When I was on Capitol Hill in the summer of 2015, I never realized the policies we discussed might wind up affecting me. I was in Washington urging Congress to protect key provisions of tax credits that lift millions of Americans out of poverty each year. At the end of 2015, our senators and representatives came together to do just that.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that I theoretically could have qualified for one of the credits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, were it not for age restrictions. When I was doing my taxes this year, a message popped up on my computer screen. If I was 25 instead of 21, I could qualify for the EITC.The EITC allows low-income workers to keep more of their income and pay for essentials like rent, food and transportation.It also happens to be a very effective tool against poverty. According to new data from the Census Bureau, last year, the EITC, along with the Child Tax Credit, lifted 9.2 million Americans out of poverty. That’s pretty impressive for something many people have never even heard of.I know firsthand that these policies are not just decisions made in Washington. They have real, lasting effects on people’s lives here in Minnesota and across the country.Growing up in Duluth, I spent part of my childhood in the foster care system. I’ve only gotten where I am today because there were adults in my life who believed in me. I wanted to pay that forward. So last year I started working as a youth minister and was making about $500 per month. I loved my job, and I was committed to helping other young people in need of guidance and emotional support. But living on $500 per month was impossible. To make extra money, I took an overnight job in a bakery and another at a bar, but my annual income was still below the poverty line. The EITC could have made a huge difference. Unfortunately, it’s out of reach for another four years because of my age.At the beginning of this year, I started new jobs at two nonprofits, doing work to help victims of domestic violence and homeless youth. I happily work 60 hours per week, and after taxes I make about $1,400 per month, or $16,800 annually. I’m above the poverty line now, but it’s still very hard to get by on that in 2016. Access to the EITC would mean I could spend more time focused on the kids who depend on me and less time on keeping the heat on during a Minnesota winter.Even if I was old enough to qualify for the EITC, the credit I’d receive would be very small because I don’t have kids. But I’m actually one of the relatively lucky ones. There are over 7 million workers across this country without kids who actually are being taxed below the poverty line or deeper below it. I think we can all agree that’s just plain wrong.Thankfully, right now, we have proposals on the table - including from both President Barack Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan - to lower the eligibility age for the EITC and to increase what’s available to workers without kids. One from Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Richard Neal would make sure almost no person is taxed into poverty. These proposals would benefit hundreds of thousands of working Minnesotans. Next year we’ll have a new Congress, and it should waste no time in taking up these proposals.While we’re at it, we should keep fighting to protect all federal programs that help working people live safe, dignified lives. These are the programs that helped me get through my childhood so that as an adult I would have a chance at a brighter future. I’m willing to work hard to create the life I want for myself, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.After the election, I hope whoever is headed to Washington will move on expanding the EITC so that more Americans have that same chance. Manilan Houle was raised in Duluth and lives and works now in the Twin Cities. He is a volunteer for the nonprofit Results (results.org), which works to influence political decisions to end poverty.When I was on Capitol Hill in the summer of 2015, I never realized the policies we discussed might wind up affecting me. I was in Washington urging Congress to protect key provisions of tax credits that lift millions of Americans out of poverty each year. At the end of 2015, our senators and representatives came together to do just that.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that I theoretically could have qualified for one of the credits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, were it not for age restrictions. When I was doing my taxes this year, a message popped up on my computer screen. If I was 25 instead of 21, I could qualify for the EITC.The EITC allows low-income workers to keep more of their income and pay for essentials like rent, food and transportation.It also happens to be a very effective tool against poverty. According to new data from the Census Bureau, last year, the EITC, along with the Child Tax Credit, lifted 9.2 million Americans out of poverty. That’s pretty impressive for something many people have never even heard of.I know firsthand that these policies are not just decisions made in Washington. They have real, lasting effects on people’s lives here in Minnesota and across the country.Growing up in Duluth, I spent part of my childhood in the foster care system. I’ve only gotten where I am today because there were adults in my life who believed in me. I wanted to pay that forward. So last year I started working as a youth minister and was making about $500 per month. I loved my job, and I was committed to helping other young people in need of guidance and emotional support. But living on $500 per month was impossible. To make extra money, I took an overnight job in a bakery and another at a bar, but my annual income was still below the poverty line. The EITC could have made a huge difference. Unfortunately, it’s out of reach for another four years because of my age.At the beginning of this year, I started new jobs at two nonprofits, doing work to help victims of domestic violence and homeless youth. I happily work 60 hours per week, and after taxes I make about $1,400 per month, or $16,800 annually. I’m above the poverty line now, but it’s still very hard to get by on that in 2016. Access to the EITC would mean I could spend more time focused on the kids who depend on me and less time on keeping the heat on during a Minnesota winter.Even if I was old enough to qualify for the EITC, the credit I’d receive would be very small because I don’t have kids. But I’m actually one of the relatively lucky ones. There are over 7 million workers across this country without kids who actually are being taxed below the poverty line or deeper below it. I think we can all agree that’s just plain wrong.Thankfully, right now, we have proposals on the table - including from both President Barack Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan - to lower the eligibility age for the EITC and to increase what’s available to workers without kids. One from Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Richard Neal would make sure almost no person is taxed into poverty. These proposals would benefit hundreds of thousands of working Minnesotans. Next year we’ll have a new Congress, and it should waste no time in taking up these proposals.While we’re at it, we should keep fighting to protect all federal programs that help working people live safe, dignified lives. These are the programs that helped me get through my childhood so that as an adult I would have a chance at a brighter future. I’m willing to work hard to create the life I want for myself, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.After the election, I hope whoever is headed to Washington will move on expanding the EITC so that more Americans have that same chance.Manilan Houle was raised in Duluth and lives and works now in the Twin Cities. He is a volunteer for the nonprofit Results (results.org), which works to influence political decisions to end poverty.
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