On Wednesday, June 15th, 2022, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), along with Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Steve Daines (R-MT) released the Family Security Act 2.0, an update to Senator Romney’s original Family Security Act in 2021, which would reinstate the monthly child tax credit payments for many families. While there are some significant improvements over current law in this plan, there are also some portions of the proposal that would exclude families that most need this relief. This credit is paid for by cutting other tax credits, leaving some single-parent families worse off than before, according to this twitter thread by Chuck Marr, Vice President for Federal Tax Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Additionally, it excludes children of undocumented immigrants and children of caregivers unable to work.
It’s promising that prominent Republican Senators have put forward a plan to revive this important policy, which research has shown to be incredibly effective. This proposal could be a possible starting point for a future bipartisan deal to reduce child poverty for those who need it most.
