It’s no secret that prices are on the rise. Inflation hit a 40-year high at a rate of 7.9 percent in February. Food is more expensive. Housing prices  — particularly rents — are rising. And many of us have been shocked by the extra dollars we’re now handing over at the gas pump.

Meanwhile, wages are not keeping up. That means more family budgets are feeling a pinch. Some have wiggle room. Others do not. As prices increase, many families are being faced with tough choices. Indeed, a recent Census Bureau survey found that 35 percent of adults in households with children indicated they are having trouble covering daily living costs.

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I was recently struck by one quote highlighted by a participant in recent congressional hearing: “A well-fed person has many problems, a hungry person has but one.” That quote, which I later found attributed to a sustainability advocate, drives home just how pressing food insecurity and needs like it are for families facing them.

One public policy matter that often surfaces in conversations about the growing pinch for parents is the child tax credit (CTC). The basic intent behind this provision — to help American families keep more of their resources to meet daily needs — is generally shared across the political aisle. In fact, the CTC was doubled to $2,000 per eligible child in 2017 by the GOP-led Congress as part its tax law overhaul, and then Democrats boosted it further to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for kids under 6) last year.

However, the most recent expansion was for one year only and expired at the end of 2021. So, too, did monthly distributions of that credit from the IRS directly to families.

Some believe data from 2021 indicates the expanded CTC was a great success and should be cemented for the long term. For example, Kenneth Hodder, national commander of the Salvation Army, and Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, penned an article last fall that declared:

The rate of food insecurity has been significantly reduced, and families are now better able to provide the basic necessities that many of us take for granted. Fewer children are going to bed hungry or living with the fear of homelessness, and fewer parents are having to make agonizing decisions about whether to buy prescriptions or pay the electric bill.

They recognized that some observers worry the full refundability of the expanded CTC (meaning parents need no taxable income to claim it) could tempt some “to stay home and pocket the money,” but that’s not what they believe was happening.

Scholars at the Heritage Foundation saw it differently, however. Last month, Jamie Bryan Hall and Robert Rector called the expanded CTC a “checks for children scam” that really was intended to grow the welfare state. They said the work-based requirements for government assistance instituted during the Clinton Administration had remarkable effects reducing child poverty and supporting two-parent homes, but the more recent Biden plan would undermine those course corrections.

Still, even with debates over work requirements and direct payments, there are legislators on both sides of the political aisle who seem interested in some manner of increased tax credit to help parents in today’s difficult financial climate.

While leading Democrats tried to extend their CTC expansion through the partisan Build Back Better bill, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who favors work requirements, stands in the way. Meanwhile, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have rallied colleagues around a plan to grow the CTC to $3,500 per child ($4,500 for those under age 6), and Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) have each proposed their own plans as well.

Notably, Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), along with Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), are pushing to expand the current CTC by making it available to pregnant mothers — thereby recognizing the value of prenatal lives and the unique challenges of their parents.

Will legislators be able to look beyond a partisan winner-take-all mentality and seek a way forward on the CTC and other provisions that help families keep and steward more of their hard-earned dollars in this difficult time? Will you pray so?

Share your prayers for our economy, leaders, and families in the comments.

Aaron Mercer is a Contributing Writer with two decades of experience in Washington, D.C.’s public policy arena. Photo Credit: John-Mark Smith on Unsplash.