Lawmakers want to create tax credits to incentivize employers to provide child care
()
Lawmakers are eyeing tax credits to help businesses provide child care to attract and retain workers.
Both Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) and Rep. Tavis Hasenfus (D-Readfield) presented proposals to the Taxation Committee on Wednesday to create income tax credits for employer-supported child care, though to slightly varying degrees.
'Lack of affordable childcare affects parents' ability to accept a job, maintain steady employment or reduce the number of hours they can work,' Stewart said. 'This all impacts our economic growth as a state. We can do better on this.'
Stewart's legislation, LD 203, would authorize an annual credit of 50% of the amount spent on child care, or $3,000 per child, whichever is lower.
Hasenfus amended his legislation, LD 1555, to authorize the same amounts. However, Hasenfus' version also has a per business cap of $36,000, which he said is intended to ensure the credit isn't used without end and to give a leg up to small businesses.
'Small businesses in Maine also often struggle to match the larger businesses and the benefits that larger businesses are able to offer,' Hasenfus said.
The bills also differ on how long unused credits could be carried over. Stewart's legislation permits carry over for up to 15 years, whereas Hasenfus' version is only up to five years. Both bills stipulate that the credit would be subject to ongoing legislative review starting in 2030.
While the bill sponsors and members of the public who testified in support of the bills said a lack of affordable and available childcare is an issue across the state, they particularly highlighted the challenges in rural areas.
According to a study from the Bipartisan Policy Center, since 2019, 81 licensed child care providers in Aroostook County have closed, while only 38 providers have opened, resulting in a net loss of care for at least 516 children. There are only 84 licensed providers across the County.
Just in March, a large child care facility in Presque Isle that served 71 children and 20 infants closed, with zero infant care available at any center nearby, said Readfield resident Krysta West, who is the deputy director of the Maine Forest industry Council.
West said members of the council commonly cite the lack of child care as a reason they're unable to attract employees and some have therefore taken it upon themselves to fill that gap. For example, Maine Woods and its parent company, Seven Islands, has begun the process of setting up the 'Little Saplings' child care center in Aroostook County.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
'Making visions such as Little Saplings become a reality requires substantial investment,' West said. 'Although they've stepped up to invest in child care needs, public private partnerships and new policy solutions are desperately needed to ensure that these ventures remain viable.'
States have taken varying approaches to address childcare affordability. New Mexico became the first state to offer free child care to families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $124,000 for a family of four. Nearby Massachusetts and Rhode Island use the subsidy approach, providing financial assistance to help families pay for child care programs.
Some do not think tax credits are the solution.
Maura Pillsbury, tax policy analyst for the progressive Maine Center for Economic Policy, argued the state should instead reinforce and build on what it's already done — investments that lawmakers are also currently weighing whether to reverse at the request of the governor to help fill the budget deficit.
In 2021, Maine started providing $200 stipends per child care worker to help alleviate worker shortages during the height of the pandemic.
Those monthly stipends doubled as part of the $59 million allocation to overhaul child care in the last biennial budget, spearheaded by former Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook). The package also expanded eligibility for the Child Care Affordability Program, which provides child care subsidies. The Mills administration had initially opposed Jackson's plan because of an expectation that funding for it would be inadequate.
This year, Gov. Janet Mills suggested reversing those recent investments by cutting $30 million for child care worker stipends to bring them back to 2022 levels, among other funding reductions to services such as Head Start.
Pillsbury requested lawmakers instead reject these cuts, arguing tax breaks for businesses are less efficient and equitable than providing direct subsidies.
'If we want to attract and retain more people in a career that prepares our youngest residents for success and gives workers in every corner of our state the chance to stay in their jobs, we must do better by them,' Pillsbury said.
Questions raised by Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield) suggested she may be opposed to the tax credit approach but for different reasons. 'Why should I and other seniors like me, who had to pay for our own childcare and didn't get these credits, now have to pay?' Rudnicki asked.
Referring to home day care options, Rudnicki also questioned whether it would be more effective to loosen child care regulations instead.
'Is this really the best way to go about this?'
West argued it is. 'It gives employers flexibility to pursue the needs of their local community,' she responded.
Rudnicki similarly suggested licensing changes during the hearing for a bill to increase the state's child tax credit. That plan from Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) to double the state's child tax credit for children under six years old would be paid for by phasing out the benefit for the state's highest earners.
During that hearing, child care providers argued that loosening restrictions would damage the quality of the care and that liability insurance would likely refuse to insure providers.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kenyatta Stewart beats the odds with win in 35th District Assembly primary
PATERSON — By normal standards, the odds were stacked against Kenyatta Stewart in the Democratic Assembly primary in the 35th legislative district. Democratic Party leaders in Passaic and Bergen counties were backing other candidates. Stewart trailed in campaign fundraising. And in Paterson — the city where political insiders said Stewart needed to win by large vote numbers — the mayor, seven City Council members and a majority of the Board of Education endorsed Stewart's rivals. In the days leading up to the election, Stewart supporters said privately they hoped the popular lawyer and community activist would eke out a narrow win. But the victory margin wasn't Stewart registered a resounding victory, with more than a 1,000-vote advantage, as he won five of six wards in Paterson, prevailed in the neighboring Passaic County towns of Prospect Park and Haledon, and finished third but far stronger than expected in the district's two Begen County communities — Elmwood Park and Garfield. 'People are just tired of listening to the political bosses and machines,' said Paterson activist Ernest Rucker in explaining Stewart's triumph. 'We're not going to bow down to them anymore.' Another Paterson civic leader, Roger Grier, said Stewart was well known in the city for his community work and offered voters 'something fresh.' 'People were looking for something different,' Grier said. 'They were excited that Kenyatta was in the race.' Stewart's running mate in the November general election has yet to be determined. Former Paterson councilman Al Abdelaziz, who was appointed to fill one of the district's Assembly seats in January, has a lead of more than 200 votes over Passaic County Commissioner Orlando Cruz. Abdelaziz and Cruz were the team picked by the Passaic County Democratic leadership. The final results won't be determined until after this week, once the remaining mail-in and provisional ballots are counted, officials said. Several prominent Paterson Democrats noted that some party members wanted Stewart to get picked to run for the Passaic County Commission last year. But party leaders were not ready to support him. They saw some degree of poetic political justice in Stewart's stunning primary win. 'This is definitely a wake-up call for the Passaic County Democratic Party,' said former county commissioner Theodore 'TJ' Best, who was among Stewart's supporters. 'The leaders of the Democratic Party need to listen to what the people want.' Best and others said Stewart's victory seemed to replicate Benjie Wimberly's success at a special Democratic Party convention last January, when he won a seat in the state Senate by one vote without support from county political leaders. Former Paterson school board member Manny Martinez backed Wimberly in January and Stewart in the primary. 'In a true democracy, the people are given an opportunity to choose who they want and aren't told who they should vote for,' Martinez said. 'That's the grassroots movement we're seeing here.' Wimberly now will run on the Democratic ticket with Stewart and whoever emerges between Abdelaziz and Cruz. Wimberly technically was on the same ticket with Abdelaziz and Cruz in the primary. But political insiders noted that Stewart and Wimberly attended numerous community events where Stewart's campaign took photos of the two men together. 'He ran an outstanding race,' Wimberly said of Stewart, 'and it was a clean race. You didn't see any mudslinging.' Stewart works as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's city law director in Essex County. Political pundits said the relationship between Stewart and Baraka benefited both men in the primary. Baraka was the only candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary who opened a campaign headquarters in Paterson and that paid off for him. Unofficial numbers show Baraka with more than 3,200 Paterson votes in the primary, almost four times as many as Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who won the six-person contest to be the Democrats' candidate in the November election for governor. 'Most people who voted for Ras probably also voted for Kenyatta,' Wimberly said. This article originally appeared on Kenyatta Stewart beats the odds with win in 35th District
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Aja Health and Wellness Inc. Provides Update on Delay in Filing Financial Statements
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aja Health and Wellness Inc. ("Aja" or the "Company") (TSXV:Aja) announces that it is getting closer to filing its annual audited financial statements for the financial year ending December 31, 2024, including the related management's discussion and analysis and certifications from the CEO and CFO (the "Required Annual Filings"). On May 6, 2025, the Alberta Securities Commission (the "ASC") issued a management cease trade order (the "MCTO") because the Company was unable to file the Required Annual Filings in time to meet the April 30, 2025 filing deadline. Aja previously announced that the delay in filing the Required Annual Filings was due to the determination that the previously announced reverse takeover transaction, which closed on September 17, 2024, will be characterized as a series of acquisitions for accounting purposes. This characterization requires a valuation of the purchase price allocation to complete the audited financial statements for the financial year ending December 31, 2024. The Company has retained a valuator to complete the valuation and the valuation is in progress. The Company anticipates the valuation will be completed on or before July 4, 2025 and expects to file the Required Annual Filings on or before July 31, 2025. The ASC has approved the MCTO to be left in place until June 30, 2025. While the MCTO restricts all trading in securities of the Company by executive officers of the Company until the MCTO is no longer in effect, regular trading by current and future investors outside the Company continues as normal. The MCTO will be in effect until two full business days after the Required Annual Filings are filed. Until the Required Annual Filings are filed, the Company intends to satisfy the provisions of the Alternative Information Guidelines set out in National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders. Update on Filing of Interim Financial Statements As a result of the delay in filing the Required Annual Filings, Aja previously announced that it was unable to file its unaudited interim financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2025, the management's discussion and analysis for the same period and management certifications of the interim filings (the "Interim Filings") by the filing deadline of May 30, 2025. Aja is working to complete the Interim Filings as soon as possible and expects the Interim Filings to be filed concurrently with the filing of the Required Annual Filings. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Sanjeev Parsad" Sanjeev ParsadPresident, CEO and Director The above may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. When used in this address, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Although the Company believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date of publication of this information and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Furthermore, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary further information, contact: Sanjeev Parsad, President and CEOPhone: (604) 678.9115Fax: (604) 678.9279E-mail: sparsad@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Jon Stewart: Trump lit ‘fuse' on LA ‘tinderbox'
Comedian Jon Stewart accused President Trump of 'happily' setting off a 'tinderbox' in Los Angeles amid days of protests against the president's immigration policies. 'The Daily Show' host railed against Trump for deploying 4,000 National Guard troops in California and knocked the administration's recent push to ramp up immigrant arrests. 'So now, predictably, these non-targeted, much broader deportation efforts in cities that feel very connected to the immigrant population is a tinderbox. And Trump happily lights the fuse,' the comedian said on his show. Stewart asserted Trump was focused on protestors to help drown out the attention drawn by his feud with tech giant Elon Musk after the former adviser accused the president of being named in documents pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019. 'Why escalate this s— now?' Stewart asked. 'Oh, right — Elon Musk is now accusing Trump of being in the Epstein files.' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded Musk's claims last seek, arguing he was upset over the Trump agenda bill being reviewed by the Senate and called the spat 'unfortunate.' Musk's post was later removed from his account. Stewart on Monday urged the Trump administration to shift its focus from legislative priorities to the needs of people on the ground in California. 'It's an explosive situation on the cusp of federalism versus states' rights, border control versus due process, terrifyingly militarized sweeps versus hard-working people in local communities,' he said. 'The United States Marines versus the Postmates guy who brought you an egg sandwich. It's going to require a deft and firm, experienced and wise — I think you know where I'm going with this … A deft touch from leadership in Washington.' Local leaders including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) have pushed back on Trump's moves and urged for local law enforcement to handle the protests. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.