Starting Thursday, July 15, middle-class families will start receiving monthly tax cuts as part of the Child Tax Credit expanded in the American Rescue Plan. Thanks to President Biden and Democrats – and no thanks to Republicans in Congress who unanimously voted against the cuts – almost all families with kids who have filed taxes in the last two years will receive this tax cut automatically, making it easier for families to put food on the table, pay the bills, and make rent. Experts estimate this historic expansion will cut child poverty in half. These aren’t just statistics though: Millions of working- and middle-class families are feeling a sense of relief knowing they will have more money in their pockets for paying bills, purchasing school supplies for their kids, and saving for the future. See the coverage for yourself:

In Minnesota: Star Tribune: New child tax benefit coming Thursday a relief for Minnesota, U.S. families

Raquel Barrientos and her family have been scraping by during the pandemic but, with the government’s expanded tax break for children arriving this week, some choices may be a little easier.

Like strawberries or grapes for her 4-year-old.

Right now, that’s a splurge for her and her husband, who closely watch every nickel and dime in their budget. With the expanded tax break, there will also be enough for haircuts, shoes and school supplies this fall when their young son starts preschool and 9-year-old son returns to in-person school.

“I’m not going to have to freak out, ‘Oh, are we going to have enough for the grocery bill this week? Or the gas bill?'” Barrientos said. “I can breathe a little easier and don’t have to be on such edge about watching everything.”

In Wisconsin: Wisconsin State Journal: Child tax credit cash to start hitting parents’ bank accounts Thursday

Ali Shuda will use it for child care. Abagail Bednar wants it for child care and to pay off debt. Matthew Ploeger said his might go into his children’s college funds. And Abba Gibba said it will help with groceries.

Beginning Thursday, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin parents will start getting monthly payments of $250 or $300 per child as part of a temporary expansion of the federal child tax credit included in the latest COVID-19 stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan.

In New Hampshire: New Hampshire Union Leader: Expanded child tax credits from American Rescue Plan stimulus package will start hitting bank accounts this week

Darling plans to save up the payments to make a down payment on a more reliable car. Every time she goes to start the car, she braces herself to see the “check engine” light click on. She has missed work because the car would not start.

[…]

“These payments are going to help me get up to that next level, so I can be independent,” she said.

In Michigan: The Detroit News: Advocates, lawmakers seek to alert Mich. families with kids about expanded Child Tax Credit

Latrese Brown, a single mom, lives in Flint with her two children, ages 5 and 2, both of whom are eligible for the newly expanded Child Tax Credit. Brown expects to receive $300 a month in credits for each child through the end of the year, and already has started mapping out how to spend it.

“I actually just purchased my first home last December, and it’s been kind of rough getting things balanced again,” said Brown, who is 25 and works for the city. “This will give me that breath of fresh air, catching up on bills and just having more opportunity to do things with my kids.”

In Illinois: The State Journal-Register: Springfield mom says child tax credit a welcome relief for her family 

Myra Tyler of Springfield said Thursday first on her list for how to spend the child tax credit was to buy back-to-school clothing and school supplies for her sons, Myron, 9, a fourth-grader at Lindsay Elementary, and Terrance, 16, a junior at Springfield High.

“They can be a bit pricey and with my kids, they are growing up very quickly, the tax credit will help me with those things, as well as groceries,” said Tyler, a stay-at-home mom.

Next week, about 36 million American families will start receiving monthly checks from the Internal Revenue Service as part of the expanded child tax credit.

In Maryland: WUSA: Child Tax Credit money | One local family says it’s helping to keep them employed

Yoslin hopes to get a better day job now that she’s got her college degree, but she needs this extra relief to be able to afford child care and work during the daytime.

“That would allow me to continue working,” she said. “That would allow me to stay in the workforce.”

In Ohio: News 5 Cleveland: Ohio families set to see first payments from enhanced child tax credit next week 

Lost in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan were changes to the child tax credit that will soon put extra money into the pockets of Ohio parents.

“Ninety-two percent of Ohio kids are eligible for this,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, who helped to add the expanded monthly benefits into the American Rescue Plan.

It increases the child tax credit to $3,600 a year for each child under the age of six and to $3,000 for those between the ages of six and 18. The increases will be paid in $250 to $300 monthly payments starting July 15.

In Iowa: Iowa Starting Line: Axne, Families Tout What Coming Child Tax Credit Can Do For Iowans

Four out of five Iowans with children will start seeing more money in their bank accounts as the first payments of a new child tax credit go out July 15.

To showcase the benefit, U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, Iowa state Sen. Zach Wahls and Iowa state Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, along with three Iowa parents, spoke at an event on Thursday at Grace Preschool in Des Moines.

“It’s a massive tax relief that will really help our families, it will put more money in their pockets and really drive their families to greater success,” said Axne, who represents Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District.

In Georgia: Statesboro Herald: Expanded federal child tax credit to kick in next week

The expanded federal child tax credit Congress passed this year is expected to lift nearly 700,000 Georgia children out of poverty, including about 470,000 Black children, child advocacy leaders said Thursday.

As a result, the state’s overall child poverty rate will be reduced from 13.6% to 5.9%, while the Black child poverty rate will go from 21.8% to 11.4%, Kimberly Scott, executive director of Georgia WAND (Women’s Action for New Directions), said during a news conference in Atlanta.

In Montana: KTVQ: Child Tax Credit will roll out for nearly all Montana families starting July 15

Starting July 15 nearly all Montana families will start seeing as much as $300 a month per child drop into their bank accounts or by way of checks in the mail coming from President Biden’s Child Tax Credit plan.

In Tennessee: WJHL: Tri-Cities parents prepare for child tax credit deposits

Johnson City resident Courtney Byas is a single mother to a 5-year-old. Byas said the tax credit will be a big help financially.

“For her, it’s so many expenses,” Byas said. “Clothes, she’s in a summer program, so I pay for that and whatever school expenses she has.”

Shelley Brobeck is a mother of three, and said she’s going to spend it on medical bills, school supplies and school clothes for her children.

In Washington: KOMO News: Child tax credit payments heading to parents next week

If you have child here in the Yakima Valley, you’ll be getting hundreds of dollars from the federal government each month, starting next week.

“This is really going to help us get back on kind of an even keel,” says Echo Westhoff, the mother of three young children.