Mark your calendars: Tax Day is less then a month away (April 15th). And while you are busy preparing your paper work and filing your taxes, we think this is the perfect opportunity to also remind your Representative and Senators in the U.S. Congress to make sure to protect tax breaks that help Michigan families—in particular the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC).

**Write your members of Congress TODAY and ask them to support, protect, and strengthen the EITC and Child Tax Credit!

http://action.momsrising.org/sign/EITCChildTaxCredit_MI/

The EITC and Child Tax Credit helps Michigan families in a BIG way. In 2013 alone, 823,000 Michigan families benefited from the EITC, earning on average $2,387 in tax breaks. And 551,000 Michigan households received the refundable part of the Child Tax Credit. In fact, 602,000 Michigan moms received the EITC, the CTC, or both tax credit…wow! That is money that helps our families afford rent, gas for our cars, new shoes for our children, and other necessities. And by making those purchases we are also funneling money back into our local economy, which sorely needs it. In fact the EITC alone pumped about $1.7 billion into the Michigan economy!

And as if that isn’t enough, the EITC and Child Tax Credit also helps military families and veterans. 37,000 veteran and armed-forces families with children receive the EITC or the Child Tax Credit in Michigan.

Take a moment to write your members of Congress, and ask them to support families and children—including military families and veterans—by supporting an extension of the EITC and Child Tax Credit. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/EITCChildTaxCredit_MI/

Taking action today is a big deal. Unless the U.S. Congress acts soon, key provisions of the EITC and Child Tax Credit will expire, pushing nearly 16 million people—including 8 million children and many military families—into poverty and making it harder for tens of millions more families to pay their bills. We can’t allow this to happen! We already live in a state with 17% of our residents—including 23.8% of children—living in poverty. We can’t afford to make it even harder for these families to make ends meet and pay their bills.

**Join me in reaching out to our members of Congress and telling them to support hard-working families by supporting, protecting, and strengthening the EITC and Child Tax Credit. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/EITCChildTaxCredit_MI/

Your voice is needed to shine a bright light on the importance of these programs to members of Congress—and the more of us who speak up, who sign on, and who take action, the bigger the impact we’ll have together shoring up support for the EITC and Child Tax Credit, which are both anti-poverty programs that have had bi-partisan support over the years. (President Ronald Reagan said the EITC is “the best antipoverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.”)

These programs also have been shown to improve children’s health and education outcomes, including college attendance.

That is some powerful stuff!

Don’t forget to write your members of Congress. And after you take action, spread the word by posting the action link to Twitter and your Facebook page. The more Michigan moms and dads we have speaking out on this issue, the stronger we can be.

Together we are a strong voice for Michigan families.

P.S. Do you have experience with the EITC or Child Tax Credit? Do tell! How has the EITC and Child Tax Credit helped your family? Have these tax credits helped you keep your head above water? What would you be able to do with this extra money? Please share your thoughts and experiences here: https://www.momsrising.org/member_stories/topic/has-the-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc-or-child-tax-credit-ctc-helped-your-family/