(Hartford, Conn. WTIC)- The Co-Chair of the Legislature's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee has proposed a tax break for low and middle-income families with children.
The proposal by Sean Scanlon(D-Guilord)would range from $150 to $450. The families would earn $203-thousand or less to qualify.
Scanlon says Connecticut is the fifth most -expensive state to raise a child costing $15-thousand annually.
April, a single mother from Guilford told a virtual roundtable that the cost of child care adds to the stresses of raising a child. She says we're all in this together. "We're all in the same storm, but every is in a different boat. Some have yachts and other much smaller boats. That makes things much more challenging."
New Haven Pediatrician Leslie Sude says the earned income tax credit benefits the health of a family. "They tend to birth babies at higher birth rates, have more maternal breast feeding, fewer pre-term births, les maternal depression, smoking and health problems."
Sanlon says the first-year cost of $112 million is reachable. But he adds, " I don't want to have the middle-class families pay for their own tax break."