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Sen. Patty Murray bypasses Ivanka Trump with child care proposal for working families

Image: @PattyMurray Twitter

Even before her father took the oath of office, Ivanka Trump advocated to make child care more affordable.

She’s lobbied with Senate and House Republicans on how to advance, but without anything concrete, Democrats are moving forward by introducing the Child Care for Working Families Act.

At the helm is Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).

“At a time when far too many working families are struggling, finding quality child care that doesn’t break the bank shouldn’t be another thing keeping parents up at night,” said Senator Murray, a former preschool teacher. “I’m proud to introduce the Child Care for Working Families Act to address our child care crisis and support access to high-quality preschool so that all children are ready for kindergarten and beyond.”

Along with Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Murray rolled out the full proposal on Thursday.

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The act would help financially struggling families making less than 150 percent of their state's median income, and it would ensure those parents pay no more than 7 percent of their income on child care. Families would pay their fair share for care on a sliding scale, according to a fact sheet provided by Murray's office.

Additionally, the act would support access to high-quality preschool programs for low- and moderate-income families.

Nearly 100 organizations have endorsed the proposal, with some progressive supporters saying the bill would help working families, not just highest earners – a concern under Ivanka Trump’s plan.

Ivanka helped Donald Trump craft a child tax plan nearly a year ago when he was on the campaign trail.

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The fact sheet of that plan brings up a 404 error on President Trump's website, but a PDF saved on another location of the site lays out the proposal to rewrite the tax code. This re-write would allow working parents to deduct child care expenses from their income taxes for up to four children and elderly dependents.

>> Read the latest on the overall tax code fight here.

Under their proposal, individuals earning more than $250,000 (or $500,000 if filing jointly) will not be eligible for the deduction. For a family earning $70,000 per year in the 12 percent tax bracket with $7,000 in child care expenses, the deduction would reduce taxes by $840 per year.

Ivanka, now a senior advisor to her father, created a similar outline in February when she met with lawmakers. The cost of the plan – nearly $500 billion over a decade, as Bloomberg reported – created a problem for some Republican congressional leaders.

KIRO 7 News left a message for Murray's office asking the price tag for the Child Care for Working Families Act. A source close to the bill told Vox that an independent researcher and New York University fellow, Ajay Chaudry, suggested it would cost around $60 billion annually.