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Klobuchar: U.S. Families Need Help to Assist Elders

Date: Sept. 6, 2006
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Issues: Senior Citizens


Klobuchar: U.S. families need help to assist elders

Families of seniors would get a $1,200 income tax deduction for expenses of caring for elderly relatives, under a proposal by DFL U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar.

Speaking at an assisted-living center in Minnetonka on Wednesday, Klobuchar said middle-class families are being squeezed by caring for both children and parents. "I've talked to seniors who feel guilty about taking the help from their kids," she told 20 residents of Ridgepoint Senior Center. She said her plan would cost about $1.7 billion a year, which she described as "modest." She said cracking down on corporations that shelter profits overseas would pay for the cost without raising taxes.

Heidi Frederickson, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, Klobuchar's Republican opponent, said Kennedy co-sponsored a bill last year that would provide a $3,000 tax credit for families caring for elderly relatives.

PATRICIA LOPEZ

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/660571.html

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