Support affordable, high-quality child care for working families!
- by: YMCA
- recipient: U.S. House of Representatives
What's the biggest household expense for too many working families? If you've got kids under 18, you already know the answer — it's child care.
For low-income families, the rising cost of child care can place a huge strain on a family's budget - leaving many teetering on the brink of poverty.
At the Y, we know how important trusted child care is for every family. That's why we're asking you to contact Congress today and urge your representatives to support affordable child care in new tax reform proposals.
Congress is currently considering the Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone (PACE) Act (S 208/HR 3632) as part of tax reform legislation. This bill would expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) to give more families, especially middle- and low-income families, access to quality early care and education programs.
Contact your representatives today and urge them to support affordable child care in tax reform.
Dear [Representative],
As Congress works to align around new tax reform principles, I hope you will continue to protect charitable giving and I also encourage your support of a bipartisan effort to improve the structure of tax credits that support access to quality child care and education programs for America's working families. I urge your support of the PACE Act (S 208/HR 3632), which would expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) to help families, especially those from middle- and lower-income backgrounds, struggling with the rising cost of child care.
Child care costs often make up the single largest expense for a working family. These costs can be truly prohibitive, putting children and families at an increased risk of poverty and instability. The PACE Act provides much needed updates to the two-major federal child care tax credits, which have not been able to keep up with rising costs of child care. The PACE Act modernizes the CDCTC by making the credit refundable, increasing the value of the credit and indexing the credit to inflation. Additionally, the PACE Act enhances Dependable Care FSAs by increasing the amount of pre-taxable dollars and indexing a new cap to inflation. These updates allow for both tax policies to be more generous and ensure they remain effective in the future.
[your comment here]
As you consider new tax reform proposals, thank you for including access to affordable child care and education programs.
Sincerely,
[your name]
