MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address on signing Assembly Bill 1023, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 101, which expands the current child and dependent care tax credit from 50 percent to 100 percent of the federal credit, helping reduce the tax burden for families struggling to afford the high cost of child care and care for adult dependents. Act 101, similar to a proposal Gov. Evers recommended in his 2023-25 biennial budget proposal, provides tax relief to over 110,000 Wisconsin taxpayers at an average benefit of over $656 per filer, totaling nearly $73 million in annual tax relief. More information about Act 101 is available here.

Audio File to Radio Address.

Hi there, Wisconsin. Governor Tony Evers here.

And I have great news for working families across our state.

I was excited this week to sign bipartisan legislation to expand our state’s child and dependent care tax credit and reduce the burden on families struggling with the high costs of child care.

This will go a long way toward defraying yearly family expenses for child care, giving Wisconsinites some breathing room in their household budgets and making sure our kids have the early support and care they need.

Simply put: the cost of child care in this state is too darn high.

Making quality child care more affordable across Wisconsin is not just about doing what’s best for our kids—it’s also critical for keeping more folks and parents in our state’s workforce, too.

So, we’re expanding the current law nonrefundable child and dependent care tax credit from 50 percent of the federal credit to 100 percent of it.

We’re also increasing the maximum qualifying expenses that may be claimed for one child from $3,000 to $10,000 and for two or more kids from $6,000 to $20,000.

That means more than 110,000 Wisconsin taxpayers will see an average benefit of $656 per filer, providing nearly $73 million in annual tax relief to folks across our state through the bill I signed this week.

And that’s great news, Wisconsin. But I also know there’s more work to be done.

We need urgent, long-term investments to further reduce out-of-pocket child care costs for working families and ensure child care providers can keep their doors open so that we can maintain our current levels of workforce participation.

And I’m ready to work with anyone from either side of the aisle to get this done.  

So, let’s get to work, folks. Thank you.