Schneider, Tenney Introduce the Bipartisan Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone Act
WASHINGTON – Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) introduced the Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone (PACE) Act to update federal childcare incentives and improve access to affordable and high-quality childcare for American families.
The PACE Act would modernize the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and enhance Dependent Care Flexible Spend Accounts (FSAs) to make the credit refundable and allow for annual updates to keep both incentives effective and provide more financial support for working parents.
“It is hard to find quality, affordable child care – and when workers can’t afford child care, they can’t pursue work opportunities, take care of a loved one, or attend college," said Congressman Schneider. "We need to make child care less expensive, which is why I’m proud to introduce the bipartisan PACE Act with my colleague Rep. Claudia Tenney. This important legislation would directly provide working families with money in their pocket to put towards child and dependent care."
“Families shouldn’t have to jeopardize their finances to enroll their children in quality childcare,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “The current federal childcare incentives have not kept up with the rising costs plaguing hardworking families and sometimes rival college tuitions. This pro-family bill updates federal childcare incentives, expands accessibility, and ensures lower-income and working families can provide quality care for their children. On top of that, our legislation will enable parents to go back to work, helping to combat our nationwide worker shortage.”
Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC):
- Makes the credit refundable in order to expand the credit’s reach to working parents.
- Enhances the value of the credit for working parents through an increase in the credit rate.
- Indexes the credit to inflation to ensure the value of the credit will not be eroded over time by rising childcare costs.
Dependent Care Flexible Spend Accounts (DCFSAs):
- Increases the amount of pre-tax dollars parents can put into the accounts from $5,000 to $7,500.
- Indexes the new cap to inflation so DCFSAs can keep pace with the cost of childcare.
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