Posted on September 13, 2011 |
Low income families were a little-noticed casualty of the 2011 budget battles in Sacramento, losing a benefit worth $70 million. With the passage of Senate Bill 86, California's legislature took away a key feature of California's Tax Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses — its refundability — by simply deleting a few words in the state tax code.
Tax credits like California's are an essential support for working families. For families with children, child care is a necessary outlay in order to work and earn income. But child care is very expensive — a recent report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies found that, in 2009, center-based care in California cost on average $11,580 per year for infants and $8,234 for four-year olds. That's why the federal government and over half the states offer a credit or deduction to help defray the cost of employment-related child care expenses.
Refundable credits, offered in 12 states — 13 before California's S.B. 86 — are particularly valuable for poor families. Many low-income families don't owe state income taxes or owe very little because their income falls below the taxable threshold after standard deductions and exemptions. If the state offers a refundable child and dependent care credit, such a family may receive a refund to defray the cost of child care. But if the state credit is non-refundable, that family receives little or no benefit, because a non-refundable credit only reduces the amount of tax due. Refundability is critical to ensuring that a tax credit for employment-related child care expenses provides meaningful assistance to low-income families.
California's repeal of refundability will have a real impact on low-income families' budgets. According to a report by the state, in 2007 families with adjusted gross incomes of less than $20,000 were allowed more than $30 million under the credit, most of which was likely refundable. Unfortunately, these families can’t turn to the state’s child care assistance program, because there are nearly 200,000 families already on the waiting list.
For California parents at the bottom of the income scale, it's going to be much more difficult to make ends meet in Tax Year 2011. In Tax Year 2010, a family with two children could have qualified for as much as $1,050 from California's tax credit to offset child care costs. But in Tax Year 2011, many families will qualify for little or no assistance. Picture a California single parent with two young children, not yet school age. She pays for child care in order to work as a home health aide, but earns only minimum wage, so her total income is low enough that she owes little or no state taxes. In Tax Year 2010 — before S. B. 86 — this mom could have qualified for a refund from California's child and dependent care tax credit. But in Tax Year 2011 — after the passage of S.B. 86 — this same mom will receive little or no benefit from the credit. This is a dollars-and-cents difference for working families with children in California, who can ill afford to lose these resources.
California's S.B. 86 was a significant loss for low-income families; we hope that California's legislature will reconsider their decision and restore the credit’s refundability in next year’s session.
Articles by Topic
Marcia Greenberger to Receive Award
NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger has been chosen to receive the 2012 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award at American Bar Association's annual meeting on Aug. 5 in Chicago. The award honors outstanding women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence and paved the way to success for others, and previous winners include Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Blogroll
How You Can Help
Sign Up for Email Updates
Follow Us on the Web
Comments
Funding cut
As a teacher who has taught middle class, affluent students, disadvantaged students in private schools, in rural, inner city, and charter schools. I see daily students not in attendance (no father in the picture, nor one on the birth certificate and mom, auntie not getting up to get their child to school. Others children are tardy at 11:00 each day. We have 2 full-time attendance officers (expensive) at the school I am at now. At prior schools who hired more social workers and worked with teams of attendance officers, social workers, policemen and judges all working together, however NO ONE CAN DO ANYTHING EXCEPT PUSH PAPERS AROUND AND DOCUMENT when it comes to neglectful truency and tardyness. The Federal Government has the power to motivate responsibility because they pay the unemployed to stay home, they pay for babies and no responsibility. Talk is cheap as teachers have learned. If there is no consequences or accountability then duh, there will be no growth in responsibility to children. In former school districts hired were teams of social workers and policemen who went to the homes of multi day truent children. These professionals could hear people scatter inside the home, but the neglectful parent refuses to answer the door. These students and entire families are on Free and Reduced meals, and numerous federal and state money. The "entitled" with so much government free money will not get up in the moring and get their children to school. Districts cannot do anything, but write up and send to the government and overwhelmed judge the documentation and excuses of a student missing 149 days of school (common). Each teacher has 10 - 16 students in which absenteesm is the norm. The judge may fine the parent, but parents know nothing will happen to them. You can't put a mother of 5 in jail, and fathers are not listed on the birth certificate. . Teachers and social workers see and know (hear from students the truth). FACT: Students have multiple big screen TV's in their homes, bedrooms and most not less than 4 in the home. FACT: Girls as young as first grade show off their beautiful manicures and pedicures. Are parents unaware that taxpayers are paying for this? Older students have fake nails; all done at salons. The students I speak of receive free breakfast and lunches, snacks, clothes. The money for the TV, manicures, penicures, junk food and entitlement to sleep in many days get money from the taxpayers. This is OK because I cannot afford this as a teacher. I work 12-14 hour days trying to help little children learn to read, only to undermined b the federal entitled governmenrt. FACT: Most students in later ele. school and middle school have cell phones and most have the internet on their cell phones. I cannot afford the internet on my cell phone. FACT: Parents change phone numbers and do not give the school the updated numbers. Schools get cused at when we call the emergency numbers trying to update mom's new number incase of an emergency. We get cussed at (most cases the child will hear) that we are infringing on mom's privacy to call the emergency number when it is not an emergency. FACT: Students are very dirty; teeth are yellow and rotten even though the dental bus comes to the school 2 times during the year, but mom was too lazy to fill out the paperwork so her child could get their teeth cleaned and cavities filled. FACT: Bridge cards are used for buying JUNK FOOD pop, chips; flowers can be bought with a Bridge Card if a box of chocolate, or bag of chips is included. Chocolate and chips are considered food and therefore our government allows the taxpayers to pay for flowers. When the government allows such neglect to children because they have created lazy, dependent moms, dad's, guardians; taking taxpayer money "supposedly" for children, but really to entitle a parent to use the children to stay home and have all their needs taken care of so they can watch more TV, sit, talk, eat. A body that does not move is a fat body. We have the best teachers ever, the best curriculums ever. Bottom line and the truth . . . the biggest problem in America is the entitlement system that is destroying the future of our little children who could learn if they were in attendance and parents had to do their part-- no TV bigger than a small TV in the home. No free anything without work. Jobs can be created in the inner city that a bus can take you to. If you are in a wheelchair you can get on a bus. if you do not get your children to school they cannot learn and you receive less money; not cut, but if students not in attendance or late your funding is cut by $10 for each day or irresponsibility; and a second time "doubled"; third time "doubled again" until end of month. For the parents to use a child/children for entitlement, but not getting their children to school is neglect and criminal to children. Why would a parent want to put forth effort to get a job or education when they have all their needs met now with the government? Why would children want an education. It is hard work. My mom does not work and she gets to money to sleep, gets free money for food, house, cell phones, TV.s, roller skating, movies, why work? Sure they do not travel, but no teacher working 12-14 hours a day to pull students our of poverty cannot travel either. More money means more entitlement, more fat people who sit inside homes with more sitting and Big Screen TV''s. These entitled people don't have to think fast, work hard, or move fast. They can sleep, socialize until 2:00 a.m. and sleep until 1:00 each day. Children at home are managed with video games and threats to "Shut up or else". The government standards and entitlement for those poor people have created this awful distruction mindset. A little sweat to work in gardens (sitting in seats with wheels initially attending to flowers, vegetable, with positive supervision daily before getting their welfare checks, food stamps (Bridge Cards) would give a person their dignity back. Others, taking care of little children reading, doing puzzles (older grandparents could help here or those in wheel chairs could read to children, hold babies. Other young men could wash windows, sweep streets. Require 6 hours of focused work to get your government check and double time if you choose to work 2 more hours. More jobs created hiring social workers or teachers out of work to supervise and motivate generations of dependent people. Autistic children and cognitively impaired children love structure and simple jobs with structure are where they love to be. Autistic children are excellent with animals. It is amazing they have a unbelievable gift to take care of and relate to animals. If cities are lucky to have mass transit good, but if not most cities have bus's that can take you anywhere in the city. Excuses not allowed - if you have a baby (difficult for you because a single mama must get up even earlier, sweat (loose weight) bundling up her babies to catch the bus 5/7 days a week. Choices to work 5 days or 7 days a week. Welfare check given to 5 days, however 2 more days would be paid a huge bonus because it is not easy to get babies and children going (as we all see easier to put on video games while adults sleep). Teams of social workers and unemployed teachers can supervise the excellent schools, nursery's near-by. in the city with strict job requirements; you get there early you get a bonus, work beyond 6 hours and you get double (no pay if not focused work; not just "whatever"; going through the motions" work). Every 30 minutes you are late you get docked the same as the bonus for arriving 30 minutes early. The result of work: a person's dignity, better health because activity and movement getting children up and on the bus (not easy) will help one to loose weight, lower blood pressure, less diabetes and hopefull eventually more pride for themselves and good role-modeling to work, meet people and do the right thing to work to help their child to learn. There will be less sitting, watching TV and sleep better; in bed before 2:00 a.m. Hopefully there are some women attorney's that can promote high standards, jobs and protection to our little children enforcing work and responsibilities for life choices. Five babies with 5 men not listed on birth certificates require intense training for these women with a lot of support for the children, not entitlement for the mom. Mom will most certainly learn babies are not easy and life's choise for all of us have responsibilities. We have had years of "entitlement" that has made our society weak, dependent, unhealthy, lazy. Let us bring in kind social workers and teachers and be given the tools to set up an "accountability" system that is kind and respectful; helpful and nuturing. Please help. Marie
Post new comment