Across Maine, those of us who recently filed our taxes are beginning to anticipate a refund and thinking about how to spend it or save it for rainy days in the year ahead.

But refunds are twice as important for families in Maine that receive the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a tax break for low-wage workers worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, depending on how much they worked and earned in the past year and how many children they have. In 2016, more than one-in-seven Maine households received the EITC, totaling $212 million in credits. This is an enormous boost to families and the economy of the entire state.

The federal EITC, alongside the smaller state EITC, helps working families afford big ticket necessities like repairs to leaky roofs or old heating systems, out-of-pocket health and dental costs or car repairs, and possibly the ability to save for emergencies that can derail efforts to escape poverty and avoid debt.

Imagine the impact this has for young children growing up in Maine in low-income households: safer housing, access to health care, reliable rides to school and healthier food on the table. We know that a little extra family income can positively affect high school graduation rates and workforce participation as the children from these families become adults, making the EITC an important investment in young low-income families.

For those reasons — and many others — I am supporting efforts to expand Maine’s version of the EITC, currently set at just 5 percent of the federal tax credit. They include LD 1491, a bill introduced by Rep. Maureen Terry that would create a “Maine Work Credit” that would boost the total available credit to 30 percent  of the federal EITC and expand eligibility to more middle-class families. It would also expand the credits to provide support to hard-working, low-income students and caregivers — an effort close to my heart as a former family caregiver to a parent with Alzheimer’s. Altogether, LD 1491 would put an additional $91 million into working Mainers’ pockets in roughly 177,000 Maine households.

The EITC has important anti-poverty effects and the Maine Work Credit could make them go even further for our state.

For example, the EITC is one of the most important tools we have to mitigate the so-called “benefits cliff,” which happens when low-income families have a sudden drop-off in household income because a working adult earns more income and is no longer eligible for public assistance.

Enhancing our state EITC is also a smart way to respond to the changing nature of low-wage work. The credit effectively boosts the wages for Maine workers who often have unpredictable hours or schedules, volatility in the number of hours they are working, or who juggle multiple jobs or seasonal work just to make ends meet.

And while 12 percent of Mainers live below the official federal poverty level, based on a living wage calculated for Maine using MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, 38 percent don’t earn enough to cover basic life necessities, such as food, housing, transportation, health care, or child care. That number increases to a shocking 46 percent for households with children.

Targeting tax relief to these families is a sensible solution that can stimulate the economies of every part of our state.

The EITC has a proven track record of boosting work participation and lifting households out of poverty, which is why it consistently draws bipartisan support. Every state in New England has established a higher state EITC than Maine. It is time for our working families to get caught up.

Kristen Cloutier represents Maine House District 60. She lives in Lewiston.