Governor Scott Walker proposes cuts to tax credits for poor

Governor Scott Walker, the Wisconsin executive famous for his standoff with unions last year, recently proposed a state budget that would cut aid for the poor. Walker’s plan would reduce by $16 million a year a tax credit largely aimed at low-income families.

The cut would come from a reduction in the Earned Income Tax Credit. Working families rely on this tax credit to supplement their income while raising children. “Under Walker’s proposed biennial budget, a single mother with two children earning about minimum wage — $15,000 a year — would lose $302 of her $704 Earned Income Tax Credit next year,” writes the Wisconsin State Journal.

“The program gives rebates to qualifying taxpayers earning $48,362 a year or less. Many pay no state income taxes because their wages are so low, said Jon Peacock, research director at the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families,” said the Journal, quoting our Wisconsin member organization. Visit Wisconsin Council on Children and Families online for more information on child well-being in the state!