Press Releases

Congresswoman Gwen Moore Re-Introduces Worker Relief and Credit Reform (WRCR) Act to Expand and Modernize the Earned Income Tax Credit

Today, Congresswoman Moore re-introduced H.R. 4665, the Worker Relief and Credit Reform (WRCR) Act, to expand and modernize the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to meet the demands on America’s workforce, including rising costs and stagnant wages. Key reforms to the EITC in the WRCR Act include changes to the eligibility rules, the credit amount, phase-in rates, phase-out rates, and creation of a new advance payment mechanism to get these benefits into the hands of beneficiaries in a more effective way.

In response to the introduction of her bill, Congresswoman Moore made the following statement:

“The pandemic placed our systemic inequities front and center when a zip code or place of employment determined one’s exposure to COVID-19, when people couldn’t afford to stay home and get groceries delivered or lacked the opportunity to work from home.

To secure a real economic recovery for everyone, we must tackle endemic inequities. For too long, workers have been forced to make do with less as corporate profits swell and billionaires get even richer. It’s time working people enjoyed a bigger share of the prosperity pie. 

We can help achieve this by building on the success of the EITC, one of the most effective anti-poverty programs, to enable it to reach more workers including low-income students and unpaid caregivers. The bill would also increasing EITC benefit and improve the credit phase out to help the program work more smoothly as individuals earn more, among other changes. 

We have to opportunity now to build back better. And we should seize this moment by advancing the WRCR Act.”

“The stimulus checks and Child Tax Credits sent to hard-working Americans over the last year and a half have shown that direct cash payments are the quickest and most effective way to help families who need it,” said Adam Ruben, Director of Economic Security Project Action. “Congresswoman Moore has long championed direct cash policies, and her WRCR Act would help over 160 million Americans have a safety net that will keep them from falling into poverty by sending monthly cash payments to workers who need it most—including family caregivers and students. We applaud Congresswoman Moore for this bold legislation, which gets us one step closer to an economy that truly works for all Americans.” 

The following organizations endorse the WRCR Act: The Economic Security Project Action, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, DEMOS, MomsRising, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Women of Color/Global Women’s Strike, Care Income Now/US, Global Women’s Strike, Every Mother is a Working Mother Network, Payday men’s network, Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, NAACP Milwaukee Branch, Local 212 MATC FAST Fund, AFT Local 212, Children’s HealthWatch, Family and Home Network, U.S. PIRG, Independence First, Equity and Transformation, ParentsTogether Action, People's Action, the Monarch Foundation, Golden State Opportunity, and the Bridge Project.

Click here for more background information on the WRCR Act.