Trump could spark dialogue on affordable child care

In his address to Congress Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump leaned on some of his standard crowd pleasers: immigration, jobs, terrorism.

But he also revived one of his more surprising proposals, first introduced on the campaign trail: “My administration wants to work with members of both parties to make child care accessible and affordable,” he said.

A potential debate over child care policy could offer the rare opportunity for the president and Democrats to cooperate — or at least have a dialogue — over the coming year.

The child care cause is important to Trump’s older daughter, Ivanka Trump. In recent weeks, she has met with business leaders and members of Congress to promote the child care proposal her father rolled out in the fall.

Under the plan, individu- als earning up to $250,000 per year, and couples earning up to $500,000, would be able to deduct from their taxable income the average cost of child care in their states. The benefit would be modest; for example, a reduction of $840 in federal taxes for a family earning $70,000 per year and paying $7,000 for child care. The plan would offer low-income workers child care rebates, paid once a year through the earnedincome tax credit. The proposal also calls for dedicated savings accounts in which families could invest pretax income to cover child care and elder care costs, as well as incentives for employers to provide child care in the workplace.

It is difficult to square Donald Trump’s child care plan with his other budget priorities. Carrie L. Lukas, managing director of the conservative Independent Women’s Forum, supports Trump’s efforts to help families with child care costs. But “he also talked about the need for tax simplification,” she said, “which is inconsistent with using deductions” as a social policy strategy.

Elaine Maag, senior research associate at the Tax Policy Center, said the president’s proposal would not “increase the amount of child care available, nor will it increase the quality of care that low-income families will be able to access.” However, Maag said she was willing to give the president at least a little credit. “I would characterize the plan as identifying an important problem,” she said.