House to vote on child tax credit Thursday, aides say
Measure would extend credit to lower-income families
From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House will vote Thursday on an $81 billion tax cut package that would make the increased child tax credit available to lower-income families left out of the larger tax cut that President Bush signed last month, according to congressional aides.
The bill would have to be reconciled with a $10 billion measure the Senate passed in response to an outcry from Democrats and interest groups upset that lower-income families didn't get the $400-per-child credit increase available to middle-income families.
Keeping a promise from House GOP leaders to marry new child tax credits with other tax cuts, the House Ways and Means Committee will announce that the bill would also extend the life of the child tax credit to 2010, beyond its current phase-out date of 2005, and allow higher-income married couples to claim a larger credit than was allowed in the previous tax bill, the aides said.
The bill would also provide a number of tax cuts for members of the military, they said.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, told The Associated Press that the House will not pass the Senate's bill, even though the White House had urged GOP leaders to quickly settle the matter.
"Ain't going to happen," DeLay told the AP, adding that he wants to use the child tax credit to leverage more tax cuts.
Announcement of the House plan comes the same day that the Congressional Budget Office reported the deficit is expected to grow to $400 billion this year. The House bill will be paid for through deficit spending because it does not include any spending cuts to offset its cost.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
