ATLANTA — Ahead of the 2025 legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, considered to be a potential candidate for governor in 2026, laid out what his priorities and goals were as it related to childcare and taxes in the coming year.
Jones’ op-ed in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution said the state needed to work to grow the number of teachers working in the public school system as well as increase the number of childcare workers, calling it a critical issue impacting the state and its workforce.
“Child care is critical, not only for childhood development, but also for Georgia’s economy. Families across Georgia face the important choice of whether to have one spouse cut back on working hours or leave the workforce altogether due to the high cost of child care,” he wrote in the op-ed.
The Lt. Governor’s op-ed follows a recently published report by the Georgia Senate Study Committee on Access to Affordable Child Care.
The seven-member committee found, according to their report, child care challenges have a major impact on Georgia’s workforce and economy, due to both short and long-term disruptions to employment due to childcare challenges and needs.
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The report said this could be anything from arriving or leaving work late or early or missing days of work or school, with other end results including leaving education, turning down advancement or having to move from full-time to part-time work as a result of childcare needs. Termination is also a result of those challenges, according to the report.
The problem these challenges create is widespread, with examinations of multiple metropolitan areas in these state of Georgia all showing similar strain from challenges related to childcare and employment.
According to the Senate report, cost is an additional issue impacting Georgia families and how they ensure childcare is available.
To that end, Jones is proposing increase to the child tax credit and dependent care expenses to 40% of taxable income, an increase from the current 30%.
He also wants to create a $250 per child under age 7 Georgia Child Tax Credit and wants to expand who is eligible for employer-sponsored childcare tax credits while also increasing the amount, allowing sponsors to claim 90% of operational costs as a credit, rather than the current 75%.
The proposal would also allow credits to use 75% of the sponsor’s income tax liability, rather than the current 50%.
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The findings of the report showed:
- 47% of programs raised tuitions and fees in the last year
- 42% of decreased enrollments were due to financial challenges
- 68% of center providers said they could care for more children if they did not have staffing shortages
- 50% of providers had a waitlist of 20 or more children
- 65% of programs anticipate having to increase tuition when federal relief funds run out
- 26% report federal relief funding’s end will impact teacher wages
After a years’ worth of study and meetings, the committee made the following broad recommendations.
Improve workforce recruitment, development and retention by:
- Providing additional options for childcare workers to receive funding to provide services
- Implement refundable tax credit for early childhood educators
- Evaluate goals and state funding guidelines for infant and toddler classroom teacher pay in current Pre-K and K-12 levels
- Consider new laws regarding discrimination against and accommodations for new and expectant parents in the workplace
Expand access to serve more families by:
- Increasing tax credits for child and dependent care expenses
- Create a Georgia Child Tax Credit to help families with young children offset expenses
- Increase funding for Child and Parent Services to provide access to more families
- Consider allowing 3-year-olds into Pre-K programs funded by Georgia Lottery
- Consider Grants to USG and TCSG schools to cover childcare for studnet-parents enrolled in High Demand Career List programs
- Encourage businesses to support employees through cost sharing and other initiatives for accessing childcare
- Evaluate current CAPS program and consider new funding models
- Study how other states created trust funds, and consider adoption of Georgia Child Care Trust Fund
- Study if a tri-share program like North Carolina or Michigan’s would be feasible in Georgia for increasing employer incentives for childcare access to employees
Increase funding opportunities for childcare providers by:
- Expanding eligibility for Georgia tax credits for employer-sponsored childcare
- Create and fund a Building Opportunities in Out-of-School Time grant program
- Evaluate regional differences in CAPS reimbursement under current program
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