Maine lawmakers introduce bill for $2,000 income tax credit for family caregivers

STATE HOUSE (WGME) – Some of the hardest workers in Maine don't even get a paycheck.

Caregivers often work full time, and still provide care for their elderly or disabled loved ones.

Diane Daigneault says her and her husband's lives changed in a second, when he passed out, hit the floor and broke his neck.

She has a full-time job and is also the primary caregiver for her husband, Jim.

"We've had to spend money out of our own pockets to get caregivers when I have to work," Daigneault said. "The expenses seem to mount and they just keep getting more expensive."

According to an AARP survey, Diane is one of 181,000 family caregivers in Maine, providing a total of 152 million hours of unpaid family care each year.

Thursday, Lewiston State Representative Kristen Cloutier presented a bill to the taxation committee, for a new refundable Maine income tax credit of up to $2,000 for low- and moderate-income households, that provide at least 150 hours of unpaid care annually to elderly or disabled family members.

"The alternative to care at home is often a facility that costs tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and where older Mainers or those with disabilities don't always get the caliber of care that they would if they were able to be at home with the family they love," Cloutier said.

And with some nursing homes and home care services closing in Maine, due to a shortage of workers and low MaineCare reimbursement rates, supporters of this bill say keeping elderly and disabled Mainers in their homes is not only beneficial to families, but the state as well.

"It's better to have a family member at home where they're cared for in their own home with people that love him rather than being placed in an institution," Daigneault said.