U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, is championing bipartisan bills to make child care more affordable and wants to put some pieces of the legislation into the reconciliation package that addresses taxes and spending.
As a mom and the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate, Britt said she is focused on addressing issues parents and families face, including child care accessibility.
“I feel like it is an issue that plagues America from coast to coast, and it’s one that we should tackle to show the American people that we see them, that we hear them, and we’re doing something about it,” Britt told Alabama Daily News.
Britt and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, along with bipartisan House members, introduced a two-bill package to help lower the cost of childcare for families. On average, parents pay 22% of their household income on child care, according to a Care.com report. In Alabama, two-parent households pay an average of 8% of their income on child care while 60% of Alabamians live in a “child care desert”, according to a report by the First Five Years Fund.
Lowering costs
The package includes the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act, which updates three tax programs to lower costs for parents and businesses providing child care.
Specifically, it would broaden the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by expanding the tax credit for families with children who pay for child care.
It also bolsters the Dependent Care Assistance Program to allow families to deduct more child care expenses from their paycheck and it decouples the program from the CDCTC to allow eligible families to benefit from both.
Finally, it updates the Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit to increase the maximum tax credit for businesses providing child care to their employees to $500,000 up from $150,000.
“We are letting Americans keep more of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars in a manner that grows our economy and gives people an opportunity for their American dream,” Britt said on the Senate floor.
The second bill, the Child Care Workforce Act, would create a grant program for states and cities to start or expand pay supplement programs for child care workers to help boost their pay. The program aims to incentivize more people to become child care workers and prevent turnover in the industry.
‘More targeted approach’
“So having a more targeted approach, not creating a government entitlement, but putting parents back in the driver’s seat, and incentivizing businesses to be a part of it, I think people are encouraged, this could actually make a difference,” Britt told ADN.
Britt said she is “talking diligently” with her colleagues about getting some of the provisions of the child care legislation into the reconciliation package.
“(I) feel like this is an opportunity for us to do something for hard-working parents that are working to provide for their family, working to achieve their own American dream,” Britt said.
The reconciliation process allows the Senate to overcome a filibuster and pass bills with a simple majority. The process is reserved for changes to spending, revenues, or the federal debt limit and directs committees to change those levels by a certain amount. The House and Senate each adopted their own budget resolutions last month. Both chambers will have to agree on the same resolution before it’s ultimately sent to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Britt and Kaine also introduced the child care bills last Congress.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Alex Angle and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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