NYS Senator Chu and the Senate Majority Fought for Empire State Child Tax Credit to Support Children and Families

For Immediate Release: September 5, 2024
Contact: Esther Jin, senatorchupress@gmail.com

(Brooklyn, NY) More than 20,000 Brooklyn families have received checks for an average of $247, providing direct support to working families with children and easing their financial burden, as the State has distributed the first round of checks to families eligible for the Empire State Child Tax Credit during the last month. The checks, which are a new supplemental tax credit for families eligible for the Empire State Child Tax Credit, were made possible by a $350 million budget that Senator Iwen Chu and the Senate Majority fought to include in the FY 2024-2025 Adopted Budget.

Since early August, more than 1.5 million low- and moderate-income New Yorkers have received Empire State Child Credit payments from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. However, it has come to Senator Chu Office's attention that some recipients are unaware of where the checks came from or how to use them, especially for the new immigrant community.

The payments were made automatically to taxpayers who received at least $100 for the Empire State Child Credit and filed a New York State Resident Income Tax Return (Form IT-201) by April 15, 2024, or had a valid extension of time to file. That includes married couples making $110,000 or less, single parents making $75,000 or less, and married couples filing separately who make $55,000 or less.

Eva Zhang, a Brooklyn resident with two children, received a $432 check. She was one of the 228,295 people in Brooklyn who received checks in mid-August, according to the state government report. "It was an unexpected check, and I'm grateful to have received it from the state, especially since one of my children is entering elementary school and the other is starting middle school. While the relief isn't huge, it’s taking a little bit of stress from us, and many middle-class families really need it." 

Joyce Li, who has a 10-year-old son, received a $153 child tax credit check in early August. She had no idea what the check was for, so brought it to Senator Chu Office's Back-to-School backpack handout event on August 27 and asked for an explanation. “I was afraid of depositing it because I didn't want to get into any trouble. The staff at Senator Chu's Office explained the origin of the check, now I feel reassured and am happy to deposit it." She said.

Senator Iwen Chu said, “I’m proud to have worked with the Senate Majority to pass the Empire State Child Tax to help support our families across the state and I’m glad to hear that many families have begun back-to-school shopping for their kids with these checks. I’m going to keep working every day to address the cost of living for working parents in Brooklyn and throughout the State.”

This year, Senator Iwen Chu also worked alongside the Senate Democratic majority to support the wellbeing and safety of children in New York. These efforts include bolstering access to childcare and childcare assistance, supporting flexible work environments for parents and caregivers, and passing the first-in-the-nation prenatal leave law. Additionally, to help keep children safe and supported both inside the classroom and at home, the State Senate passed legislation capping the maximum allowable temperature of classrooms, and passed the SAFE for Kids Act and NY Child Data Protection Act, both of which Senator Chu was a cosponsor, nation-leading laws against predatory social media companies profiting from addictive algorithms and data collection of minors.

“Investing in our children and families is one of the surest ways to help promote the success of our neighbors, and of our communities as a whole,” said Senator Iwen Chu. “In my community especially, many working parents cannot afford to take time off and rely on these programs to keep their kids happy and healthy. I’m proud to have helped get these programs over the finish line.”