Federal Update
Last week, The White House announced a proposal for a fairer tax code that invests in middle-class families, including an expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC). On Tuesday, President Obama emphasized the importance of child care during his State of the Union address, saying that “it’s time we stop treating child care as a side issue, or as a women’s issue, and treat it like the national economic priority that it is for all of us.” And on Thursday, the President announced a major new proposal to make high-quality child care available for all infants and toddlers in low- and moderate income families. the President proposes to provide an additional $80 billion over ten years for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The funding would be used to make child care assistance available to all families with incomes up to 200 percent of poverty (about $40,000 a year for a family of three) and children under age four so parents could work or a