Tax policy is more than just numbers, it’s the heart of who we are
When politicians talk taxes, it’s often a babble of big numbers that contain a whole lot of zeroes. Millions, billions, even trillions of dollars. Tax policy can be cold and impersonal, or at least, academic and hypothetical. But this week, I received a letter from a mom in my home state of Washington who, in a few pages, encapsulated so well my strongly-held belief that tax policy is so much more than numbers on a page — it’s about our values and our priorities as a country. It’s about what we want to invest in, and who we want to invest in. Budget and taxes are the heart of who we are.
This letter arrived on Monday, the day House Republicans took the first step to jam through their tax plan and strip out the Adoption Tax Credit in order to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
It began: I want to tell you a little bit about my family and what this tax credit has meant for us and what it means for our future. She described years of infertility battles and how that ultimately gave her and her husband the scars and perspective they needed for their journey to adopt their son in 2015. She wrote in excruciating detail about the painful process of waiting and hoping to be picked to adopt — and holding their breath for the moment the placement became final. She said she still tears up when she thinks of the call she received to tell her and her husband were to become parents — and that getting through to the other side of the adoption process was her proudest achievement.
In a heart-wrenching passage, she described flying across the country and holding her son after he was born with serious complications.
I’ll never forget sitting in the chair in our room at the hospital, holding my son, singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to him over and over again, sobbing as I stared into his tiny face in the middle of the night. The next morning, when the doctor came in and sat down to talk to us about the path forward, the long, slow, grueling process that would take place over the coming days, weeks, all I could think was: this is parenthood.
The couple, middle-class and in their mid-30s — finally were able to bring their new son home to Washington state six weeks after first arriving on the other side of the country. After spending tens of thousands of dollars in the adoption process, their budget was tight.
We pinched every penny we possibly could, we cut every coupon for diapers and formula we could find, and we lucked out and found very inexpensive child care after our leave ran out. We knew we would only have to just get by for a few months because there was light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Adoption Tax Credit. We filed our taxes the day we got our W-2s so our refund would process as soon as possible. We have benefited from the tax credit with every return since then -we still have about $3,000 available to us that we look forward to with our next return. It is the only means we have had available to us to significantly pay down the debt we incurred related to the adoption. We still have about $5,000 left to pay off of the $42,549.83 total cost. So knowing how close we are to paying this off, a few months ago, we excitedly began the process to adopt a second child.
Now, I’d spoken out against the Republican tax plan, but I couldn’t sum it up better that this mom who told me, first in her letter, and later in a phone call, that the Republican plan to strip out this small benefit for families was a “dagger in the heart,” and seriously endangered her family’s dream of adopting a second child.
If it wasn’t for the Adoption Tax Credit, we wouldn’t be starting the process to adopt again, to continue to build our family in this beautiful way. If it wasn’t for the Adoption Tax Credit, families like mine would not have the acknowledgment from the federal government -from the people who sign and celebrate proclamations for National Adoption Month-that our path, our winding, uncertain, difficult path -is recognized, even in the slightest way, for just what it is.
There’s a good reason this mom pushes on.
I live every day for my son. He is the light of our family. Seeing his energy and bright smile today, you would never imagine the battles he won in the first weeks of life. I could fill pages and pages about this sparkling little boy. He has touched many lives, and our story has opened many eyes and hearts. And while the story of our adoption process may seem comically disastrous at points, I would go through every single step again and again to get to this life we now lead. Adoption is a beautiful thing on every side. It is steeped in bravery and selflessness and true love. So I do not write these words lightly. In fact, I have never written to a member of my Congressional delegation before because I know these letters rarely actually make it to the Member. But this one is just too personal for me. I can’t stay silent about it.
And neither should any of us. The Republican tax plan is a setback for parents who want to adopt, children who could be adopted, and all the communities that are better for these families. And for what? So billionaires and big corporations can shave even more off their tax bill. This is so wrong — and it speaks volumes about who and what some Republicans want to invest in.
As a mother, and a grandmother, I’m proud to share stories like this one as much as I possibly can. It’s so important for more people across the country to understand tax plans are not just a set of a numbers, but a statement about who we are.
To that mom who wrote in, thank you for sharing your story. I’m proud to be your voice in the U.S. Senate and I’ll fight for the Adoption Tax Credit — and every other item — that helps middle class families like yours.
-Patty
The Adoption Tax Credit is worth up to $13,570 per child. To read more, click here.
