Heights Rep Introduces Bill Incentivizing Adoption

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — State. Rep. Janine Boyd is working with a Republican colleague to incentivize adoption in Ohio.

Boyd, a Democrat from Cleveland Heights, and Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus, a Republican from Minerva, introduced House Bill 206 this week. The legislation would create a fully refundable adoption tax credit for new parents in the Buckeye State.

“This legislation will ease the financial burden that comes with adoption, helping families that may otherwise be sidelined because of the high cost of bringing a child into their home,” said Stoltzfus.

The bill will let adopting families apply for a fully refundable adoption tax credit up to $10,000 of the out-of-pocket cost of adoption. It will also provide a $5,000 minimum fully refundable adoption tax credit to any family who adopts regardless of the cost they incurred through the adoption process.

The legislation has been referred to the committee on Ways and Means in the Ohio House. It is awaiting its first hearing.

“We in the legislature have passed a wide range of tax credits for deserving individuals,” said Boyd. “There are children anxiously longing for families, and families earnestly praying to have children, but sometimes the cost of unifying the two is not viable, or not yet available to them. This bill will provide a better opportunity for adoptive parents to focus on caring for their new child, who more often than is appropriate, may have experienced trauma and have lost most forms of stability and connection during their young lives.”