Georgia lieutenant governor aiming to aid parents through tax credits

ATLANTA, Ga. - Georgia’s Republican lieutenant governor is renewing a push to expand child-care tax credits.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones told The Associated Press that a Senate ally has introduced a bill to create a state income tax credit of up to $250 for every child under age 7, expand an existing tax credit for child care to give parents up to $300 more per child, and let employers claim a larger credit for investing in an on-site child care center.

State Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, is sponsoring the bill.

Strickland led a Senate special study committee on affordable child care. The committee report with recommendations can be found here.

They found Georgia child-care costs have increased over the past six years.

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The average annual cost for infant care in Georgia is $8,530, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

It’s $7,306 a year for a 4-year-old, according to the institute.

“I’ve got two young kids at home now. I’ve got a wife who also works. I’m living it,” said Strickland.

A report from the Century Foundation, a New York-based think tank, found Georgia stands to lose more than 10,000 child-care jobs and close nearly a thousand programs, leaving more than 80,000 children without care.

“What we’re trying to do is give something back and help give some relief to our working families and also our businesses,” Strickland said. “We’re hearing from business owners who say I need employees now for jobs and I can’t get employees because they’re trying to balance child-care issues.”

Jones has made the child-care items part of his agenda as he is considering a run for governor in 2026. Much of what Jones has done since taking office in 2023 has been to cater to a Trump-aligned conservative electorate in a potential Republican primary.

But he’s also made some moves, often centered on protecting or aiding children, to build a record appealing to the broader electorate that would vote in a general election in politically competitive Georgia.

“We must do more to ensure that Georgia’s workers have access to affordable and quality child care,” Jones told the AP in a statement. “Child care is critical, not only for childhood development, but also for Georgia’s economy. The proposed legislation will help families who are struggling to afford the cost of child care and will encourage more businesses to offer child care as an employee benefit.”

Jones’ announcement comes after Democrats proposed even more generous breaks, a $200 child tax credit for all children under 17 and a child care tax credit worth up to the total amount a parent spends on day care, preschool, after-school care or summer programs.

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