Sen. Romney proposes simplified financial support system for working families with children

In this file photo, Sen. Mitt Romney speaks at a town meeting hall in St. George, Utah, April 5, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney rolled out a revised version of a plan Wednesday that would provide monthly payments to working families with children. The senator says his proposal will promote marriage and couples having children as it will help relieve some of the economic stresses related to those life events.

In this file photo, Sen. Mitt Romney addresses the Utah Republican Party 2021 Organizing Convention on May 1, 2021, in West Valley City, Utah | Photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News

The proposed legislation – Family Security Act 2.0 – would supply families with children up to age 5 with $350 per month and school-aged children with $250 per month, according to a press release from Romney’s office.

Pregnant women can also receive a $700 monthly benefit starting four months before their due date.

“There is very substantial support for pregnant moms in this bill,” Romney said during a press conference with Utah reporters held Wednesday afternoon.

In order to apply for the full benefit, however, the household income of a couple or single parent must be $10,000 or more from the previous year. Households that earned less than $10,000 still receive benefits, but they are proportionate to the amount earned. For example, a household that made $5,000 would earn half of the cash benefits.

According to the press release, Romney’s bill aims to “modernize and simplify “antiquated federal policies” that are “scattered across the tax code and dozens of different programs” into a monthly benefit.

Programs that would be eliminated would include the Child Tax Credit, the family portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit among other federal programs considered to be “outmoded.”

Funding for the monthly checks will come from the programs they replace, Romney said.

“There’s no new revenue required,” he said.

Simplifying the federal programs into monthly checks – which would be administered through the Social Security Administration – will help more families receive coverage, said Romney, adding that a quarter of families eligible for the benefits don’t sign up for them either because they don’t know how to or that they don’t know they exist in the first place. The Family Security Act 2.0 would help make those benefits more readily accessible, he said.

Stock photo by by 460273 from Pixabay

“Families will be able to count on these dollars,” he said.

Romney told reporters he felt it was a good time to reintroduce the bill – with some added tweaks over the original rolled out last year – because the United States population was in decline. Not enough children are being born to help reverse that trend, and marriage itself is also in decline in the nation, he added.

A reason Romney cited for a decline in childbirth and marriage is connected to money.

“One of the things we hear relates to the economics of forming a family and having children,” the senator told reporters. He also cited the financial stresses caused by the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and spiking inflation as a part of the economic woes families are facing.

Differences from the original version of the Family Security Act include a work requirement and leaving intact the Temporary Assistance for Families program. The program was among those listed to be eliminated under the original bill.

Two other Republican senators who have partnered with Romney on the revised legislation are Sen. Richard Burr of South Carolina and Steve Daines of Montana.

“We’re getting good Republican support,” Romney said, “but to get the final bill done, we’re going to need Democrat support.”

Senate Democrats won’t likely look at the proposed bill until after they’ve had their Build Back Better legislation considered, Romney said.

A three-page summary of the revised Family Security Act can be found here.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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