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LULAC ENCOURAGED BY IVANKA TRUMP’S PROPOSALS MAKING CHILD CARE MORE AFFORDABLE AND GUARANTEEING PAID FAMILY LEAVE

March 10, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC - During the Republican National Convention, Ivanka Trump used her keynote address to speak about the need for paid family leave and affordable child care. Reportedly, she convinced President Trump to include those issues in an address to a joint session of Congress last week.

While details are still sketchy, the proposals under consideration would reportedly guarantee six weeks of paid maternity leave to employees whose employers currently do not offer it and enable parents to deduct the cost of child-care expenses from their income taxes.

The amount a family could deduct would be capped at the average cost of childcare in their state and would only apply to children younger than 13 years old. Among other provisions, the plan would allow low-income families to benefit from a refundable tax credit of 7.65 percent of child care costs.

“We support this effort to make childcare more affordable and believe this is a good starting point to begin a productive dialogue,” said Roger C. Rocha Jr., LULAC National President. “However we urge the White House to ensure that the legislation prioritizes the needs of low-income Americans and is inclusive of LGBT families.”

“LULAC urges the administration to make the entire child care benefit a refundable tax credit rather than a tax deduction to ensure low-income families with little to no-tax liability can still benefit from the program,” stated LULAC National Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “LULAC welcomes the opportunity to discuss how a plan for affordable child care and paid family leave can best benefit the families that need it the most.”

“We look forward to working with Ivanka Trump, the administration and Congress to ensure that paid family leave and affordable child care become a reality for all American families,” stated Mr. Rocha.

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The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.lulac.org.