Pledging to invest in the “caring economy”, Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed a new tax break Sunday for people caring for aging parents and grandparents.
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Taxes are shaping up to be a differentiator between Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to run in the November 2016 election, and her challengers, US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.
According to an aide, Clinton will call for the creation of a credit for up to $6,000 in expenses to offset the cost to taxpayers caring for elderly family members.
Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters “the most important moment” for the campaign during last week’s second Democratic debate was when the three discussed taxing the middle class and to expect Clinton to discuss the issue more fully in the coming days.
In her proposal, Clinton states that the number of Americans needing long-term care and support is expected to grow from about 12 million today to 27 million by 2050.
“That’s a lot”, said Sanders, who then repeated a challenge he has extended to Clinton to join those supporting the legislation, which he said would cost the typical worker $1.39 a week.
In addition to the tax benefit, Clinton will propose a change to Social Security that provides credit for people who leave the work force to care for family members. She wants to enhance support for care workers and increase funding for a program that offers state-level grants to programs for caregivers. As president, a campaign aide said, Clinton “would go even further”, committing a total of $100 million from the federal government over 10 years.
Clinton has spoken out forcefully for the concept of paid family leave but not embraced the particular measure because it violates a campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000. Americans with out-of-pocket health care expenses exceeding 5 percent of their income would be eligible for the credit. Her campaign says the tax cut will be funded through tax increases on wealthy families and by “demanding” rebates from drug manufactures.
After her speech, Clinton officially filed her paperwork as a candidate in South Carolina’s primary. She has accused primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, are in favor of small tax increases to pay for large programs.
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Her campaign, in turn, has recently attacked Sanders for his support of measures that would raise taxes on the middle class. Until recently, both camps had attempted to make a virtue of not talking about the other.
