Terán: Arizona Republicans tried to block $150M in tax cuts from families in their districts

This week, the fifth round of President Biden and Democrats’ middle-class tax cuts hit bank accounts across Arizona, delivering crucial relief to the families of 1,382,000 children.

On the 15th of each month, I get countless phone calls and text messages from friends and family members in my community who are overflowing with gratitude for President Biden and the Democrats in Congress that made these tax cuts possible. Parents from across the state are using this extra money to feed their kids, to pay for child care, to buy them new school uniforms, and even to sign them up for sports camps, after-school programs and music lessons.

These payments are helping families across our state get by with a little bit of extra breathing room and raise their children — our greatest investments — with the dignity they deserve.

Even though this transformational policy is reducing food insecurity, slashing hunger rates, and benefiting each and every community in Arizona, not a single Republican voted for it — and even after seeing how it has helped countless Arizona families breathe easier, they are still opposed to making this critical middle-class tax cut permanent.

Even after policy experts and advocates affirmed how transformational extending the Child Tax Credits would be for their constituents, Arizona’s own Paul Gosar (Dist. 4), Andy Biggs (Dist. 5), David Schweikert (Dist. 6), and Debbie Lesko (Dist. 8) voted against a plan that benefited the families of 585,000 children in their own districts. New data shows that in August alone, the extended Child Tax Credit put $150 million into the pockets of families in those four Republicans’ districts, putting another $190 million into their local economies.

It’s almost unbelievable, but their records show they just don’t care about working people and families — and I believe you have a right to know just how much federal aid your GOP representative voted against.

Here’s a look at what these four Republicans in Congress tried to keep from your family:

• In Congressional District 4, Rep. Paul Gosar voted against tax cuts that went to the families of 135,000 children, put $34.4 million into families’ pockets, and pumped $43 million into the local economy.
• In Congressional District 5, Rep. Andy Biggs voted against tax cuts that went to the families of 178,000 children, put $45.6 million into families’ pockets, and pumped $57 million into the local economy.
• In Congressional District 6, Rep. David Schweikert voted against tax cuts that went to the families of 115,000 children, put $29.5 million into families’ pockets, and pumped $36.9 million into the local economy.
• In Congressional District 8, Rep. Debbie Lesko voted against tax cuts that went to the families of 157,000 children, put $40.2 million into families’ pockets, and pumped $50.25 million into the local economy.

Thankfully, President Biden and Democrats in Congress passed these middle-class tax cuts without Republicans — even after these very same GOP lawmakers voted in favor of Donald Trump’s tax scam in 2017. In the months to come, it’s going to be increasingly difficult for Reps. Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert and Lesko to explain to voters why they voted against cutting taxes for working families after handing billions of dollars in tax breaks to large corporations and the wealthy.

If passing good policy is good politics, then voting against one of the most consequential anti-child poverty measures in history is definitely bad politics — and that is going to haunt Arizona’s Republican candidates at the ballot box next November.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Arizona and across the country will continue to build back better so that our children, our families, and our communities are taken care of — with or more likely without the help of our Republican colleagues.

Editor’s note: Democratic Sen. Raquel Terán represents the residents of District 30 in the Arizona Senate and serves as the chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.