
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995                   TAG: 9508100079
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

REPUBLICANS PROPOSE TAX CREDIT

Senate Republicans introduced legislation Wednesday that would provide a $500-per-child tax credit for 35 million American families, in a prelude to the budget battle expected in Congress this fall.

The proposal is similar to a credit the House approved this spring. Unlike the House version, however, the Senate bill would set no income cap on eligibility for the credit. The House set a $200,000 limit, although GOP moderates in the Senate say they will try to lower that ceiling to $100,000 or less.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., and 17 co-sponsors including Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

``Families with children send more and more of their income to Washington, D.C.,'' said Nickles. ``I think families should be able to keep more of what they earn.''

Like the House bill, Nickles' tax credit would be nonrefundable, which means that families too poor to owe federal income taxes would not be entitled to it. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research and advocacy group, says that means that families of the poorest one-third of American children would not receive any relief.

Democrats have criticized the House plan for not lowering the taxes of the poorest Americans while easing the burden for the well-to-do. Eager to parry those charges, Senate Republicans said that of the children who do qualify for the tax credit, 94 percent live in families with incomes below $100,000.

by CNB