Weekly News Round-Up: August 15, 2016
TOP STORY: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton gave economic speeches last week and laid out their visions to reform the tax code, make child care affordable and boost local economies (CBS News, New Yorker, Marketwatch, PBS Newshour).
- On child care affordability, Trump said he would make all child care spending tax deductible, but advocates argue that the deduction will help upper- and middle-income families while doing little for low-income workers. Clinton’s plan would use subsidized care and tax credits to reduce the cost of child care for working families (AEI, Washington Post, Portland Press Herald, Newsweek).
- We wrote about the lack of details about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and other tax credits in the presidential candidates’ policy proposals (TCWF).
- Machelle Kendrick of Head of the Lakes United Way in Duluth encouraged legislators to expand both the federal and Minnesota EITC for workers who aren’t raising children and those under 25 (Duluth News Tribune,
- Wilson Paine wrote in the Knoxville Times Sentinel about the difficult economic circumstances facing rural families. He suggested expanding the EITC as one way to alleviate this financial stress (Knoxville Times-Sentinel).
- A new report found that the EITC might have a greater impact on education outcomes than preschool programs. The study revealed that children in families who received the EITC score better on standardized tests than children who were enrolled in universal preschool programs (Business Insider).
- Ingrid Schroeder, director of the fiscal federalism initiatives at the Pew Charitable Trust, examined how changes to the federal tax code could impact state budgets and tax systems (The Hill).