Low-wage families deserve tax credits

Despite the annual holiday in their honor, working men and women might not be in a very celebratory mood this Labor Day weekend.

Our lowest-wage families pay double the share of their earnings on such taxes than do the state's wealthiest households - and they shoulder a bigger tax responsibility than even their low- and middle-income counterparts in most other states.

In fact, Illinois is among the most unforgiving of states to struggling workers: In 2006, a single mom with two kids started paying state income tax as soon as she earned as little as $13,600.

So, on Labor Day, our words might honor the value of an honest day's work and earning one's keep. But everyday life doesn't reflect that sentiment.

Among the best public-policy tools for fighting such injustice is the Earned Income Tax Credit. It's a credit against taxes owed, helping low- and middle-income families hang onto more of their hard-earned money.

The federal EITC is worth more than $4,800 for a working household of up to $41,646 in earnings. Illinois' own, state EITC adds a maximum of about $240 more to the federal assistance.

That's good for families in need of help with everything from utility bills and rent payments to purchases of clothing and school supplies.

But that level of help pales in comparison with such states as Wisconsin, where the maximum state EITC is more than $2,000.

Illinois boasts the nation's fifth-largest economy, but the second-smallest state EITC.

We should double or even quadruple the size of our Illinois EITC.

And such a move would be an important component of further-reaching reforms that Illinois' stilted tax structure desperately needs in order to raise adequate and stable revenues in a much fairer fashion than is the case today.

Quadrupling the state EITC could spell about $6.9 million more in help for the low-wage earners of DuPage County, alone - something working moms, dads and their kids could truly celebrate.

Jerome Stermer

Chicago

Anthony McCain

Bolingbrook

Voices for Illinois Children