Michigan Senate Democrats announced a plan Wednesday they say will support parents of young children. The proposal, dubbed “Building Blocks,” falls into three parts.
One piece would create a $5,500 credit families could claim on their taxes for each dependent three or younger.
Senator Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) said it’s similar to a bill introduced last legislative session that never passed.
“Having the potential to serve hundreds of thousands of households across our state, this proposal would help parents keep more of what they earn in their pocket, making it easier for them to afford the everyday essentials from diapers to daycare costs,” Hertel said during a press conference Wednesday morning.
Hertel is dubbing the plan a “Working Families Tax Credit.”
Critics of the plan, however, say it likely wouldn’t just go to working families, or even just families in need.
Jarrett Skorup is with the free market think tank, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. He said lawmakers should focus on an across the board tax cut, rather than offering specific credits.
“I don't think lawmakers do a good job picking and choosing what specific groups to help. I don't think they do a good job of picking and choosing that for businesses. I don't think they do that for who gets this extra help for property taxes, and I don't think they do a good job in the income tax code either,” Skorup said.
Another part of the plan from Senate Democrats would involve expanding the direct cash assistance, Rx Kids program statewide. Rx Kids launched in Flint in January of last year.
The program gives mothers $1,500 while mid-pregnancy and another $500 each month, for a year after giving birth. Since launching in Flint, it’s expanded to Kalamazoo and parts of the Upper Peninsula.
Flint Doctor Mona Hanna said expanding the program statewide would benefit families and their communities.
“Those dollars get spent locally, so it's an economic development program. But also, in the long run, you have less costs in child welfare, because it's preventing child welfare involvement, less abuse and neglect. You have less Medicaid costs, because you have less NICU admissions and premature babies,” Hanna said during Wednesday’s press conference alongside Democratic state senators.
The lawmakers didn’t yet have cost estimates for a statewide expansion at the announcement.
Skorup said he just hopes lawmakers use existing funds when trying to put money toward it in their budget proposals.
“I wouldn't want to do this big increase in government spending on something where we only have a couple of pilots. If we're going to pilot something, let's pilot it with the current government spending we're doing on social welfare programs,” Skorup said.
Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said their goal right now is to lay out their vision at the start of budget negotiations.
“We know how popular and successful this program is. And we want to let people know this is what we are fighting for,” McMorrow said.
The third part of the Democrats’ plan aims to increase access to childcare options. That includes through splitting childcare costs between families, the state and employers, and changing licensing requirements.
Specific bills for the proposals are likely to come out in the coming weeks and months, especially as budget talks get further along in Michigan. Negotiating for some of these priorities with the Republican-controlled House could be a challenge, however.
House Republicans have made cutting what they describe as wasteful government spending a major priority when describing their vision for the state’s next budget. Last week, the House passed its proposed stop-gap spending measure that Republicans say would avoid a government shutdown should other negotiations take too long.
Democrats in the Senate largely panned the move as a stunt.
