Michigan Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI 8) has introduced legislation to give new parents a $5,500 dollar tax credit per child under the age of 4.
Parents with an income up to almost $100,000 would qualify for the tax credit proposed in the Working Parents Tax Relief Act, McDonald Rivet said.
The mid-Michigan Democrat said her bill would help lift hundreds of thousands of families out of poverty. At a news conference in Saginaw, she said this kind of tax break is common sense.
“Everyone can recognize how expensive the first three years of parenting can be,” McDonald Rivet told reporters after meeting with working parents at a school in Saginaw, “Everybody recognizes that the cost of childcare is skyrocketing in a way that most families can’t afford it.”
McDonald Rivet said her legislation is attracting bipartisan support in Congress. Her office also said the bill is getting support from various business groups, including the Detroit Regional Chamber, and child welfare groups, including the Children’s Foundation of Michigan.
McDonald Rivet stressed that, while having similar goals, her tax credit proposal is not the same as Michigan’s Rx Kids program.
Rx Kids is a cash assistance program for new mothers and young children that is expanding to communities across Michigan.
While that program has been credited with improving prenatal and postnatal outcomes in Michigan cities where it is operating, some Republican state lawmakers have raised concerns about the potential for misuse of the cash assistance.
