Governor Walker proposes raising tax credit for working poor

MADISON — Gov. Scott Walker is proposing to increase a tax credit for Wisconsin's working poor as part of his initiative to wean people off of state welfare programs.


Walker announced Wednesday, February 1st that he was proposing increasing the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit from $135 to $371 for low income workers with one child. He says that would benefit about 130,000 small families and bring about 850 families over the poverty line.

The move to increase the tax credit comes after Walker cut it in 2011. Walker says in a statement that families are the "foundation of our society" and his proposal is vital to his plans to ensure working families are rewarded, not penalized.

"We`re putting a dramatic increase in that, the idea being that we want to remove the barriers to employment," Walker said.

"When you take away 10 and you only add one, that means it`s still negative nine, and the Governor still has some catching up to do to actually invest in the middle class residents of this state," Rep. David Bowen, D-Milwaukee said.

The plan will be part of the state budget Walker releases next week.

CLICK HERE for a breakdown of Earned Income Tax Credit recipients in 2015.