A Big Deal for Working Delawareans
Jack Markell, State TreasurerEarlier this week, I watched Governor Minner sign Senate Bill 230, creating a Delaware version of the federal earned income tax credit (EITC). This bill, long championed by sponsor Senator Margaret Rose Henry, is a big deal for working Delawareans and makes Delaware one of 19 states nationwide to enact such a tax credit.
At the federal level, the EITC is recognized as one of the most important programs Congress has ever passed to lift people out of poverty. The problem is, not enough people who can claim it know about it. That’s why in 2001, along with the Governor and Wilmington Mayor Jim Baker, I helped start a public awareness program to help Delawareans obtain the federal EITC. The Nehemiah Gateway Community Development Corporation has administered the strong outreach campaign. Last year, thanks to Nehemiah’s Rev. Clifford Johnson and Mary DuPont – and to the hard work of more than 400 volunteer tax preparers – the campaign put more than $11 million into the pockets of over 8,000 Delawareans.
The numbers are impressive, but there’s something that is even more compelling: the ways individual Delawareans have used the credit to invest in their own lives. One single mother told me how she used the refund to start a college savings plan for her son. Others use the money to make a down payment on a home. Others build up savings to cushion against an emergency.
In all, this tax cut will reduce the state income tax liability for 14,000 state residents and eliminate it entirely for another 14,000 Delawareans. This is a good week for working Delawareans.
Planning work will begin soon for the 2006 campaign to promote the EITC. If you are interested in being involved in that campaign, please call me at 302/744-1004 and I will pass on the i
