SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California is home to over 2,000,000 undocumented immigrants who collectively pay $3.2 billion in local and state taxes. These Californians make up one-tenth of the California workforce, yet are ineligible for any type of unemployment insurance, including pandemic unemployment assistance.
(b) Undocumented workers in California have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic’s economic devastation. According to one
estimate, unemployment increased among undocumented workers at a rate seven times higher than citizens in similar jobs. Without access to unemployment insurance, undocumented workers have been forced to work in unsafe and unlawful working conditions - many earning subminimum wagesin order to provide for their families.
(c) These Californians are now eligible for relief through both the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC), and the Golden State Stimulus, but only for those undocumented Californians who file their taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), underscoring the need to have effective outreach, education, and free tax filing services. An estimated 1,300,000 undocumented Californians are likely eligible for, yet lack, ITINs, and will therefore continue to be excluded from relief.
(d) At
a time of economic insecurity, alongside complex and evolving relief packages, the need for clear outreach, education, and free tax assistance from trusted sources is increasing in communities across our state experiencing extreme financial stress.
(e) The CalEITC is one of California’s best tools to help alleviate poverty, stimulate local economies and businesses, and act as a frontline defense against the deepest risks of economic downturn.
(f) The CalEITC and the YCTC are key to tackling California’s poverty crisis and as our state grapples with COVID-19 and the economic realities of reduced work hours and income, it has become even more critical to help low-income individuals and households file their taxes to access these credits and the Golden State Stimulus.
(g) California has championed the CalEITC for years,
continually expanding access to the credit, most recently to workers who file their taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), underscoring the need to have effective outreach, education, and free tax filing services for those who are newly eligible for the CalEITC, YCTC, and other stimulus programs like the Golden State Stimulus.
(h) California must consistently invest in a robust infrastructure of free tax assistance and a growing network of Certified Acceptance Agents who are culturally and linguistically competent to help process ITIN applications so that all Californians are able to leverage the full power and potential of all credits and stimulus payments available.
(i) To make the Outreach and Education and Free Tax Assistance grants even more effective, California should adjust the timing of these grants to make them year-round and over two-year
increments to align with IRS programs and ensure equitable access to services for all Californians.