Posted on 04/07/2015 6:17:47 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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California lawmakers, responding to the states nation-leading poverty level, are considering the creation of a state EITC program. Already, half of the states and the District of Columbia offer such refunds and credits. Montana legislators are also considering a state EITC this year, and a several states are evaluating expansions of their state credits. Some of the state credits currently add as much as 50% to the federal benefit.
EITC programs arent popular in all quarters. Critics, including many fiscal conservatives, say the federal program is expensive, amounts to a handout to the poor and is subject to errors. They cite a report published last year by the Internal Revenue Service that found 24% of federal EITC payments made in fiscal 2013 were incorrect, including both overpayments and underpayments.
While California has a relatively high minimum wage, with the states level set to rise to $10 next year from $9 now, many families struggle. The state is among the five most expensive to live in, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. The U.S. Census Bureaus Supplemental Poverty Measure, which takes government-assistance programs into account in calculating poverty rates, places California at the top of the list among the 50 states and D.C., with a poverty rate of 23.4%.
In 2013, an estimated 9.8 million Californiansmore than a quarter of the populationqualified for the federal EITC. California residents accounted for $7.3 billion of the more than $66 billion federal EITC claims in 2013.
Eight previous EITC proposals have been unsuccessful in California, but some legislative leaders say the states economic recovery and budget surplus could make the program more affordable this time around. Politically, it seems more viable than it has in the last decade, said Chris Hoene, executive director of the California Budget Project
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
There shouldn’t even be an EITC
You have Peter’s vote if you promise him Paul’s money.
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