Winter 2022 Newsletter – Golden State Opportunity

Tax Season is here! Plus $2,000 for CalEITC Families & GSO Adds Board Members

Governor Newsom declared January 28-February 4 “CalEITC Awareness Week” to lift up statewide efforts to get families to claim the CalEITC.

We kicked off the week by celebrating the #EITCAwarenessDay online, encouraging people to file their taxes and claim their credits. GSO’s Policy Director Sabrina De Santiago joined United Ways of California to discuss the importance of child tax credits. Watch here.

To close out the week, GSO President Amy Everitt joined a panel about how tax credits improve families’ economic mobility. Watch here. What an exciting week and the perfect kick off for the 2021 tax season.

Connecting with Young Working Californians

To help community college students and transition-aged youth this tax season, GSO partnered with the Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation, Foundation for California Community Colleges, and John Burton Advocates for Youth on “Tax Time 101.” More than 150 attendees learned how to get bigger refunds with tax credits and got answers to their specific questions about filing their 2021 taxes. Participants were also eligible for free tax prep by TurboTax volunteers. Watch here.

Watch Tax Time 101

GSO Grants $1M to Community Based Organizations to Support CalEITC Outreach & Free Tax Preparation Programs

GSO announced more than $1,000,000 in grants to our 28 Community Connect partners across the state. Our partners work on the frontlines connecting low-income workers with the CalEITC and other cash-back tax credits through counseling, workshops, door-to-door outreach, and free tax preparation. Working together, we’re sure this will be a tax season of outreach, education, and transformation.

Read the full list of partners

Gov. Newsom’s Budget Brings Good News to Families

In January, Governor Newsom introduced his 2022-23 budget proposal–the California Blueprint. A key pillar of the budget tackles income inequality with significant investments to bring down the costs of everyday expenses and improve economic security for families. In a win for California families, one of these investments came from a CalEITC Coalition proposal: expanding the Young Child Tax Credit ($1,000 for children up to 6 years old) to families with zero earned income. Join us in supporting Senator Rubio’s bill SB 860. Read more.

New Bill: $2,000 per Child for CalEITC Families

Golden State Opportunity is proud to support AB 2589, a bold new bill that would provide a $2,000 tax credit per child under 18 to families who qualify for the CalEITC. The bill also increases the minimum CalEITC amount to about $255. If passed, AB 2589 would significantly reduce child poverty in California and benefit five million Californians, including two million qualifying children. With the federal Child Tax Credit now expired, working families are counting on our state leaders to do right by our kids.

In Good Company

Biden Senior Advisor Gene Sperling gave a shout to GSO and our partner organizations during February’s Expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit Day of Action!

We’re very excited to be recognized for our work to make tax credits more accessible to low-income families. If you haven’t already, visit the relaunched Child Tax Credit page to learn more about claiming the expanded Child Tax Credit on your 2021 taxes.

GSO Strengthens Board of Directors

Our GSO Board is growing with five exciting new additions that bring an abundance of education and expertise:

Ben Jealous, President of People for the American Way
Michael Meehan, CEO of SQ Communications
Dr. Angelo Farooq, UC Riverside Director of Economic Development & Innovation
Ana Grande, Associate Executive Director of the P.F. Bresee Foundation
Darrell Pedeen, co-founder and Vice President of SBX Youth and Family Services

New CalEITC4ME Resources

For the latest information on the CalEITC and other cash-back tax credit, visit CalEITC4Me.org/Resources to download a new series of information flyers to help individuals and families claim their tax credit.

Free CalEITC4Me Resources & Information

Coming Soon

We’re excited to announce that we’re in the process of translating an expansion of the CalEITC4Me.org site into Simplified Chinese to provide more detailed info to a greater audience.

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