ST. PAUL, Minn. -- This summer, a coalition of U.S. mayors joined forces to win support for the idea of providing guaranteed income for struggling Americans. St. Paul's mayor is part of the group calling for these direct payments that would come with no strings attached.

Nearly a dozen mayors from across the country, including St. Paul's Melvin Carter, have pledged to seek such efforts, saying the pandemic crisis has only widened the gap for certain people and their ability to survive. Carter said gainful employment will be harder to come by as the nation tries to overcome the crisis, making it difficult for some to participate in a consumer-driven economy.

"Over the long term, we'll run out of consumers if we don't figure out some type of way to ensure that community members can afford to live with dignity in our communities across the country," Carter said.

The movement stemmed from a payment program initiated by Stockton, California, in 2019. Carter said as a trial project, he would like to identify 135 low-income families in St. Paul to receive $500 a month over 18 months.

Opponents of the movement question the affordability of these plans, while noting it doesn't provide longstanding solutions.

Carter said he doesn't envision this being a long-term approach for the city. He hopes it will inspire a more broad approach at the state and federal level.

He said it also can complement existing assistance programs that don't work for everybody who is struggling.

"When we create these paternalistic, super-prescriptive programs, we spend a lot of money on things that aren't providing the best resources, that aren't providing the best help to those families," he said.

Carter said families selected for payments in St. Paul would be connected to the city's college saving's account initiative. But it's unclear yet if any other specific components to the cash payment plan have materialized, and whether they would win enough support from the city council.


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MADISON, Wis. -- The federal government today begins issuing monthly payments under the expanded Child Tax Credit.

Advocates for working families in Wisconsin say it goes beyond cutting poverty rates. They say it will remove a lot of monthly budget pressure for scores of households.

The tax credit, expanded under the American Rescue Plan, includes monthly payments of $250 to $300 for each child through the end of the year.

Meghan Roh, program director for Opportunity Wisconsin, said aside from the credit amount going up, age limits have been expanded, making more families eligible.

"Speaking as a parent myself, you know, raising a family is tough," Roh remarked. "And even with careful budgeting, folks can fall behind on keeping up with their expenses."

She noted those recurring budget challenges existed before COVID set many families back.

As for other provisions, parents who earn too little to pay taxes are also eligible.

The Coalition on Human Needs said nearly 1.2 million Wisconsin children will benefit from the overall expansion, and 46,000 kids will be lifted out of poverty. But advocates warn it's just a temporary increase, and there are repeated calls to make it permanent.

The federal government has taken a variety of steps to help people negatively impacted by the crisis recover from their hardships.

Roh acknowledged while the federal boost added to what has been done, she hopes the significance of the expansion is not lost on the general public.

"This new monthly funding will help families across the state put food on the table, pay the bills, save for college," Roh outlined.

As was the case with enhanced jobless benefits during the crisis, skeptics say the expanded credit could discourage people from working. But backers point to a 2019 National Academy of Sciences expert panel report, which found almost all low- to moderate-income families would keep working if an expansion were approved.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A historic expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit could be a game-changer for Ohio families.

According to state data, nearly 10% of Ohio families were living in poverty prior to the pandemic.

The American Rescue Plan expands the credit for the 2021 tax year to an additional $1,000 for children ages six to 17, and $1,600 for kids younger than six. Families will receive half of the credit in advance, as monthly payments this year, and the remainder when they file their taxes next year.

Elisa Minoff, senior policy analyst with the Center for the Study of Social Policy, offered an example of payments that a family with a two-year-old and a seven-year-old would receive.

"They should be getting $550 a month starting in July, running through December," said Minoff. "And then, they'll get the rest of their expected Child Tax Credit as a lump-sum payment, $3300, in 2022."

The Internal Revenue Service begins sending the payments July 15 to eligible families.

The expanded tax credit phases out for single-parent households earning more than $75,000 annually, and $150,000 for married couples.

In the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey for the week ending May 10, nearly 97,000 households with children reported having trouble paying their usual household expenses.

Another Biden administration proposal, the American Families Plan, would make the expanded Child Tax Credit available for the next four years.

Research from Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy indicates if that happens - coupled with other tax credits in the plan - it would cut child poverty nearly in half.

Minoff thinks the Child Tax Credit should continue after 2025.

"So, this can do a lot to support children and families in the United States," said Minoff. "We just need to make sure that the policy really works as it should, and that families get it who need it, and that it's made permanent."

The expanded Child Tax Credit is also refundable, meaning eligible families with no earned income can claim the credit.

Meantime, critics of the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan don't agree with the corporate tax increases it includes and say it would only add to the national debt.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Utah officials are cutting back on jobless benefits, claiming without evidence federal "bonus" payments are keeping thousands of Utahns from returning to work.

Critics of the move announced last week by Gov. Spencer Cox, said an early end to the $300 weekly pandemic stimulus and other related benefits will hurt thousands of recipients by slashing their income before they are ready or able to re-enter the workforce.

Chase Thomas, executive director of the Alliance for a Better Utah, said the move will force many workers to re-enter an economy which has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 crisis.

"With the pandemic, we've learned that there are a lot of deficiencies with our existing economic system," Thomas contended. "Whether it's the low level of unemployment benefits, we're also just going back to a severely deficient minimum wage."

Cox called the move a "natural step" toward returning the state to normal and claimed there are more than 50,000 jobs available in Utah.

But Thomas accused him of simply copying a dozen other red-state governors in ending the payments without proof that there is a labor shortage. Thomas also believes many Utahns are hesitant to return to the job market out of concern the pandemic is not over yet.

"It remains to be seen," Thomas argued. "We know that the pandemic is ongoing and that there are people that are still feeling unsafe going back to work. We also know that there are still industries that haven't fully recovered yet."

George Hammond, director of the Economic and Business Research Center and chief economist in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, said it is likely the pandemic is causing long-term, permanent changes to the American work force.

"This is an issue that has been building, as we see continued large-scale retirements of older people as they reach that age," Hammond explained. "The Baby Boom Generation that's been retiring in large numbers for years now, and it's going to continue to affect labor supply."

Currently, about 28,000 Utahns are receiving the additional $300-a-week federal benefit. Under Cox's plan, the unemployment stimulus and other federal payments, originally scheduled to end in early September, will now end in late June.