WASHINGTON - The Senate is nearing a deal to approve, as early as today, a measure that would send tax-credit checks of up to $400 a child to 6.5 million low-income families, after Democrats spent the week hammering at Republicans for denying such families the credit under the new tax cut.
Senate leaders negotiated intensely yesterday to reach a bipartisan deal, but it was unclear whether a vote would come by the end of the week. Conservative Republicans in the Senate and House, who are loath to give a tax credit to people who earn too little to owe income taxes, are pushing to pair the bill with other long-sought tax cuts, such as a repeal of the estate tax.
Democrats seized on reports that the 10-year, $350 billion tax-cut package enacted last week deprives many lower-income people of some of its benefits - and provides nothing for others - to renew their attacks on Republicans for what they say is an unfair measure. This time, Democrats have a concrete example, made more politically potent because it involves children.
"People can focus on it because it's one issue and it's so grossly unfair," Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said of the decision not to extend the child tax credit to some lower-income people. Republicans "really poke working families in the eye with what they've done."
The measure being discussed would cover families with annual incomes between $10,500 and $26,625. They include an estimated 103,000 families - with 196,000 children - in Maryland, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, an advocacy group for low- and middle-income people.
Even if Senate leaders can agree to approve it, the bill faces obstacles in the House. Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, has dismissed the measure as a low priority and has said the House would consider it only as part of a broader package of tax cuts.
"There are a lot of other things that are more important than that," DeLay told reporters. "To me, it's a little difficult to give tax relief to those who do not pay income taxes. It's a spending program."
Democrats and some Republicans say it is flagrantly unfair to deprive poor people of the benefits of a tax cut that was billed as a boon to all Americans.
"As our nation struggles with a sluggish economy, we should ensure that everyone benefits from the tax cut," said Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat.
