Lt. Gov. Burt Jones on Thursday threw his support behind efforts to improve access to child care across Georgia.

In an opinion column published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jones said he will propose creating and expanding tax credits designed to offset the costs of child care. They come from a state Senate committee that finalized its recommendations Thursday.

Jones’ proposals are short on some details — including how much the credits would cost the state. But they’re sure to get a hearing in the upcoming legislative session. And they come as Jones considers a run for governor in 2026.

“We should do more to ensure more Georgians — especially moms — have access to quality and affordable child care so they can stay in the workforce if that’s what they choose to do,” Jones wrote in announcing his proposals.

The lieutenant governor created the Senate committee to study access to affordable child care in the last legislative session. In recent months, the committee heard from groups representing parents, businesses, child care providers, workers and others.

On Thursday it unanimously approved 16 recommendations to improve child care worker recruitment and retention, expand access to more families and increase funding.

Jones cited and elaborated on several of the recommendations in his opinion column. He would:

• Increase Georgia’s tax credit for child and dependent care expenses to 40% of taxable income, up from 30%.
• Create a tax credit of $250 per child under age 7, “helping families with the youngest children offset the expenses they incur as their children reach school age.”
• Expand eligibility for Georgia’s tax credit for employer-sponsored child care and make the credit more generous. Jones’ proposal would allow such facilities to host more children of nonemployees. It would allow sponsors to claim up to 90% of the cost of operations as a credit (up from 75%) and allow the credit to consume up to 75% of the sponsor’s income tax liability (up from 50%).

“Supporting Georgia families and increasing the availability of child care is one way the lieutenant governor thinks we should be returning surplus funds to taxpayers over the next few years,” spokeswoman Ines Owens said.

Jones isn’t the only one rolling out ideas for how to spend some of the state’s $16.5 billion in reserve. Gov. Brian Kemp and the Republicans who control the General Assembly have already said they want to spend part of the money on income tax refunds next year.

Kemp has also laid out other legislative priorities. On Tuesday, he told legislators he will introduce a Hurricane Helene relief package early in the upcoming session. Kemp also said health care, public safety and an overhaul of rules for civil litigation — what its supporters call “tort reform” — also will be top concerns.