{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/representative-blake-moore-joins-bipartisan-bicameral-effort-to-help-reduce-income-as-a-barrier-to-adoption", "Representative Blake Moore Joins Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Help Reduce Income as a Barrier to Adoption", "2025-04-11", "2025", "2025-04", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Blake D. Moore", "M001213", "blakemoore.house.gov", "blakemoore", "https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Representative Blake Moore reintroduced the bipartisan and bicameral Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025 to help children find permanent, loving families by removing income as a barrier to adoption. Congressman Moore was joined by Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Don Bacon (R-NE), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), and Robert Aderholt (R-AL). Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) will introduce companion legislation in the Senate.\n\nThe Adoption Tax Credit helps families offset some of the costs of adoption, especially for children with special needs. Currently, the tax credit disadvantages low- and middle-income families, in particular families with annual incomes between $30,000 to $50,000. This is problematic given that approximately half of youth adopted from foster care live in families with incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, inadvertently creating barriers to permanency for a substantial number of families. During the Great Recession, Congress allowed families to receive the Adoption Tax Credit if the credit exceeded their tax liability recognizing that the economic hardship could prevent families from adopting or create a heavy financial burden on families choosing adoption. The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025 would again make this credit refundable to remove income as a barrier to adoption to help more children join permanent, loving families.\n\n\u201cEven before joining Congress, I have been committed to supporting and engaging with the adoption community in Utah,\u201d said Rep. Blake Moore. \u201cIn learning more about their priorities and challenges, it is clear that many families cannot adopt due to financial barriers. I am proud to co-lead the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act as we seek to alleviate these hurdles. This bipartisan bill will make the adoption tax credit fully refundable so that low- and middle-income families can receive the full value of the credit, making it easier for them to open their homes to children in need of forever families.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act reflects common-sense federal policy,\u201d said Rep. Davis. \u201cIt strengthens families, removes income as a barrier to adoption, and helps vulnerable children join permanent, loving families. Former foster youth represent the majority of children adopted by families earning less than 200 percent of the poverty level. This bill will make a critical difference in the ability of lower and middle-income families to adopt. I am proud to work across the aisle to improve the Adoption Tax Credit to better help more children and families benefit.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a father of four, I believe that every child deserves a loving home and that we should encourage families to adopt. That means that Iowans who want to adopt but do not have the financial resources to do so should not be prevented from making additions to their families \u2013 they should be supported,\u201d said Rep. Feenstra. \u201cI\u2019m glad to work with a bipartisan group of my colleagues to make the Adoption Tax Credit fully refundable so that families can adopt without facing costly financial barriers. To keep our communities strong, we need to invest in our families and help every child find a permanent, loving home.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis bipartisan legislation can offer support that helps transform the lives of countless children and families,\u201d said Rep. Gwen Moore. \u201cBy permanently reinstating the refundability of the Adoption Tax Credit, we help lower financial barriers to placing children in loving families permanently and we also ensure that more families, including low and middle-income families, can fully benefit from this credit. With this bill, we can pave the way for more children who have already suffered much to find permanent homes. I am honored to partner with my colleagues, including my fellow-cochairs on the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor years, income has become a roadblock for many families wishing to adopt,\u201d said Rep. Bacon. \u201cAs co-chair of the Foster Youth Caucus and an adoptive parent myself, I understand the need to remove this barrier by offsetting these burdensome costs. By making the adoption tax credit fully refundable, this bill makes it easier for families to adopt and gives our nation\u2019s youth a safe, loving, and permanent home. I thank my co-leads for their partnership on this common-sense, bipartisan legislation that is desperately needed today.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a Co-Chair of the Foster Youth Caucus, I am proud to co-lead the reintroduction of the bipartisan Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act with my colleagues,\u201d said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove. \u201cEach and every one of our foster youth deserves to have a loving home, and reducing the financial barriers to adoption for low and middle-income families will help ensure this reality. We need more commonsense efforts like this to reform our care system and improve outcomes for families and children.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery child deserves the chance to grow up in a loving, permanent home,\u201d said Rep. Aderholt. \u201cOne of the biggest concerns I hear from adoptive parents is the high cost of adoption, which can be overwhelming and discouraging. The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act helps make adoption more accessible by easing the financial barriers that too often stand in the way. I\u2019m proud to support this bipartisan effort to ensure more families can say yes to adoption and more children can find the forever homes they deserve.\u201d\n\n\u201cAdoption is a true joy for families, but it is not without significant financial cost,\u201d said Senator Cramer. \u201cOur bill will make the credit refundable to help all adoptive families access the full amount of the adoption tax credit, regardless of their tax burden. Support for adoptive families is essential to ensure more children find the stable, loving home they deserve.\u201d\n\n\u201cMinnesotans have a long and proud tradition of adoption to welcome children into safe and loving homes,\u201d said Senator Amy Klobuchar. \u201cOur bipartisan legislation will allow more families to access the full adoption tax credit, helping ensure a smooth and successful transition for children and families. As co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, I\u2019ll keep working to improve the adoption process and help every child find the permanent home they deserve.\u201d\n\nThe Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025 is supported by 98 state, local and national organizations, including: Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys; Child Welfare League of America; Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (Secretariat of the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group); Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption; Families Rising; Generations United; Jewish Children\u2019s Adoption Network; Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois; National Council for Adoption; National Foster Parent Association; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Voice for Adoption; and Youth Villages.\n\n\u201cRestoring refundability to the Adoption Tax Credit will help more families welcome children into loving homes and help secure their futures,\u201d said Deb Guston, Adoption Policy Director of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA). \u201cWe applaud the leadership of our Adoption Tax Credit champions in Congress in reintroducing legislation on this important issue for children and families.\u201d\n\n\u201cCCAI is proud to serve as the secretariat of the Adoption Tax Credit Working Group, a national coalition of nearly 100 organizations committed to making adoption more accessible,\u201d said Kate McLean, Executive Director of CCAI. \u201cAs the nonprofit partner of the bipartisan, bicameral Adoption Caucus, we\u2019re grateful for the leadership of Caucus Members, especially Co-Chairs Robert Aderholt, Kevin Cramer, Danny K. Davis, and Amy Klobuchar as well as Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n and Reps. Blake Moore and Don Bacon, in advancing adoption tax credit refundability and helping remove barriers to permanency.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis bipartisan legislation stands as a beacon of hope, leveling the playing field and extending a helping hand to lower-income families on par with their middle-income counterparts. It champions the cause of permanency for children transitioning out of the foster care system, enabling them to find loving homes through adoption,\u201d said Ligia Cushman, Chief Executive Officer of Families Rising who emphasizes that \u201cThis transformative legislation addresses the stark reality faced by numerous children adopted from foster care. With the introduction of this legislation, a bright and promising future becomes possible for these vulnerable children, as their families are granted the opportunity to access what they need to thrive.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are grateful for the bipartisan leadership in making the adoption tax credit available to more families,\u201d said Ryan Hanlon, president and CEO of National Council For Adoption. \u201cThe cost of adoption should never be a barrier for children to find permanent, loving families, and this legislation ensures we support all families, including lower-income families.\u201d\n\n\u201cMany children adopted from foster care are adopted by families at or near the poverty line and they receive little or no assistance under the current tax credit,\u201d said Patrick Lester, Executive Director of Voice for Adoption. \u201cThis bipartisan legislation will make adoption possible for many more vulnerable children who need a permanent place to call home.\u201d\n\nA copy of the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act is here; a summary of the bill is here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T00:33:40Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/representative-blake-moore-joins-bipartisan-bicameral-effort-to-help-reduce-income-as-a-barrier-to-adoption"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.592305187135935, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}