DES MOINES (AP) — Low-income residents in Iowa would get a bigger break on their taxes under a bill moving through the state Senate, a Democratic lawmaker said Tuesday.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said the proposal would raise the state credit from 7 percent to 20 percent of a taxpayer’s federal earned income tax credit. He said the measure would apply to households with incomes of less than $45,000, and about 210,000 households would get a roughly $250 tax break.

“The earned income tax credit is widely believed to be the single biggest effort to reduce poverty in the country,” Bolkcom said. “We have an increasing number of families living in poverty and this credit goes to them.”