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The Week in Review
Mitigating the Child
Care Cliff
This week I had the opportunity to testify on a bill I authored,
Assembly Bill 241.
Assembly Bill 241 reforms
Wisconsin Shares by mitigating what is known as the child care cliff.
Wisconsin Shares is a program that provides child care assistance to
low-income working families. The program requires eligible participants to
work and make a copayment based on their income to a childcare provider.
The current eligibility requirements create a benefit drop-off (child care
cliff), discouraging participants from working more hours, and accepting
promotions and raises. Under the current program, parents lose eligibility
when their income exceeds 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) –
approximately $40,000 for a family of three in 2017. At that point, the
parents are cut-off from the program entirely. This poses a difficult choice
for a parent considering the average annual cost of infant care in Wisconsin
is the 13th highest in nation at $11,579.
This legislation will allow a parent to continue receiving assistance but
will require a copayment of $1 for every $3 their income exceeds 200 percent
FPL. This will allow a participant to seek promotions and raises without
fear of losing child care assistance.
AB 241 passed with unanimous support in
the
Assembly Committee on Public Benefit Reform! The bill is now headed to
the full Assembly where it will get a vote in the coming months.
Have a great week!
Thanks for Stopping By!
Alyssa Ricketts-Palmer, an Oak Creek resident with
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, stopped by the office during the Wisconsin
Hospital Association’s lobby day. It was a pleasure to meet a constituent
from our district and discuss some important legislative issues! Thanks for
visiting!
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