A Committee of the Montgomery County Council approved legislation recently to increase a tax credit for low-income working people. As reported by the Washington Post:

The bill, sponsored by council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large) raises the Working Families Income Supplement, a county payment that bolsters the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income working people. Eligible households can receive credits of up to $6,000 a year from the EITC. Maryland allows those households to claim half of their federal credit on state income taxes.

Montgomery once matched 100 percent of the state credit, but rolled back support during the recession. The current match, which is 85 percent, will cost the county $17.6 million in the current fiscal year. Riemer would restore it to 100 percent by 2017, raising the average credit to about $600 a year. It would push the total cost of the program to over $20 million annually. About 40,000 people would receive some level of payment.

The measure will now move onto the full council for consideration.