RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock is calling for a major expansion of the Child Tax Credit , arguing that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are adding to the cost of preparing children for the new school year.
A report released by the Georgia senator’s office found that the cost of buying supplies for a fourth-grade student at five elementary schools across the state ranged from $96 to $132.
Warnock is using the findings to promote the American Family Act, which would increase the credit, make it available through monthly payments and provide additional assistance following the birth of a child.
"Expanding the Child Tax Credit is not only the right thing to do morally, but the smart thing to do economically," he said in a press release. "I will keep fighting to get this done."
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.
The federal Child Tax Credit currently provides families with up to $2,200 for each qualifying child under age 17.
The full amount is available to single filers earning up to $200,000 and married couples filing jointly earning up to $400,000, after which the credit begins to phase out.
The credit primarily reduces a household’s federal tax bill , although eligible lower-income families can receive up to $1,700 per child as a refund through the Additional Child Tax Credit.
Families generally claim the benefit when filing their annual tax return rather than receiving monthly payments.
Warnock’s office examined supply lists from five schools in urban and rural areas of Georgia. The calculated totals were $96, $120, $122, $122 and $132 for one child, meaning households with several school-age children could spend hundreds of dollars before classes begin.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the consumer price index for educational books and supplies rose 8.4 percent between May 2024 and May 2026. A separate analysis by the Century Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative estimated that a basket of school supplies increased by 7.7 percent, while lunchbox staples rose by 10.9 percent.
The joint analysis reported larger increases for several individual products, including a lunch box, up 26.8 percent; a one-subject notebook, up 23 percent; and index cards, up 22.2 percent. Warnock’s report separately cited Amazon price-tracking data showing that a 36-pack of Crayola colored pencils increased from $4.94 in July 2025 to $6.49 in July 2026, a rise of 31.4 percent.
Warnock’s paper argues that tariffs are contributing to the increases because several common classroom products are imported from countries facing higher U.S. duties.
It notes that Crayola manufactures colored pencils in Brazil, where the Trump administration began imposing a 25 percent tariff on most goods in July. China, which the report identifies as the world’s leading exporter of pens and markers, faces an average statutory tariff rate of 26.9 percent. It is unclear exactly how much of these price increases can be attributed solely to Trump's tariff policies.
The Trump administration has defended tariffs as a way to protect American businesses and workers, encourage companies to move production to the United States and strengthen domestic manufacturing. The White House has also maintained that its tariff policies can ultimately lower costs and raise wages.
The Child Tax Credit is currently worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child, according to the report, and is generally received after a household files its annual tax return.
The American Family Act, co-led by Warnock and Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, would raise the maximum annual credit to $4,320 for children younger than six and $3,600 for children between six and 17. That would be equivalent to monthly payments of $360 and $300, respectively.
The proposal would also establish a one-time $2,400 credit for newborns and make the expansion permanent. Lower-income families would be able to receive the full credit, while its value would continue to phase out for married couples earning more than $150,000.
Warnock’s report says nearly one in three children in Georgia cannot currently receive the full credit because their parents earn too little. It also cites research finding that Georgia’s child poverty rate fell by 42.7 percent when the credit was temporarily expanded in the 2021 tax year to $3,600 for children under six and $3,000 for children between six and 17 under the American Rescue Plan Act.
The libertarian Cato Institute has opposed further expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit, arguing that its refundable portion functions as government spending rather than a conventional tax reduction.
In a February 2025 analysis, the institute said refundable payments can go to households with no federal income tax liability and estimated that direct spending accounted for about 40 percent of the program’s fiscal cost in 2024. It also argued that the credit is poorly targeted to meet objectives such as reducing poverty, lowering family expenses or encouraging people to have children.
Cato said further expansions should instead be left to individual states, allowing them to design policies around their own budgets and priorities, rather than at the federal level.
The proposal would require approval from Congress. It has been introduced in the Senate and referred to the Finance Committee.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Ben Kelly and Robert Greenall
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