Derek Schmidt's July 3, 2025 vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act locked in a child tax credit that 46,000 children in Kansas's 2nd District, 29%, cannot receive in full because their parents' earnings are too low, by an estimate from Columbia University researchers.
The law also made the child and dependent care credit bigger while keeping it nonrefundable, which means families earning under $30,000 get nothing from it. Then, on April 16, 2026, Schmidt voted for H.Res. 1156, a resolution that credits the law with making the expanded child tax credit permanent.
Derek Schmidt's Votes on the Child Tax Credit and Child Care Costs
- More Than a Quarter of Kids Are Denied the Whole Child Tax Credit by the Law Schmidt Voted For, Then Voted to Commend. Derek Schmidt was a yes when the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act cleared the House 218 to 214 on July 3, 2025, as he had been when its House version squeaked through 215 to 214 in May. Then, in April 2026, Schmidt cast a yes for H.Res. 1156, whose text holds up the law as one that would "permanently expand the child tax credit." Because the law kept the earnings phase-in, "more than 1 in 4 children (28%) under age 17 will be ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit," the Center on Poverty and Social Policy estimates; a married couple raising two kids has to earn at least $41,500 in income before the whole credit is theirs.
- The Child Care Credit in Schmidt's Law Pays Nothing to Families Below $30,000. In the same July 3, 2025 vote, Derek Schmidt voted for a bigger child and dependent care credit that stays nonrefundable, so parents with little or no federal income tax liability gain little or none of it. With the change in force for 2026, "families making less than $30,000 won't benefit at all," the National Women's Law Center wrote. Citing the Tax Policy Center, it reported that a bigger credit reaches only 8.5 percent of families with children, and that middle- and upper-income households collect almost 80 percent of the benefit.
What Derek Schmidt's Votes Mean for Kansas Children and Parents
- 46,000 children in Kansas's 2nd District get only part of the child tax credit, or none. By the Center on Poverty and Social Policy's count, 46,000 children in Kansas's 2nd District, or 29% of them, are now ineligible for the full credit, compared with 40,000 under prior law. Statewide the figure is 154,000 Kansas children, 24%, so a parent in a low-wage Kansas job gets a smaller credit than a better-paid neighbor raising the same number of kids.
- 11,000 Kansas children have lost SNAP, and with it automatic free school meals. Kansas Appleseed told the Kansas Reflector that about 11,000 Kansas children have lost SNAP since H.R. 1 became law. Many schools sign up children for free meals through direct certification from SNAP records, so dropping off food aid can also mean losing school breakfast and lunch.
- 59,100 children in Kansas's 2nd District rely on Medicaid for checkups and care. Children make up the largest group of Medicaid enrollees in Kansas's 2nd District, 59,100 of them in 2025, KFF reports, and their coverage comes from a Kansas program the law shrinks by $3.351 billion in federal funds over ten years.
Frequently Asked Questions About Derek Schmidt on Child care and families
What is Derek Schmidt's record on child care and families under Trump?
Derek Schmidt voted for the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which leaves 46,000 children in Kansas's 2nd District with less than the whole child tax credit and gives families under $30,000 no help from the child care credit. In April 2026 he voted for H.Res. 1156, praising the law's tax policies. The law also cut SNAP and Medicaid, and Kansas Appleseed counts 11,000 Kansas children who lost food aid after it was signed.
Why don't low-income Kansas kids get the full child tax credit Derek Schmidt voted for?
Derek Schmidt voted for a law that kept the credit's phase-in, so parents must earn enough before the full amount applies; a two-parent household with two children needs $41,500 or more a year. Children of lower earners get part of the credit or none, which is why 29% of children in Kansas's 2nd District fall short.
Which kids lose the child tax credit completely under Derek Schmidt's law?
Derek Schmidt voted on July 3, 2025 for a rule that denies the credit unless at least one parent filing has a Social Security number that is valid for employment, which the National Immigration Law Center says "strips the Child Tax Credit from the approximately 2.6 million or more children" in the United States.
Last updated: 2026-10-27