By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
The way Matt Gress sees it, a person is a person, no matter how small — or even if not born yet — for the purposes of getting a state tax credit.
The first-term Republican representative from Phoenix wants to expand state law providing for a tax credit for children to also include the number of months a woman was pregnant. He tells Capitol Media Services that HB 2501 is only fair, as families have expenses during that period, too.
But that isn’t Gress’ only foray into the question of who is a person.
He is separately sponsoring HB 2417, which would allow pregnant women to drive in the lane reserved for carpooling. Gress said he sees no difference between a woman who may be ready to give birth and a woman who puts her day-old child into an infant seat and qualifies under current law to use the high-occupancy vehicle lane.
So far, though, Gress has gotten no traction for that measure. In fact, it never even got assigned by House leadership to a committee for a hearing.
