Letter: Vote to expand tax credit for families

Regarding the Nov. 30 article 'Grassley: Tax rewrite ‘once-in-a-generation' chance”:

Yes, Sen. Chuck Grassley, you are correct that reform is a one in a generation opportunity. However, how will this benefit low-income families and kids who need to be in early childhood programs while their families work?

As a director of a child care center in Cedar Rapids and a volunteer for Save the Children Action Network, I want to give all kids a strong start in life. Unfortunately, the current version of the tax rewrite does nothing new to help low-income families afford child care. The highest expense a family has is child care - the higher quality the program, the more the care costs.

It's not too late to provide relief for low-income families. The Senate, including Sen. Grassley, can vote to expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) and make it refundable for low-income families.

The Senate should take this opportunity to help low-income families send their children to high-quality child care and early learning programs. This is a worthy investment that will pay dividends for years to come.

Miranda Niemi

Cedar Rapids