WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined 27 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act, legislation to help more working families cover a greater share of the high cost of childcare.

The senators’ bill would help ease the burden of high childcare costs for working families by permanently expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, raising the maximum credit to $4,000 per child and up to $8,000 per family to offset up to $16,000 in expenses. It would also make the credit refundable to ensure low-income working families can benefit. The credit would be indexed to inflation to retain its value over time.

“The cost of child care in this country is astronomical, even for millions of Americans who are working full-time to provide for their family. Permanently expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit would offer some relief to parents in Connecticut and across the country trying to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of care,” said Murphy.

“As the Trump Administration slashes child care funding, we need to fight for even greater investment in this critical resource – sadly unaffordable for countless families. Expanding access to high quality child care is a tremendous boon not only for young children, but also for families, enabling parents to be breadwinners and assets to the workforce. It’s a sound investment and force multiplier for the economy at a time when businesses need more workers,” said Blumenthal.

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act would:

  1. Increase the maximum credit amount to $4,000 per child, allowing families to receive up to $8,000 in tax credits to offset up to $16,000 in expenses;
  2. Automatically adjust it to keep pace with inflation;
  3. Save money by phasing out the credit for families making more than $400,000; and
  4. Ensure low-income families can benefit from the tax credit by making it refundable.

U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also cosponsored the legislation.

The bill is also endorsed by the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Child Care Aware of America, Save the Children, First Focus Campaign for Children, First Five Years Fund, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Moms Rising, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Zero to Three, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC).  

Full text of the legislation is available HERE.

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