Audit reveals Georgia child care tax break costly, ineffective

ATLANTA — A new audit says the state is needlessly spending $20 million per year on a tax credit that isn’t working. The tax break is for child care.

For 30 years, the state of Georgia has funded tax breaks for child care – specifically, for employers who provide day care for their employees.

In 1994, then-state Rep. Doug Teper, of Atlanta, was among the lawmakers backing the bill creating the tax break.

"The demographics in Georgia had changed dramatically," Teper recalled. "There were a lot more women working. There were a lot more single women who needed to work and they needed child care."

11Alive’s news archives from 1994 has plenty of stories about workplace obstacles women faced and the effort to expand their opportunities.

One of those obstacles was child care.

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