Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Thursday proposed permanent monthly payments to U.S. families as the country struggles with declining birth and marriage rates and the stranglehold of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.
The Family Safety Act of the Utah legislature and former nominated GOP president requires $ 350 monthly payments per family, per child, for children 5 years and younger. Children between the ages of 6 and 17 would rather pay $ 250.
“U.S. families are facing greater financial stress, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and marriage and birth rates are at an all-time low,” Romney said in a statement. “In addition, our family support system has not been extensively reformed in almost three decades, and our changing economy has left millions of families behind.”
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Payments will be reduced by $ 50 per child for each income of $ 1,000 that is above the current thresholds for child tax credits – which is $ 200,000 for singles and $ 400,000 for couples.
Mitt Mitt Romney, R-Utah, arrives at the Senate for a decisive vote to confirm Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden’s nomination as Secretary of State, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, January 26, 2021. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
“Now is the time to renew our commitment to families to help them meet the challenges they will face in the most important work of ours ever – raising children in our society,” Romney said. “This proposal provides a path to greater security for America’s families by consolidating the many complex programs to create a monthly cash benefit for them, without contributing to the shortfall.”
According to Romney’s office, poverty can reduce children by 33% and make marriage more attractive.
Although it would cost billions more than current child tax credit and income tax programs, Romney’s plan would offset the increase by reducing billions of current exemptions, including deductions for household status, child care and dependent care credits, and the state and local tax deduction.
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Matt Bruenig of the People’s Policy Project, a progressive think tank, sees Romney’s proposal as an improvement on President Biden’s own family spending plan – but behind his own. In particular, he embarked on Romney’s plan to eliminate state and local tax deductions – a program popular with high-paying Americans.