If key provisions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit are allowed to expire in 2017, this is what could happen, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
As many as 19 million low-wage workers could lose what's been called "one of the most successful labor market innovations in U.S. history." The income these credits bring "leads to better maternal and infant health, improved school performance, higher college enrollment, and increased work effort and earnings in adulthood." That's a lot of bang for some federal bucks.
But key provisions are expiring in 2017, and Senate Republicans have already staked out ground suggesting they'll be ready to gut them. At H&R Block's behest, they've put policy riders into a key spending bill that would make filing for these tax credits difficult and expensive. Because that's what Republicans do.