U.S. Sen. Katie Britt championed a two-bill package Wednesday that would cut child care costs for families, while at the same time, vowed to oppose a separate bill scheduled for a vote in the Senate this week that would expand child tax credits.
Speaking with members of the press, Britt called the package, sponsored by her and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a “bipartisan, multi-pronged solution to bringing down the cost of child care in America without creating an entitlement program.”
“When the cost of child care is high, parents face the question of whether or not it’s financially rational to return to work, and for many, it’s not even a question,” Britt said.
“It’s unaffordable, and it leaves them with no realistic option. This is where it really becomes an even bigger workforce issue.”
The package includes the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act, which together, would increase the amount parents can receive under the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit from $1,050 to $2,500 for those with one child, and from $3,000 to $4,000 for those with two or more children.
The package would also make the tax credit refundable rather than a write-off, and would strengthen the Dependent Care Assistance Program to allow families to deduct 50% more in expenses, up to $7,500.
Additionally, the package would permit families to benefit from both the CDCTC and DCAP simultaneously, which together, could offset thousands of dollars in child care costs for families.
“Today, the average cost of child care in Jefferson County there in Alabama is $10,662 per year; working parents with one child – assuming an employer contributes to DCAP – would have to pay $5,662 out of pocket for child care,” Britt said.
“But with our bill, that out-of-pocket cost would actually go down to $662 a year. If my bill passes, that’s nearly a $5,000 savings annually for parents; imagine what that means for a single mom.”
The package also expands tax credits for child care providers themselves. Under the package, the maximum credit under the Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit would increase from $150,000 to $500,000, as would the percentage of expenses covered, from 25% to 50%.
Britt will have the opportunity to vote on a separate bill related to reducing financial burdens for parents on Thursday, however, though said that due to a lack of means testing related to work requirements, as well as procedural reasons, it would not get her support.
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer, D-NY, announced that he would be bringing the Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act to the Senate floor on Thursday. It would expand the Child Tax Credit.
The CTC was expanded for a single year during the COVID-19 pandemic to both increase the maximum credit per child, as well as to extend full refundability of the credit to families with little or no taxable income, though was allowed to expire.
While in effect, however, the expanded CTC cut child poverty in half to its lowest levels ever recorded, down to 5.2% from 9.7%, and lifted 5.3 million people, including 2.9 million children, out of poverty.
When asked about her position on the CTC expansion bill, Britt told Alabama Daily News it included components that she strongly supported, that due to several factors, largely work requirements, she could not support the bill in its current form.
“We know we have a labor participation rate problem, and we don’t need to ignore that,” Britt told ADN.
“Our labor participation rate in Alabama is five points lower than the national average, we’re about 57.5%. The people in this state have been diligent about making sure we bring that to the forefront; I have been doing the same thing up here.”
In its current form, the CTC expansion bill does not include work requirements as a condition of eligibility for child tax credits, and furthermore, Britt said that Schumer did not allow the bill to be properly vetted by the Finance Committee before being brought up for a vote in the Senate.
Britt also said Schumer “will not guarantee us any amendment votes,” something she said was a nonstarter in garnering her support.
“To me, you should be working, training or educating yourself 20 hours a week in order to receive government benefits. When we look at these things, we need to have an opportunity to have these conversations, and unfortunately, Schumer is deciding to play politics,” she said.
“So unfortunately, unless he decides to allow the process to truly work, we will not be moving forward with that bill.”
In a statement to ADN Wednesday, Schumer pointed to the bill’s passage in the Republican-controlled earlier this year as an example of the legislation’s bi-partisan support, and said it was “past time” for the Senate to affirmatively vote on the proposal.
“Sen. Britt is reaching for excuses for why she won’t support tax relief for American families and businesses,” Schumer told ADN. “Senate Democrats spent months attempting to negotiate with Senate Republicans on a path forward for this legislation, which passed the House on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. After six months of attempting to pass a wildly bipartisan bill, it’s past time the Senate to consider the legislation.“
The current makeup of the U.S. Senate is 47 Democrats and 49 Republicans, however, three of the four independent senators caucus with the Democratic Party, and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who does not caucus with Democrats, often aligns with them.
Even if all Democratic senators along with the four independents vote for the CTC expansion bill, it would leave the legislation nine votes short of the required 60 votes to close debate, leaving the bill’s only chance of success up to whether or not Democrats can get the support of a handful of Republicans.