LETTER: Gallego Urges Tax Negotiators to Take Decisive Action to Tackle Skyrocketing Child Care Costs
The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is a powerful tax break for most families with children to help parents provide for their kids
WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) sent a letter to House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith and Ranking Member Richard Neal, as well as the Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, lead negotiators of the proposed bipartisan tax reform agreement, urging them to include an expanded Child Tax Credit in ongoing tax package negotiations for Arizona parents and families.
“The Child Tax Credit is a necessary policy to grow Arizona’s economy for families across the state, and that’s why we must expand it,” said Rep. Gallego. “As the son of a single mother who raised three kids on a secretary’s salary, I know just how important of a role the CTC would play into the lives of everyday Arizonans. That is why I’m making my position crystal clear to the members of Congress negotiating a tax reform deal: protect and expand the CTC.”
If made permanent, the expanded CTC would benefit around 1.5 million Arizona children and reduce child poverty in Arizona by 45%.
This would be hugely beneficial to Arizona families, where on average Arizonans pay $300 per week on child care. And for families balancing the cost of child care on a minimum wage salary, the impact of an expanded CTC would be even greater. The average annual cost of center-based infant care is just over $14,000— nearly 46% of the salary of someone earning minimum wage.
A failure to expand the CTC would also come at a time when extremist Republicans have allowed the Childcare Stabilization Grants—an American Rescue Plan program that helped working mothers get back to work—to expire. As a result of this lapse, more than 3 million children would lose access to childcare nationwide and 70,000 childcare programs are expected to close. In Arizona, 1,100 childcare programs are likely close, and more than 100,000 kids are set to lose childcare.
Arizona parents are also expected lose $257 million in earnings as a result of cutting work hours or being forced out of the workforce in order to take care of their children.
These nightmare scenarios and the need to expand the CTC underscore Rep. Gallego’s continued fight to lower costs for hardworking Arizonans. Earlier this week, he released his new report, Cutting Costs for Arizonans: How Rep. Gallego is Fighting to Make Life More Affordable for Hardworking Families, that highlights his ongoing efforts in Congress to drive down costs for everyday necessities, hold big corporations accountable, protect Arizona’s most precious resources, and support parents who are trying to take care of their children.