation in America, the richest 1% continue to be the winners, most recently with the Republican’s Robin-Hood-in-reserve tax bill. Tax reform must do more to support the working families who spend locally and shape our communities. Expanding the earned income and child tax credits is a proven way to empower working families and make our economy work for everyone.”

Click here to watch the press conference. Click here to view or download photos from the press conference.

“The federal tax code has been skewed to benefit the wealthy at the expense of everyday Americans for far too long,” said Brandon McKoy, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective. “The Working Families Tax Relief Act would help put money back in the pockets of New Jersey workers who need it most. The proposal would give more than 2.6 million New Jerseyans, including over 1 million children, a real chance to succeed by strengthening the highly successful Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and increasing the Child Tax Credit. These tax credits have a multiplier effect as they are often spent immediately and locally, further strengthening our communities and the economy. On behalf of NJPP, I thank Rep. Norcross for his leadership on this issue and urge New Jersey’s entire congressional delegation to co-sponsor this pro-worker measure.”

“New Jersey’s workers and working families have continued to struggle since the Great Recession, with unequal taxes contributing to inequality,” said Renee Koubiadis, Executive Director of the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey. “We know that nearly 40% of people in our state are poor or what is considered ‘working poor.’ Research shows that tax credits like expansion of the EITC and child care tax credits help them meet basic needs in our high-cost state. We applaud Congressman Norcross for sponsoring H.R. 3157, that will assist over 1,137,000 children, and over 411,800 adults not raising children, to rise out of poverty and be self-sufficient.”

Click here to download the full text of H.R. 3157, the Working Families Tax Relief Act.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that the Working Families Tax Relief Act will result in expanded benefits for:

• 1,049,000 households in New Jersey
• 2,661,000 people in New Jersey
• 1,137,000 children in New Jersey
• 411,800 workers without children in New Jersey
• 208,000 African American households in New Jersey
• 282,000 Latino households in New Jersey
• 92,000 Asian American households in New Jersey
• 2,100 American Indian or Alaska Native households in New Jersey

Expanding the EITC was also one of the policy recommendations included in the “Future of Work, Wages and Labor” report co-authored by Norcross in 2018.

Related Content

• Norcross voted in favor of the Raise the Wage Act, of which he is a lead sponsor, alongside every New Jersey Representative on July 18, 2019.
• Norcross reacts to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the Raise the Wage Act on July 8, 2019.
• As New Jersey’s minimum wage rose from $8.85 an hour to $10 an hour on July 1, 2019, Norcross marked the occasion by talking about living wages and calling on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage.
• Norcross voted in favor of the Raise the Wage Act in the House Committee on Education and Labor on March 6, 2019.
• Norcross applauded New Jersey’s $15 minimum wage agreement on January 17, 2019.
• Norcross and a bicameral group of colleagues introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2019 on January 16, 2019.
• Norcross was unanimously elected to serve as Vice Chair and Liaison to Labor for Congressional Progressive Caucus in the 116th Congress, and said he looks forward to making certain that “every person has the dignity of a good-paying job” on November 29, 2018.
• In an op-ed in Roll Call reacting to the news that Amazon is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, Norcross wrote “Amazon is taking a step in the right direction, and it is well past time for Congress to follow suit” on October 12, 2018.
• Norcross and three of his colleagues issued the findings of their “Future of Work, Wages and Labor” initiative on September 5, 2018.
• Norcross applauded Governor Murphy’s prioritization of raising wages in an op-ed in The Star Ledger on July 22, 2018.
• Norcross, NJ Governor-Elect Phil Murphy, NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney and NJ Assembly Speaker-Designee Craig Coughlin stood with labor leaders and workers to call on all levels of government to raise wages for hardworking American families on November 20, 2017.
• Norcross reacted to the announcement that Target will raise minimum wage on September 25, 2017.
• Norcross published an op-ed in The Record titled “When they go low, we go higher wages” on September 9, 2017.
• Norcross hosted colleagues in South Jersey for a day-long forum on ‘The Future of Work, Wages and Labor’ on August 4, 2017.
• Norcross expressed strong support for the new Democratic agenda ‘A Better Deal: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future’ on July 24, 2017.
• Eight years after the last federal minimum wage increase, Norcross called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage at a news conference with a bicameral group of lawmakers and low-wage workers on July 25, 2017.
• Norcross and all of House Education and the Workforce Committee Democrats urged Chairwoman Virginia Foxx to hold a full Committee hearing on the Raise the Wage Act in a letter on July 24, 2017.
• Norcross wrote “first and foremost for me is raising wages” in an op-ed Sunday, July 23, 2017.
• Norcross reacted to the study showing Seattle’s $15 an hour minimum wage law has boosted pay for restaurant workers without costing jobs on June 21, 2017.
• Norcross and colleagues introduced the Raise the Wage Act on May 25, 2017.
• Norcross was appointed to serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on January 5, 2017.

###