WASHINGTON, DC –(ENEWSPF)–October 22, 2015. U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), joined by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), today introduced the “Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit Equity for Puerto Rico Act” which would extend the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to all eligible families in Puerto Rico. Because of a disparity in current law, hundreds of thousands of American citizens residing in Puerto Rico do not qualify for the EITC and CTC programs, even though they would be eligible to receive these federal credits by moving to the mainland. Not only does this arbitrary policy unfairly punish struggling American families based solely on where they live, but it has also contributed to Puerto Rico’s current economic crisis by decreasing labor participation and increasing outmigration.
