| | This Issue Update newsletter is part of a series that provides more information on each priority issue on the Alliance's 2025 Legislative Agenda. The Legislative Agenda is crafted annually in partnership with early childhood organizations that are advancing legislative policy solutions related to health, safety, food security, economic security, and early care and education. The priority issues were selected by the Alliance's Steering Committee. | | | | The Alliance’s series of virtual Issue Spotlights continues Monday, April 7, from 3:30 to 4:15 pm, and will focus on two issues – efforts to improve the Reach Up program and work underway to expand the state’s use of anti-poverty tax credits. More information can be found below. | | | | | | Reach Up: Ending Childhood Poverty is Within Our Reach Reach Up is Vermont’s safety net program to prevent children from experiencing deep poverty, which we know is harmful to their health and development. Stipends are meant to meet basic needs while parents work towards economic stability. Currently, the program bases family stipends on a 2001 housing cost estimate and a 2019 “other basic needs” estimate. Then, the state cuts that number in half with a formula called the “ratable reduction.” This means that a family of four is expected to meet most of their basic needs, often including housing, with about $1000 per month. We know this is impossible and forces families to spend time seeking crisis support such as emergency housing, food pantries, and emergency transportation for medical needs rather than being able to focus on their long-term economic security goals. Persistent poverty also increases the chance that children are separated from their families and placed in foster care, which is both costly and traumatic. The Alliance supports Voices for Vermont’s Children in their request that the Legislature ensure that Reach Up grants fulfill their intended purpose of bringing eligible families’ income up to the poverty line by: (1) eliminating the “ratable reduction” that reduces the Reach Up benefit by about 50%; (2) using current cost of living estimates to create the annual base Reach Up grant; and (3) prioritizing making permanently affordable housing accessible. Legislative Update The Governor’s FY26 Recommended Budget included a $697,625 decrease in Reach Up, based on anticipated caseload reductions. The Legislature has the opportunity in their FY26 Budget to use these “savings” to make a small change to the ratable reduction and increase the Reach Up grant to support families experiencing deep poverty, but has not yet chosen to do so. Voices is grateful to the work within the House Human Services Committee to prioritize Reach Up. We are disappointed by the reemerging narrative that we can’t afford to support children in Vermont. While that Committee has supported using the savings to make additional investments to the program, some members of the Committee voted against including this proposal in their annual budget recommendation letter. Please contact your legislators and let them know that our children matter and are worth investing in. It is worth noting that the FY26 Unfunded Budget Pressures Report has not been released yet. Voices has been told that it will be released as soon as all the data is available. It is unclear how a budget can be created without a full picture of liabilities. Voices staff are also testifying in support of the Reach Ahead Pilot program, which provides additional supports for Reach Up families yesterday. Despite the fact that the program was well received by participants, it is scheduled to be discontinued at the end of this fiscal year. Testimony on the program is continuing this week in the House Human Service Committee. | | | |  | Data and Talking Points - The Reach Up benefit for a family of three is currently just $880 per month, far short of what is needed to cover basic needs.
- 35% of children between the ages of 0 and 8 live below 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL), and 5% of children in VT live in extreme poverty.
- Children are 54% more likely than adults to live in poverty in the United States.
- On average, over 3700 children aged 9 and under were in households enrolled in Reach Up at one point in FFY22.
| | | | Lead Organization Voices for Vermont's Children for the Vermont Reach Up Coalition Voices for Vermont’s Children is a statewide, multi-issue child policy research and advocacy organization that has shaped the landscape around child wellbeing in Vermont by advocating during the Vermont Legislative session; organizing and working in state and regional coalitions; providing up-to-date information, policy briefs and fact sheets on issues important to children and youth. They are currently engaged in significant work to explicitly integrate anti-oppression principles and strategies into their mission and policies, and are building a team and stakeholder community that is representative of and accountable to the communities most impacted by inequity. | | | | | | Anti-Poverty Tax Credits: Increase Financial Stability for Vermont Families Tax Credit (EITC) help families with the fewest resources fill the gap between income and expenses by providing cash when they file their taxes. During the pandemic, temporarily expanded federal tax credits helped bring 10,000 people out of poverty. Unfortunately, when these credits ended, many Vermont families with children were worse off. Vermont has been a leader in state-level anti-poverty tax credits, but restrictions on who qualifies, as well as systemic barriers to access, leave out many Vermont families who would benefit from the credits. The Alliance supports the efforts of the Anti-Poverty Tax Credit Coalition to expand the Vermont EITC from matching 38% of the federal EITC for families with children to 55%, and to expand access to the Vermont EITC and CTC for families with low income who need them most. These changes will reduce poverty, improve family financial stability, and allow Vermonters to meet needs specific to their families. Legislative Update The Anti-Poverty Tax Credit Coalition has been working toward 1) increasing the dollar amount of Vermont refundable tax credits*, 2) expanding who is eligible for the credits, and 3) improving credit access. Both the Governor and lawmakers supported legislation this year that furthers our first and second priorities by proposing an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to 100 percent of the federal EITC for filers not claiming children, and expanding the state Child Tax Credit (CTC), currently for kids under six, to kids under seven. Additionally, the House Budget, passed last Friday, includes increased funding for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which will help more people freely file their returns. Legislation that would increase the EITC and expand the CTC is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee. It has not yet moved to the Senate as lawmakers weigh possible legislation on exempting military retirement benefits from taxation. But funding for expansion of the EITC and CTC was built into the House passed budget. *Refundable tax credits lower the amount of your tax bill and return any amount left over to the tax filer. | | | |  | Data and Talking Points - Increasing Vermont's EITC would help 20,000 families with children close the gap between their earnings and what they need to make ends meet.
- While the CTC and the EITC help to lift many families above the poverty level, they are still well short of the $70,000-plus per year needed to meet their basic needs.
- Families with children six and older don’t get the state CTC, so they have still fewer resources.
| | | | Lead Organization Public Assets Institute Public Assets Institute improves the well-being of all Vermonters and advances racial, social, and economic justice through research, fiscal analysis, public engagement and empowerment, and by developing and promoting policies that state government can enact. | | | | | |  | Alliance ‘25 Legislative Agenda Issue Spotlight – Reach Up and Tax Credits – 4/7 The Alliance’s series of virtual Issue Spotlights, which focus on issues from the Alliance’s 2025 Legislative Agenda, continues this month. Our next session will be held Monday, April 7, from 3:30 to 4:15 pm, and will focus on two issues – efforts to improve the Reach Up program and work underway to expand the state’s use of anti-poverty tax credits. Led by representatives from Voices for Vermont’s Children and the Anti-Poverty Tax Credit Coalition, this session is a great opportunity to learn more about each of these issues, get an update on how they are progressing in the legislature, and how to get involved. | | | | | |  | | | | | The Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance is a statewide coalition formed in 2000 of early childhood professionals, parents, organizations, businesses, and strategic partners committed to improving public policies that impact young children between birth and age eight in the areas of health, safety, food security, economic security, and early care and education. The Alliance crafts an annual Legislative Agenda in partnership with early childhood organizations, provides year-round advocacy support, and facilitates meaningful interactions with policymakers at key times during the decision making process. | | | | 7 School Street | Montpelier , Vermont 05602 vecaa.org The Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance is a program of the Vermont Community Loan Fund. | | | | | | | | | |
