Congressman John Yarmuth of Louisville is co-sponsoring a bill that would increase the amount of pre-tax money workers can put aside in child or elder care accounts set up through their employers.Yarmuth says the five-thousand dollar annual cap for the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account has not been increased since it was established more than two decades ago."Unfortunately, five-thousand dollars in 1986 dollars has about half the spending power than it does today," Yarmuth said. "And the cost of child care has not been spared for inflation. The average cost of daycare for Kentucky infants is more than six thousand dollars per year."Yarmuth's bill would increase the account cap to 75-hundred dollars for those with multiple dependents and half that amount for single filers. It would also be adusted annually for inflation. UPS and Humana are among the local employers that offer the accounts and support the measure.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.