From the Bergen Record, October 10, 2012:

Governor Christie should restore a cut made two years ago to the leading tax credit affecting roughly 500,000 low- and middle-income families, advocates warned Wednesday.

Highlighting state Republicans’ continued bargaining over the Earned Income Tax Credit as one of a number of economic policies on the table, a coalition of policy experts and affected residents urged Christie to treat the EITC independently of other tax changes.

In Bergen County, just under 38,000 households and another 116,000 individuals received the credit in 2010 and 2011, and those people have lost over $6.5 million in much-needed funds over those years, according to a NJPP analysis.

“The state needs to recognize families are in serious trouble,” NJPP senior policy analyst Raymond Castro says, referring to numbers showing the group of eligible families close to poverty had increased by 14 percent since the recession bit in 2008.