PA OFA Responds to Middle Class Task Force Findings

From the inbox:

Organizing for America Pennsylvania State Director Elizabeth Lucas released the following statement after President Obama and Vice President Biden’s meeting of the Middle Class Task Force where they laid out key initiatives to help middle class families affected by the economy. Organizing for America (OFA) is a project of the Democratic National Committee committed to supporting President Obama’s agenda for change.

“President Obama and his administration are working tirelessly day in and day out to get Pennsylvanians working again and to strengthen our economy for the long term. The initiatives announced by the White House Middle Class Task Force yesterday will help middle class families in Pennsylvania get back on their feet and start getting ahead.

“The plan the President announced today will help the middle class by expanding tax credits for middle class families, easing the burden of student federal loan payments, creating a system of automatic workplace IRAs, expanding tax credits to match retirement savings and helping families pay for care for elderly relatives. These are the type of common sense solutions that President Obama promised on the campaign trail in 2008, and it’s clear that as President he’s delivering.”

For the last year, the White House Middle Class Task Force has traveled across the country talking with Americans from all walks of life as well as policy makers and experts to develop policies aimed at raising the living standards of middle class, working families in America.

The recommendations of the Middle Class Task Force will:

1. Reduce costs of child care by nearly doubling the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for families earning less than $85,000 per year and increasing child care funding by $1.6 billion, helping an additional 235,000 children.

2. Ease the burden of student loan payments by ensuring that no student pays more than 10 percent of his or her income on loan repayment.

3. Help workers save for retirement by requiring employers to provide an option for employees to enroll in a direct-deposit IRA.

4. Protect retirement by expanding tax credits to match retirement savings and enact new protections on those savings.

5. Support families caring for elderly relatives, help them to manage this responsibility and allow seniors to live in their communities for as long as possible.