Like the federal credit, state EITCs also have gained support across the political spectrum. EITCs have been enacted in states led by Republicans, states led by Democrats, and states with bipartisan leadership. The credits are supported by business groups as well as social service advocates. Several developments explain the popularity of state EITCs in the late 1990s, including the continued prevalence of poverty among children, the importance under welfare reform of supporting families' transition from welfare to work, and states' interest in tax cuts that promote tax fairness. Despite the current economic expansion, the Census Bureau reported in September 2000 that about one child in six still lives in poverty.
Most poor children live in families with a working parent.
Some 4.8 million families with children in which the parents are not elderly or disabled have incomes below the federal poverty line. In 68 percent of these families, at least one parent is working. About 12.5 million people, including 7.3 million children, live in working poor families. Earned Income Tax Credits can lift families out of poverty by supplementing their wages. The state EITC would raise the family's income slightly above the poverty line.