1.   The Legislature finds and declares that:

   a.   Since its enactment in 1975, the federal earned income tax credit has received bipartisan support and has proven to be one of the nation's most effective anti-poverty programs for working families by encouraging work, supplementing earnings and lifting nearly five million people out of poverty each year, approximately half of them children;

   b.   The federal earned income tax credit has contributed to a significant increase in labor force participation among New Jersey families;

   c.   A New Jersey Earned Income Tax Credit will build upon the federal program by cutting taxes for families struggling to provide for their children, reducing child poverty, supporting welfare-to-work efforts and making New Jersey a better place to live, work and raise a family;

   d.   Over the last six years, New Jersey's unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest rate in nearly a decade, and a significant number of the State's families who were dependent on welfare have made the transition from public assistance to work, often beginning in low-wage or entry-level positions; and

   e.   A New Jersey Earned Income Tax Credit can further promote work and job retention by supplementing the incomes of nearly 280,000 low-income working families as they move up the career ladder and remain independent from public assistance.

   L.2000,c.80,s.1.