Vice President Kamala Harris promoted the expanded child tax credit Monday in her first Pittsburgh visit since she was elected.
The tax credit was expanded through the American Rescue plan and will provide more qualifying families between $3000 and $3600 as monthly payments.
Checks will be sent out starting next month.
At the Brookline Recreation Center Monday, Harris said the expanded child tax credit will lift half of American children out of poverty.
"You recognize the challenges of families that are just barely holding it together, and then you treat the issue in the context of the whole," she said to the crowd of about 100. "So, for the work that we've done with the American Rescue Plan, it will include benefiting, here in Pennsylvania, 140,000 children."
Along with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and local leaders, Harris also acknowledged the expanded credit only lasts this year.
"We are working as an administration with all our friends to extend it for years and years through our American Families Plan, which is what we are negotiating now and talking about in Washington D.C.," she said.
Harris also warned families who qualify for the child tax credit may need to take additional action. Those who did not file tax returns in 2019 or 2020 or did not file for a stimulus check through the IRS will need to sign up on the White House's website.
During her trip, Harris also met with local children at the recreational center. Later, she participated in a round table discussion on unionizing at the IBEW Local 5 hall on the South Side.