Democrats have taken favorably to Ivanka Trump’s two signature issues, namely affordable child care and paid family leave.
According to CNBC, the Democrats “love it.” CNBC wrote, “She surprised conservatives and liberals alike when she announced the plan in a speech at the Republican National Convention last summer and followed up with a roundtable with female GOP lawmakers while there.”
Democrats have pushed for child-care and family-leave policies in the past.
Last month, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) reached out to Ivanka to get support for her Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, which would provide six weeks of guaranteed paid leave to all male and female federal employees after the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child.
“I did call her; I did send her a copy of the legislation,” Maloney said.
President Donald Trump unveiled his child care plan in Pennsylvania last September, while he was still the GOP’s nominee, alongside Ivanka, who helped craft the policy proposal.
“This is a reform of critical value and long overdue,” Ivanka said as she introduced her father. “My father understands the needs of a modern workforce.”
In his first joint address to Congress last month, President Donald Trump said: “My administration wants to work with members of both parties to make child care accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents that they have paid family leave.”
Ivanka’s plan seeks to deduct costs from taxable income, create a tax-free childcare savings account and a refundable tax credit for low-income households. Breitbart News previously reported that her plan also offers six weeks of government-guaranteed paid maternity leave for all working women when their companies do not provide it.
According to CNBC, “An analysis by the Tax Policy Center found that 70 percent of the benefits would go toward households making $100,000 or more. The estimated after-tax income of families making less than $40,000 would increase by just $20, the report found. Households earning $100,000 to $200,000 would enjoy a $360 boost.”
CNBC adds, “The Tax Policy Center projected the total cost of the tax breaks would be $116 billion over the next decade.”
Her plan would reportedly allow families to deduct child-care expenses from their taxable income and also makes stay-at-home parents eligible for the deduction. Low-income families would reportedly also be able to receive a refundable tax credit of 7.65 percent of their child-care costs. However, CNBC notes that stay-at-home parents are not eligible for this benefit.
Ivanka’s plan is “an example of a proposal that could spend less and help people more by targeting it properly,” Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, reportedly said.
Last month, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) was among several Republicans who met with Ivanka at the White House to discuss the issues. Fischer reportedly reintroduced a bill recently that gives companies tax credits for providing paid family leave. She also introduced another bill that reportedly seeks to boost protections for women who seek equal pay at work.
Last April, San Francisco passed a bill that provides both parents with six weeks of fully paid parental leave after birth or adoption.
In September, Ivanka was featured in a nationally-broadcast ad meant to help her father’s plan for childcare affordability.
“The most important job any woman can have is being a mother and it shouldn’t mean taking a pay cut,” she stated in the advertisement. “My father will change outdated labor laws so that they support women and American families.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz
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