The last monthly payment of the federal Child Tax Credit expansion was distributed 2021. Childhood poverty levels, which decreased due to the legislation, now are expected to rise again in Alabama.

Children living in families with low or no earnings were eligible to receive a maximum of $3,000 per child and $3,6000 per child under the age of 6. 5.3 million Americans, including many children, were kept above the poverty line due to the CTC expansion, according to federal experts.

Alabama Arise is a statewide non-profit that fights for legislation similar to the CTC expansion that would improve the lives of Alabamians marginalized by poverty. Carol Gundlach, a senior policy analyst at the company, says a federal assessment called the Supplemental Poverty Measure takes a better look at the impact of the war on poverty.

“One of the things you hear from politicians a lot is this argument that, ‘Well, we fought a war on poverty and poverty won.’ That is absolutely untrue,” Gundlach said, pointing out that Alabama’s poverty rates fell sharply between 2020 and 2021. She said the difference was “higher than the country as a whole and even in most states. The Child Tax Credit really made a difference.”

The year-to-year decline in child poverty was 4.5 percentage points, the largest on record, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Enhanced subsidies under the American Rescue Plan also helped make health coverage more affordable for many of the 219,000 Alabamians with marketplace plans through the Affordable Care Act. President Biden signed into law last month a renewal of those subsidy enhancements through 2025. Some advocates believe that continued expansion of health care options will help more families stay out of poverty.

“Medicaid, ALL Kids and ACA marketplace coverage have saved and improved the lives of millions of Alabamians,” Robyn Hyden, the executive director at Alabama Arise, said. “Alabama should build on these successes by expanding Medicaid to help more than 340,000 people who are uninsured or struggling to afford health insurance.”

Gundlach and others at Alabama Arise are concerned that Congress’ choice to not reauthorize the CTC expansion will lead to poverty in Alabama skyrocketing.

“What’s so sad is that this is proof that if we want to do something about poverty, particularly child poverty, we know how to do it,” Gundlach said. “We’ve seen an experiment that has proven we can do it; we just need to have the political will to renew these credits.”

Hyden says the success of the CTC expansion was “undeniable.”

“This policy slashed child poverty and helped families make ends meet across our state and our country,” Hyden said. “Congress needs to renew the Child Tax Credit expansion and make it permanent. And our state lawmakers should do their part to help Alabama families keep food on the table by ending the state grocery tax and replacing the revenue in a responsible way.”

Gundlach thinks one of the biggest obstacles in getting the CTC expansion reinstated is figuring out who the target audience is.

“I think one of the arguments that Congress got bogged down into is how do you target this tax credit so it helps people who most need the help,” said Gundlach. “I think it’s a good discussion to have and I think we could probably come to some sort of agreement with that.”

So far, there have been no official legislative moves about the CTC expansion or any other programs to replace it.

“I do believe that if Congress wanted to do this, they could do it,” Gundlach said.

“Every state lost the CTC,” Gundlach said, “but the effects in some states are more than others because some states have higher rates of child poverty than others. Alabama is one of those states. We hope that proposal can come back up again, and hopefully it will pass.”