Manchin’s child tax credit stance draws criticism back home

By ASHRAF KHALIL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin’s reluctance to endorse the Biden administration’s expanded child tax credit program is rippling through his home state of West Virginia. Manchin, a moderate Democrat, is one of the last holdouts delaying passage of President Joe Biden’s massive social and environmental package, dubbed the Build Back Better Act. The West Virginia senator has expressed concerns over multiple aspects of the roughly $2 trillion package, including the continuation of the expanded Child Tax Credit program. A coalition of West Virginia groups has been lobbying Manchin from the local end, emphasizing the ground-level stories of families who benefitted from the tax credit expansion.