Gotham Gazette Op-Ed:  New York’s Youngster Tax Credit score Selection, by Daniel Hemel (NYU; Google Scholar):

When does childhood start? For at the least a half-century, that query has been one of the crucial contentious in American politics, with members in debates over abortion and reproductive rights variously arguing that conception, viability, beginning, or any variety of different milestones marks the purpose at which a fetus turns into a toddler entitled to the complete safety of the regulation.

However just about everybody agrees that at any time when childhood begins, it’s effectively earlier than age 4.

But below New York regulation, youngsters below the age of 4 are categorically ineligible for the state baby tax credit score, making New York the one state within the nation with a toddler credit score that excludes infants and toddlers. Each the State Senate and Meeting endorsed proposals this month that might repair that flaw, however Governor Kathy Hochul’s finances for fiscal yr 2024 maintains the exclusion of New York’s youngest youngsters from the credit score, which maxes out at $330 per yr.