Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
Immigrants, such as this Baltimore family, whose incomes have taken a hit during the coronavirus pandemic could benefit from expanded access to Maryland’s stimulus measures.
While federal lawmakers were still negotiating another coronavirus relief package, Maryland lawmakers passed a state version two weeks ago. The $1.2 billion package included checks of up to $500 to the state’s poorest families and up to $300 to the poorest single-filers, with additional cash refunds for the next three years. Last week, the comptroller’s office sent the checks. But for many advocates, the work isn’t done.
At the heart of the debate is whether an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) qualifies a Maryland taxpayer for the stimulus. Allowing an ITIN to be used in place of a Social Security number would expand access to both the stimulus check and the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to thousands of taxpaying undocumented immigrants.
The RELIEF Act passed without the extension to ITIN filers, with Maryland Republicans and Gov. Larry Hogan opposed. According to The Baltimore Sun, Republican minority leader Sen. Bryan Simonaire called it one of a number of “far-left ideas.” He added, “It’s not following lawful rule and it doesn’t respect the citizens who work hard for their money.”
“The opposition has consistently made the case that immigrants with ITINs do not contribute to our economy,” said Cathryn Paul, policy analyst for CASA, in a statement to the Prospect. “Unfortunately, the opposition’s arguments are rooted in racism and xenophobia. Despite these immigrants doing their part, paying taxes, in many cases keeping us afloat during the pandemic, they still refuse to believe that their lives are worth saving.”
Paul’s organization and others in the state mobilized in response to the exclusion of immigrants from the RELIEF Act. “We got over 60 organizations to sign on in support of an amendment to address the exclusion,” she said. “We showed up at the statehouse, and started making calls.”
Under pressure from advocates, the Democratic-majority legislature introduced Senate Bill 218, which would add the ITIN expansion and allow certain taxpayers to claim a child tax credit up to $500. The bill passed the legislature with a veto-proof majority, and is now headed for the governor’s desk. It will be the most generous state EITC in the country and extend EITC eligibility to ITIN filers in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 tax years, which advocates say helps address the long-term effects of the pandemic’s economic fallout. In an average year, explained Robin McKinney, CEO of CASH Campaign Maryland, 20 percent of those eligible for the EITC don’t file for it, but during the pandemic, there will be more newly eligible filers.
“What our EITC message always is, these are low-income workers, their wages are not sufficient to meet their needs,” explained McKinney. “The EITC helps to fill that gap and is an offset for all the different types of taxes they’re paying. There are taxes you can’t not pay, payroll taxes, sales tax, gas and alcohol tax.”
Advocates urged Hogan to immediately sign the legislation. The governor’s spokesperson told NBC Washington it will become law without the governor’s signature. Hogan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lead sponsor of the House of Delegates version of the expansion, Del. Julie Palakovich Carr, said on the floor that over 86,000 ITIN filers paid more than $330 million in state and local taxes last year, according to Maryland Matters. “A Marylander is a Marylander no matter what type of tax ID number they have,” she said. (A typical year is closer to 100,000 ITIN filers, according to the Maryland comptroller’s office.)
One CASA member, Lashana, an immigrant from Jamaica, has paid taxes in Maryland since 2016 using an ITIN. A Montgomery County resident, she cleans homes, and rented an apartment with her four-year-old son. Lashana lost all her clients in the COVID-19 pandemic and was forced to move into a shared space with another family. Now unable to pay rent in the shared space, she’s at risk for eviction, too. With the expansion, Lashana would benefit, according to Jossie Flor Sapunar, communications director for CASA.
The RELIEF Act also leaves out mixed-status families. Amanda Rivera, who testified last Tuesday, told Maryland lawmakers that as a legal permanent resident she files with a Social Security number, but her immigrant husband uses an ITIN to file. That meant that her family, including two U.S. citizen children, was not eligible for the EITC.
Allowing an ITIN to be used in place of a Social Security number would expand access to both the stimulus check and the state Earned Income Tax Credit.
In testimony, Maryland high school student Jeniffer Ventura said that she is a U.S. citizen and her mom has been paying taxes using an ITIN for 20 years. “My mom is a single mom, she cleans houses for a living and the current pandemic made my mom’s job unstable,” she said. Her mother’s savings weren’t enough for the pandemic, and now they are worried about staying housed. “Housing is a basic human right, and knowing that a landlord can take away our home is crazy,” she said.
The debate highlights a tension in federal and state relief efforts across the country. In California, the state will send more than 500,000 stimulus payments to ITIN filers who didn’t receive the federal stimulus and whose income is below $75,000. The provision includes those who may be undocumented. California has also extended eligibility for other stimulus programs to undocumented immigrants.
Colorado also extended the state’s EITC to ITIN filers, and a working group convened by Oregon’s governor recommended the same. Although not every state has an EITC, some of those that do have not extended eligibility.
In the federal CARES Act, mixed-immigration-status families, such as noncitizen parents who filed with an ITIN but who had citizen children, weren’t eligible for the stimulus. In the American Rescue Plan passed by the House last week, more mixed-status families are eligible. While there were some retroactive eligibility adjustments made in December, the American Rescue Plan would be the biggest expansion yet.
It appears the Biden administration is aware of the eligibility issue. The Paycheck Protection Program eligibility now extends to legal residents and ITIN filers, not just citizens, after changes announced last week. Although the American Rescue Plan expands the Child Tax Credit (CTC), only those with Social Security numbers are eligible, excluding an estimated one million children. The same is true with the federal EITC expansion this year.
Susan O’Brien, spokesperson for Maryland Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, a Democrat, said they are ready to send the stimulus payments once eligibility is determined. Weeks before the RELIEF Act even passed, O’Brien said the comptroller’s office was preparing for an EITC expansion to ITIN filers, identifying taxpayers whose income qualified. She also said that Maryland’s benefits system is one of the best state systems for deterring fraud. “The minute he signs the bill, we are ready to start the machine moving,” she said.
As for non-filers—the thousands of people who don’t make enough money to file a tax return every year—they are beyond the scope of her agency, O’Brien explained. Hogan did not immediately respond if his administration would be taking action to help non-filers.
“This country has become wealthy by exploiting African Americans and immigrants,” said Ventura in her testimony supporting the expansion. “We are part of the backbone for the United States and it makes sense that we should give back to the people that have made this country … My mother and so many immigrants pay so much in taxes, and they are forgotten when it comes to making policy.”
