Duckworth, Durbin seek relief for working families
Illinois U.S. senators co-sponsor bill to expand federal child tax credit
Children receive care as part of a 2016 Army training session in Chicago. (U.S. Army Reserve/Maj. Michael Garcia)
By Ted Cox
Illinois’s two U.S. senators are calling for relief for working families struggling to afford child care.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin joined 19 Senate Democrats Monday in co-sponsoring a bill that would expand the tax credit for child and dependent care.
They cited how the average annual cost of child care in Illinois is $12,000 for a toddler and $13,500 for infants — more than “what many families pay annually in rent or for attending a four-year public university,” according to a news release put out by Durbin’s office.
“Affordable and reliable child care is a necessity for Illinois’s working families, which is why I’m proud to support this bill,” Durbin said in a statement. “We have to make it easier for parents to afford child-care services because we know it will lead to better economic outcomes for families, and better lives for children.”
“No parent should have to choose between sending their kids to day care during the day and putting food on the table at night,” Duckworth added. “So I’m proud to join Sen. Durbin in helping introduce this legislation, which helps address the rising costs of raising children by strengthening current tax credits that help hardworking Americans access the child care they need to raise strong and healthy families.”
Their proposal would increase the maximum child tax credit from $1,050 to $3,000 a child, up to age 13, capped at $6,000 a family. It would also expand the Child and Dependent Tax Credit to all families making less than $120,000, where it currently begins steps down at income of $15,000 a year. It would also tie those levels to inflation in the future.