Gov. Evers Delivers Radio Address on Expanding Wisconsin's Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for Working Families

Hi there, Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers here.

And I have great news for working familiesacross our state.

I was excited thisweekto sign bipartisan legislation to expand our state's child and dependent care tax credit and reduce the burden on families struggling with the high costsof child care.

This will go a long way toward defraying yearly family expenses for child care, giving Wisconsinites some breathing room in their household budgets and making sure our kids have the early support and care they need.

Simply put:the cost of child carein this state is too darn high.

Making quality child caremore affordable across Wisconsin is not just about doing what'sbest for our kids-it'salso critical for keeping more folks and parents in our state's workforce, too.

So, we're expandingthe current law nonrefundable child and dependent care tax credit from 50 percent of the federal credit to 100 percent of it.

We're alsoincreasingthe maximum qualifying expenses that may be claimed for one child from $3,000 to $10,000 and for two or more kids from $6,000 to $20,000.

That means more than 110,000 Wisconsin taxpayers willsee an average benefit of $656 per filer, providing nearly $73 millionin annual tax reliefto folks across our statethrough the bill I signed this week.

And that's great news, Wisconsin. But I also know there'smore work tobe done.

We need urgent, long-term investments to further reduce out-of-pocket child carecosts for working families and ensure child careproviders can keep their doors openso that we can maintainour current levels of workforce participation.

And I'mready towork with anyone from either side of the aisle to get this done.

So, let'sget to work, folks. Thank you.