Proposed Legislation in the House Tax Committee Would Address Workforce Shortage

St. Paul, MN — To help meet the needs of the current workforce shortage and to retain and attract more young families, the Tax Committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives has proposed legislation aimed at addressing that situation.

The Tax Committee has a hearing this week to discuss a bill aimed at expanding the childcare and dependent care credit. Currently the bill would allow parents with a zero to 4 year old child to qualify for up to a $5,000 tax credit to cover childcare expense. For two children the amount would double and three or more it would go up to $12,500. The motivation behind the bill, according to House Tax Chair Paul Marquart, is to encourage parents to get back into the workforce.

Another bill scheduled for a hearing this week would increase the student loan tax credit up to $5,000 to help pay off student loans.

Representative Marquart says that if you take a look at the demographics, more people are leaving the state than coming in and if add that on top of the current workforce shortage, you can see the need to be aggressive with some of this proposed legislation.

According to DEED, right now in Minnesota for every 10 jobs there is only 6 or 7 employees to fill those vacancies. Marquart noted that in comparison during a recession, there is commonly 10 employees to fill every 1 job that is available.

Listen to the full interview with Representative Marquart from the KRJB Kaleidoscope Program below: