RECOMMENDED READING
The expiration of the child tax credit expansion late last year sent an estimated 3.7 million children back into poverty and undermined the financial security of millions more. With the rising cost of living squeezing family budgets, the expiration of the credit could not have been more poorly timed.
A key obstacle to the Democrats’ attempt to expand the child tax credit alone was Senator Joe Manchin’s insistence that the monthly child benefit include a work requirement. Democrats chose not to compromise on that condition; they also ignored the option of expanding the program on a bipartisan basis. If persuading Mr. Manchin was hard, the thinking was, then convincing 10 or more Republicans to cross the aisle would surely be impossible.
But that assumption may be wrong. Consider that in 2021 Senator Mitt Romney released a child benefit proposal of his own, the Family Security Act. That proposal was more generous than the child credit from President Biden and earned praise from across the political spectrum, including an array of conservative policy analysts and thought leaders. The proposal also inspired conservative interest in child benefits more generally, from Senator Josh Hawley’s Parent Tax Credit to the proposal for a Family Income Supplemental Credit from American Compass, a conservative think tank.
Recommended Reading
Americans Support a Generous Child Benefit Tied to Work
A significant opportunity exists for bipartisan cooperation on a permanent, expanded Child Tax Credit that maintains a connection to work.
Republicans Unveil Policies To Match ‘Working-Class Party’ Claim
Gerald F. Seib highlights American Compass’s Family Income Supplemental Credit plan as an example of recent “new-wave conservative proposals designed to help working-class families.”
Keep the Child Credit Tied to Work
Americans want creative policymaking that better supports families, but always with the expectation that families receiving public support are also working to support themselves.
