Both of Nevada’s senators voted in favor of a long-stalled package to expand the child tax credit, but the proposal was ultimately killed by Senate Republicans.

A rare victory for bipartisanship, the tax package — negotiated between Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) — passed the House in February with more than 350 votes — including those of all four House Nevadans — among the 435 representatives. 

But Senate Republicans have mostly held firm against it, operating under the belief that they can get a more favorable deal if they win control of the Senate and presidency in 2024.

Ultimately, a procedural vote to move forward on the legislation failed Thursday by a 48-44 vote mostly along party lines, with two Democrats opposed and three Republicans in support. The bill needed 60 votes to advance.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said the large bipartisan support for the bill in the House — where bipartisanship and deal making are less frequent — made her initially optimistic, but she believed election year politicking got in the way of what she called a “good compromise.” 

“To me, it was [like] OK, if they can get it done in the House, then it should be easy on our side,” she said in an interview. “What I've seen time and time again — unfortunately for some Senate Republicans — is they'd rather play politics. They don't want to give a win to this administration.”

The bill would have expanded the child tax credit from $1,600 to $2,000 per child per year, made the credit refundable for the previous two tax years and offered the credit to families whose total tax bill was less than the credit amount. The progressive think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that 163,000 children in Nevada whose families previously could not claim the full credit would have been able to under the bill.

The bill would also expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to make more federal dollars available to affordable housing developers. On the business side, the deal would have brought back three expired research and development tax deductions from the 2017 Trump tax cuts.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) brought the bill up for a vote despite knowledge that its failure was inevitable in an attempt to force Republicans to take a stance Democrats believe is politically unpopular and provide vulnerable members such as Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) with a new line of attack. Democrats are hoping the message is particularly potent after Sen. JD Vance’s (R-OH) 2021 comments disparaging “childless cat ladies” recently went viral. 

Vance, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, has since doubled down on the criticism, calling Democrats “anti-family” and “anti-child” in a recent interview.

In an interview, Rosen, who sighed and said, “[Let me] control myself,” when asked about Republicans tanking the bill, said it was evidence of hypocrisy.

“If they care about kids, if they care about families, if they care about businesses, they would vote for it. It’s another case of them honestly saying one thing, but they're not willing to vote for it when push comes to shove. 

“Talk is cheap,” she continued. “Show me.”