White House backs Cassidy’s tax credit plan for new parents

Ivanka Trump said today that the White House supports legislation by Sen. Bill Cassidy and congressional co-sponsors to allow new parents to access up to $5,000 in tax credits to help cover expenses of having or adopting a child.

Cassidy, U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., officially introduced their proposal during a news conference in Washington, D.C., this afternoon, The News Star reports. 

Cassidy said the tax credits could be used for income replacement to allow a parent to stay home longer with a child or for child care expenses.

Parents who choose the option would see a reduction to their Child Tax Credit benefit from $2,000 to $1,500 the following 10 years. The Child Tax Credit was increased from $1,000 to $2,000 per child as part of the tax reforms that took effect in 2017.

Making the Child Tax Credit benefit flexible provides paid family leave without raising taxes, placing the burden on the employer or affecting future Social Security benefits, Cassidy said.

Critics of the plan say it doesn’t go far enough and should include paid family leave to care for elderly family members, perhaps raising the payroll tax to fund it or making it a new entitlement by increasing taxes on wealthy Americans. Read the full story.